PROVO, Utah — All it took was a simple message.
Last October, BYU athletic director Brian Santiago was working with a scheduling broker to find non-conference games for the Cougars. BYU was likely to lose a two-game series with California after the ACC moved to nine conference games, leaving the program looking for a powerhouse conference opponent.
“Everyone in the college football world knows that filling one game a year is extremely difficult,” Santiago said. “We’re scheduled for the next few years, so we followed a little calendar template.”
Then someone mentioned Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish had one open spot as their rivalry game against USC remained in limbo, but the chances of getting the Golden Domers on the schedule on such short notice seemed slim. Still, Santiago was intrigued.
Santiago picked up his phone and typed a message to Ryan Sweeney, Notre Dame graduate and partner of BYU booster Ryan Smith: Can you put me in touch with Pete?
The next day, Santiago was on the phone with Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua. Both programs were in the middle of the College Football Playoff race and working through their own schedule complications. It was a cordial call, but Notre Dame was confident it could resolve the issues with USC.
Two months later, BYU and Notre Dame were both excluded from the College Football Playoff. The two were set to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl before the Irish suddenly withdrew. As the national backlash intensified, Santiago sent a message to Bevacqua to give his full support to Notre Dame for making the right decision for itself. Soon, Santiago received a call.
“How about we play next year?”
Chasing the Irish
Since the days of LaVell Edwards, BYU has had a special affinity with Notre Dame. Since the earliest days of college football, Notre Dame has been a unique force.
The small Catholic college in South Bend, Indiana, recognized the transformative power of sports faster than anyone. Under Knute Rockne, they took over the country playing any school that would accept them, establishing themselves as an unrivaled national brand with their iconic gold helmets.
Legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards matched that energy, taking an “any team, any time, any place” approach to planning. As BYU began its rise, it looked to the Notre Dame model for guidance.
The teams first played in 1992, a dominating victory for the No. 10 Fighting Irish. Two years later, BYU coach Kalani Sitake was a freshman running back as the Cougars took to the road and beat No. 17 Notre Dame under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus.
“The reaction, the class that they had standing up and clapping for the team and for us as we walked off the field, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sitake said. “It left a huge impression on me as an 18-year-old. I had a whole new respect for Notre Dame after that game.”
When BYU decided to leave the Mountain West and become independent, administrators met with Notre Dame staff members in South Bend to learn how they handled the complexities of developing an independent schedule.
BYU and Notre Dame signed a six-game schedule agreement in 2011 that would send the Cougars to South Bend four times. But when the Irish announced a scheduling partnership with the ACC, it reduced their schedule. To even get a game against Notre Dame, BYU gave up its home game to a neutral site in Las Vegas and even let the Irish serve as the “home” team with a higher ticket allocation.
“Our fans were very disappointed,” said Dallan Moody, BYU’s senior athletic director who worked closely with the schedule. “Notre Dame was great, they were great to work with, but they have goals like everyone else. This was the best we could work with and still be able to play.”
But the 2022 Shamrock Series game marked Provo’s fourth straight, and BYU was hoping to finally nail them. When Notre Dame fell into a stalemate with USC, BYU was ready to answer the call. Convincing the Irish to follow the same home split they followed with USC wasn’t difficult.
“Who knows, maybe there was a little divine intervention,” Santiago said.
Finally, the historic Golden Domers were returning to Provo – guaranteed.
A monumental moment
BYU football history is being written in moments. The 1980 “Miracle Bowl” victory over Eric Dickerson’s SMU. The 1984 national championship. Ty Detmer’s Heisman Trophy and the historic upset against No. 1 Miami in 1990. The 14-13 stunner against No. 3 Oklahoma to open Cowboys Stadium in 2009.
“They’re often about iconic moments,” Moody said. “They just punctuate and underline the trajectory that you’re on. If BYU comes to beat Notre Dame this weekend, that’s part of the BYU tradition.”
The stage is set for one of the big clashes of the season. No. 8 BYU will host No. 2 Notre Dame under the lights at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday night. This is Provo’s highest-ranked opponent since Pete Carroll’s USC in 2004, and the first AP Top 5 opponent since joining the power conferences.
“Even over the summer, people were telling me how excited they were to play,” center Bruce Mitchell said. “You have a family trying to figure out who can come and who will get the tickets. There’s just a lot of excitement.”
Just four years into the Power Conference, BYU is a program hoping to make its mark. The Cougars are an incredible 28-4 over the last three seasons, behind Indiana and Notre Dame. The latter two teams both played for national championships during the period. BYU was left out of the College Football Playoff both years.
There’s no doubt that a win against Notre Dame would be a program-changing moment. The Cougars would all but secure a playoff spot and solidify themselves as favorites in the Big 12. A national feud would suddenly enter the picture.
The game is also important for Notre Dame, as the Irish return to national title contention. The Irish haven’t beaten an AP Top 10 opponent on the road since 2012. BYU is Notre Dame’s first ranked opponent of the season.
“This is going to be, on paper, the best opponent we’re going to face yet,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “It shows in the record, it shows in the ranking, so let’s play against the best on their field, in their stadium, in their environment where it’s us against everyone.”
As the game approached, BYU running back Preston Rex heard a key piece of advice from his father, former All-American tight end Byron Rex. The elder Rex played in the 1992 game against Notre Dame. He only regrets having failed. This responsibility now falls to the youngest.
“He told me to remember everything, but to have fun out there,” Preston said. “Even though my dad is almost 60 now, he still talks about the day he played at Notre Dame.”
Gn sports
