Coach Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Fighting Irish are climbing up the college football power rankings ladder with a road game against No. 8 BYU on tap for October 17. The game is one of three ranked matchups left on the schedule and comes after a jaw-dropping statistical performance against Stanford.
The Irish have become a hot topic in college football amid talk of a 24-team College Football Playoff expansion causing ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit to make a bold statement on ESPN's ‘Get Up' show with Mike Greenberg.
“Notre Dame plays two games where they're gonna be challenged,” Herbstreit said. “Think about what Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State and these teams and what they're dealin' with, so that cannot continue, that's an embarrassment and incredibly unfair.”
Herbstreit called BYU's home field a “hostile environment” and said the game will be a “lot of fun to see.”
Coach Kalani Sitake's Cougars are 5-0, first place in the Big 12 Conference heading into the matchup, but are decided underdogs against Freeman's team, led by Heisman contender and possible top five draft pick CJ Carr. Freeman got good news on the injury front leading up to the game regarding cornerback Leonard Moore and defensive tackle Jason Onye.
Article Continues BelowThe Fighting Irish have a star-studded team with potential first-round draft picks and award candidates up and down the lineup. The Irish have become a marked team after securing a clause in the College Football Playoff allowing them to automatically qualify should they finish in the top 12 of the national rankings, causing some to question their scheduling.
Freeman and the Irish know they can't control public perception, especially in regards to national pundits like Herbstreit. Notre Dame will do its talking on the field against BYU in hopes of winning the favor of voters, and analysts like Herbstreit, en route to what they hope will be another playoff appearance.