Most Notre Dame football fans will admit BYU is one of the toughest opponents on the schedule. What they won't concede is that the Cougars’ defense, pound for pound, is better across all 11 players. Because of that, plenty of Fighting Irish fans have a big bone to pick with Pro Football Network analyst Cam Mellor.
Mellor tried to slip that assessment past the goalie earlier this week, saying he believed each team might find a way to win the October 17 showdown. Mellor started strong, saying Leonard Moore is the Jeremiah Smith of defensive backs. Smith, with Ohio State, is considered far and away the best receiver in the game. By comparing Moore to the Buckeye wideout, it’s clear he believes there aren’t any defensive backs that can really challenge Moore for the top of the heap.
He then went off the rails as he continued to talk about his assessment of Notre Dame’s and BYU’s defenses beyond Leonard Moore.
“I do think overall there's actually more talent on the BYU defense than there is Notre Dame's defense. Through all 11 starters, I think that's how they'd have to win the game,” Mellor added.
Does BYU really have a better defense than Notre Dame? The numbers don’t bear it out
On its face, it’s hard to agree with Mellor, even this early in the season. The Irish’s schedule isn’t all that difficult, but so far, neither is BYU’s. Notre Dame currently sits as the No. 3 defense in the country by yards per game (193.0), No. 14 in the country by passing yards per game (134.7), No. 6 in the country by rushing yards per game (58.3), and No. 4 in the country in points per game allowed (7.7).
It’s hard to know exactly whether the Cougars or Fighting Irish have the definitively more difficult schedule. BYU has played Utah Tech, Arizona and Colorado State. Given that the Irish don’t have an FCS team on the schedule and have two Big Ten teams, the argument is strong for Marcus Freeman’s squad.
It’s not just that BYU is lower-ranked in every defensive category; they’re not even close to where Notre Dame sits right now.
While average … anything allowed isn't the end-all and be-all when measuring how good one defense is against another, it’s hard to see the Cougars really matching up their defense against what the Irish are rolling with on the defensive side of the ball.
Granted, Mellor could be proven right when the two teams face off next month. However, on its face, Notre Dame fans certainly have a reason to wonder just what the analyst is seeing that has convinced him the Cougars are a better defense overall.
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