Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: BYU ON PAPER BY DAN MURPHY nior Michael Alisa to carry the load at running back. They combined for 559 rushing yards in the first six games, but neither has flashed any real breakaway speed. An injury-ravaged interior of- fensive line has also slowed the Cougars rushing attack so far this season. Notre Dame's defense allowed an average of bile quarterback with a gutsy veteran one for the first half of the season. Fifth-year senior Riley Nelson missed two games this season with a back injury, but is expected to start against the Irish if healthy. Nelson's replacement, freshman Taysom Hill, led the team in rushing yards through the first six games, but will miss the rest of the year after hurting his knee in a 6-3 win over Utah State Oct. 5. That leaves freshman Jamaal Williams and ju- Injuries have led to BYU rotating a young, mo- BYU RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE 106.8 rushing yards per game through five out- ings. The front seven is set up well to have an- other dominant day along the line of scrimmage. A much less daunting Irish defense allowed 75 rushing yards the last time BYU visited South Bend in 2005. This year's group probably won't allow any more than that. Advantage: Notre Dame BYU PASSING GAME VS. claim to the title of best receiver on an indepen- dent. He made 31 catches for 432 yards and two scores during the first half of the season. Redshirt junior tight end Kaneakua Friel (6-5, 250 pounds) leads the team with four touchdown catches. Nel- son is BYU's best passing quarterback, but he has Redshirt junior Cody Hoffman has a legitimate NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Redshirt junior wide receiver Cody Hoffman had 31 receptions for 432 yards (13.9 yards per catch) and two touchdowns in BYU's first six contests. PHOTO COURTESY BYU five interceptions to go with his five touchdowns during his first four appearances. Notre Dame's passing defense was not mistake- free through five games, but it got away with most of its miscues. Senior safety Zeke Motta continues to lead a young group that is ranked 10th in the country in pass efficiency defense (97.4 rating) heading into the game with Stanford. They allowed an average of 183.2 passing yards in their first five victories while helping to create eight interceptions. The Cougars haven't thrown for more that 250 yards since beating up on Weber State in the sec- ond week of the season, and they aren't likely to reach that number against the Irish. Advantage: Notre Dame