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BYU AD confident in getting home game vs. Notre Dame

By Kevin McGuireJun 23, 2018, 12:27 PM EDT
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Back in 2010, BYU and Notre Dame agreed to a six-year football contract that was supposed to include a home game for BYU before 2021. With two games already played in South Bend, BYU fans are getting a little curious as to when exactly the Irish will make their trip to Provo, Utah. BYU Athletics Director Tom Holmoe said on Friday during BYU’s football media day he is confident BYU will get that anticipated home game on the schedule.

Holmoe said he continues to have “good discussions” with Notre Dame in hopes of scheduling a future home game against the Irish. As Holmoe put it, the end result for BYU should be “better than a check.” If a game can’t be agreed upon, whether it be a true home game for BYU or a potential neutral site game in an NFL stadium, then Notre Dame will have to buy out of the game. It seems as though Holmoe is determined to not have that be the reality.

The original deal signed between BYU and Notre Dame essentially lined up a pair of 2-for-1 arrangements to give Notre Dame two home games for each BYU home game (or a neutral site location in its place). The second half of the agreement has since been wiped out once Notre Dame lined up a scheduling agreement with the ACC to play five ACC opponents each season. Notre Dame also has games against USC, Stanford, and Navy that the school has preferred to keep on the schedule. With the way Notre Dame has organized its schedule, staying faithful to an agreement with BYU was seemingly not a top priority.

Notre Dame’s 2019 schedule is already booked with 12 games including matchups against Louisville, Georgia, USC, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Navy, and Stanford. The 2020 schedule for the Golden Domers is also full with matchups against Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Clemson in the mix. If Notre Dame is going to make room for a game against BYU, it won’t be happening until at least 2021, which currently has one game still to add. Notre Dame will already have one neutral site game that season, with a matchup against Wisconsin in Chicago.

After getting woodshedded by Michigan, Scott Frost has now lost more games as Nebraska’s coach than he did as NU’s starting QB

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By John TaylorSep 22, 2018, 3:34 PM EDT
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Earlier this week, Scott Frost warned that things could get worse before they got better at Nebraska. Little did we know how prescient that statement was.

Michigan jumped out to a 39-0 first-half lead and never looked back, taking Nebraska to the Big House woodshed in a 56-10 blowout win Saturday afternoon in the Big Ten opener for both schools. To put a point on just how vast the gulf was between these two squads, the Wolverines totaled more points in the first quarter (20) than the Cornhuskers totaled yards in the first half (17).

The most glaring difference was in the trenches as U-M rushed for 285 yards — they had 190 in the first half alone — while NU mustered just 39 on the ground — that number includes minus-six in the first half.

All told, the Wolverines’ offense outgained the Cornhuskers 493-132.  Karan Higdon led all ball carriers with 136 yards on just 12 carries, while teammate Ben Mason scored three rushing touchdowns.

The loss drops the Cornhuskers to 0-3 for the first time since 1945 and means Frost, who was 24-2 as NU’s quarterback in the nineties, now has more losses as a Cornhuskers head coach than he had as a Cornhuskers starter.

To add insult to injury, the Cornhuskers were trolled by a fast food chain during the course of the blowout loss.

For Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines, it’s the third straight dominating performance after a disappointing start to Season 4 under the former U-M quarterback.

In the season opener against Notre Dame, U-M dropped a 24-17 decision that didn’t seem nearly as close as the final score would indicate.  In the next three games, however, U-M outscored Western Michigan, SMU and NU (150-33), giving the team some confidence heading into a six-week stretch in which they’ll face 1-2 Northwestern in Evanston, 3-1 Maryland, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 24 Michigan State in East Lansing and No. 10 Penn State.

Winless Purdue upends undefeated Boston College

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By John TaylorSep 22, 2018, 3:22 PM EDT
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Well, that was fun while it lasted.

Last Sunday, Boston College, at a perfect 3-0, came in at No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25, the first time the Eagles had been ranked since 2008.  Less than a week later, BC is about to fall back into the “others receiving votes” category as previously-winless Purdue dropped the Eagles 30-13 in West Lafayette.

In fairness to all involved, Purdue may have been 0-3 coming into today’s game but those three losses, to Northwestern, Eastern Michigan and Missouri, were by a combined eight points.

In winning its first game of the season, Purdue rode a surprisingly stifling defense.  BC’s AJ Dillon came into the afternoon contest with 432 yards rushing, including 185 in the Week 3 win over Wake Forest and 149 on just six carries against FCS Holy Cross the week before; today, the running back was held to 59 yards on 19 carries.  That’s Dillon’s lowest output since he had 35 yards on 10 carries in an early-October loss to Virginia Tech last season.

Offensively for the Boilermakers, David Blough was deadly efficient as he completed 75 percent of his 28 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns.  It was Blough’s second straight three-touchdown performance after not throwing one in the season’s first two games.

Boston College had been looking to start a season 4-0 for the first time since Matt Ryan was the starting quarterback in 2007.

WATCH: Wake Forest breaks out ‘missing kicker’ FG formation

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By John TaylorSep 22, 2018, 2:26 PM EDT
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Things haven’t exactly gone Wake Forest’s way, and one series of events pretty much encapsulates the ACC team’s Week 4 struggles.

Midway through the first quarter, Wake was lined up for a 38-yard field goal attempt that, if good, would’ve given them an early 3-0 lead on Notre Dame.  The only problem?  Their kicker, Nick Sciba, was nowhere to be found as he was still on the sidelines practicing for a field goal attempt that his 10 other teammates were already on the field for ready to execute.

To add to the misery, Sciba, after he actually got on to the field, clanged the attempt off the uprights.

As of this posting, the Fighting Irish lead the Demon Deacons 35-13 with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter.  Sciba did convert on both of his next two field goal attempts (from 30 and 39 yards out) as well as an extra point try, so he;’s got that going for him.  Which is nice.

Big House blowout unfolding with Michigan smothering Nebraska, 39-0

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By Kevin McGuireSep 22, 2018, 1:56 PM EDT
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Nebraska head coach Scott Frost suggested things were going to get worse before they get better in Lincoln. One half in Ann Arbor suggests he knew what he was talking about. Nebraska is being obliterated on the road in a Big Ten opener by Michigan, with the Wolverines leading Nebraska by a score of 39-0 at the half. The score is every bit representative of the way this game has unfolded to this point.

Michigan’s defense got things going right from the start of the game when Josh Metellus picked off a tipped pass from freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez on the fourth play of the game. The Wolverines then went to the ground with Karan Higdon breaking off a 46-yard run and Ben Mason taking care of business inside the 10-yard line with three straight running plays to get in the end zone for a touchdown.

Nebraska went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and it took one play for Higdon to rip off a 44-yard touchdown run, his third carry of the game taking him to 92 rushing yards at the time. It continues to spiral out of control for Nebraska from there. Another three-and-out, losing three yards of offense, led to a third Michigan touchdown. Mason, once again, did the honors from just outside the goal line.

Nebraska seemed to be in a spot to get some good field position to work with soon after digging the 20-0 hole, but a muffed punt return near midfield was recovered by the Wolverines. Quinn Nordin knocked down a 50-yard field goal to tack on to the Michigan lead a few plays later.

Higdon has rushed for 136 yards. Shea Patterson has completed 12 of 17 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Nebraska’s Martinez has passed for 23 yards and has been taken down for a loss of 12 yards on the ground.

At this point, Nebraska knows it won’t stand a chance of winning this game, so working on some details the rest of the way is what needs to happen. And there are a lot of details to work on after halftime.