Saturday’s college football slate features two matchups between top-10 teams. In a prime-time affair, the #8 BYU Cougars will host the #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 17 on ABC.
The Fighting Irish are 10.5-point favorites and return a 1.21x payout if they win outright, via PrizePicks.
Notre Dame cruised to an impressive 58-7 win against Stanford last week to remain undefeated. Meanwhile, BYU took care of business at home, beating Iowa State 24-10 to improve to 5-0.
Below, we’ll break down our Notre Dame vs. BYU prediction and picks for Saturday night’s game, including the spread, over/under, and player projections for PrizePicks.
Make your Notre Dame vs. BYU picks on PrizePicks now!
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#2 Notre Dame vs. #8 BYU Prediction, Spread, Over/Under – Saturday, October 17
Notre Dame enters Saturday’s game as a 10.5-point road favorite against BYU, returning a 1.21x payout if it wins outright, via PrizePicks — or $121 on a $100 entry if you're right.
Here are the full payouts for the Notre Dame vs. BYU game on PrizePicks. PrizePicks data is live at the time of writing and is subject to change.
Make your Notre Dame vs. BYU prediction on the spread on PrizePicks.
Saturday marks Notre Dame's first major test, as the Fighting Irish haven’t previously faced a ranked team. ND has outscored its opponents 264-66 and held the opposition to 10 or fewer points in four of those contests.
Notre Dame topped Stanford in convincing fashion last week, outgaining the Cardinals 598-202. The Fighting Irish racked up 361 yards on the ground and averaged 7.7 yards per carry.
RB Jonaz Walton's rushed for 301 yards and 2 TDs in his last two games and is the leading rusher out of the Notre Dame backfield.
QB CJ Carr is on track for another phenomenal season as one of the nation’s top signal-callers. Carr has completed 70.8% of his passes for 1,378 yards and 16 TDs, being intercepted just once. The junior QB has tossed 10 TD passes across his last two games, including 4 TDs against North Carolina on October 3.
On defense, Notre Dame has been arguably the elite unit in the country. The Fighting Irish are +13 in the turnover battle and have registered 7 INTs.
Meanwhile, BYU also enters Saturday’s highly anticipated contest with a perfect record. The Cougars have allowed 20 total points over the past two weeks in wins against TCU and Iowa State.
BYU will be without one of its top weapons for Saturday night’s showdown. RB LJ Martin is slated to miss the next month as he deals with a lower-body injury. Martin had rushed for 344 yards (7.8 YPC) and 3 TDs in four games.
In last week’s win against Iowa State, QB Bear Bachmeier led the team with 109 rushing yards. RBs Preston Rex, Journee Tonga, and Devaughn Eka combined to rush for 54 yards on 17 carries (3.2 YPC).
Bachmeier could pace the Cougars’ rushing attack again, but it may be an uphill battle against a Fighting Irish defense that allows just 58.3 rushing YPG.
BYU has allowed the fewest total YPG in the Big 12 (254.4) and held Iowa State to just 200 total yards last week. The Cougars have produced a 20.2% havoc rate (11th overall) this season and tallied 11 sacks (fifth in the Big 12).
The two teams have met only three times in the last 15 years. Notre Dame is 2-1 against the spread in those tilts, including a 28-20 win in 2022 and covering a 2.5-point spread.
Notre Dame vs. BYU Prediction on Spread – 10/17/26
Here are the key stats and trends behind our Notre Dame vs. BYU pick against the spread for Saturday, October 17.
- Notre Dame has been among the nation’s top defenses, surrendering just 11.0 PPG (third) and 214.2 total YPG (first).
- The Fighting Irish defense has held opponents to -0.20 EPA/pass (sixth) and -0.12 EPA/rush (14th), according to Game on Paper.
- Additionally, Notre Dame thrives when it comes to rushing the QB. The Fighting Irish own the country’s third-best havoc rate (20.9%) and are tied for eighth in sacks with 15.
- With BYU down Martin on Saturday, ND could try to limit Bachmeier’s running lanes and force him to beat them with his legs. Bachmeier has averaged 6.6 YPC this season.
- Carr leads an offense that averages 456.7 YPG. The star QB produces 0.43 EPA per dropback.
- Notre Dame faces the second-shortest average third-down distance in the country (5.27 yards).
Lock in your Notre Dame vs. BYU prediction on PrizePicks before kickoff.
Notre Dame vs. BYU Picks, Player Stats for PrizePicks: 10/17/26
Here are the top Notre Dame vs. BYU picks to target on Saturday, October 17. Today’s college football picks for PrizePicks include Jonaz Walton and Legend Glasker.
Notre Dame RB Jonaz Walton vs. Notre Dame: 59.5 Rush Yards
- Walton has carried the ball 52 times for 409 yards and 2 TDs, averaging 7.9 YPC this season.
- The Fighting Irish RB had his most outstanding career performance to date against Stanford last week, rushing for 181 yards and 2 TDs.
- Walton has registered a 0.26 EPA/rush, ranking 47th among the country's qualified RBs.
- BYU is fairly vulnerable when defending the run, tallying a 0.03 EPA/rush mark (78th nationally).
Pick Jonaz Walton + Notre Dame to cover the spread on PrizePicks!
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BYU WR Legend Glasker vs. Notre Dame: 46.5 Rec Yards
- Glasker has hauled in 19 passes for 378 yards and 3 TDs in five games this season.
- The freshman WR has averaged 16.47 yards per target, ranking 11th among WRs.
- Glasker averages 19.9 yards per reception, good for second in the Big 12 behind only West Virginia WR DJ Epps (28.1).
- Despite allowing just 155.8 passing YPG, Notre Dame has five different WRs who have produced at least 47 receiving yards against them, including North Carolina WR Jordan Shipp (7 catches for 109 yards on October 3).
Add Legend Glasker + BYU to win to your PrizePicks lineup now.
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BYU suffered a brutal blow earlier this month when Martin was lost for several weeks due to a lower-body injury. Can Notre Dame capitalize on BYU being without one of its top playmakers?
Don’t wait until kickoff — make your Notre Dame vs. BYU picks on PrizePicks now and earn real money if you’re right.
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