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Vanquish the Foe reported today from multiple sources that the BYU Cougars have proposed a 2022 football game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
We’ve written extensively about this series-on-hiatus, which originated as a “four-for-two” agreement in 2010 and morphed into a “two-for-one” after the 2012 & 2013 games at Notre Dame Stadium.
We even proposed in 2017 using the then-unbuilt Allegiant Stadium to host a Halloween game last year. (The Irish played Georgia Tech as part of its ACC partnership instead.)
The location still makes sense. The Irish still have never played a game in the Silver State. Thirty-seven percent of Las Vegas residents identify as religious; the most popular groups are the Catholics and those affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ.
It would also be a great selling point (or recruiting weekend) for student-athletes at Bishop Gorman, including four-star offensive tackle Jake Taylor (currently committed to Oklahoma); five-star wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr.; four-star receiver Zachariah Branch and cornerback Justyn Rhett. The Irish could even invite Alize Mack, Ronnie Stanley and Nicco Fertitta back for a “homecoming.”
This could also be part of the “Shamrock Series” branding, even if it’s BYU’s “home game” (much like Wisconsin this upcoming season). There could be service opportunities, masses and other Alumni Association functions around the game, led by the 300-strong Notre Dame Club of Las Vegas.
The Irish and Cougars both have 11 scheduled games for 2022 so far, with mutual open dates on Oct. 8 and Oct. 29. Of the two, the first date seems to make more sense for both teams. For BYU, it’d be sandwiched in between home games with Utah State and Arkansas. For Notre Dame, it keeps it away from a home game against Clemson the following week. The two teams will also have to work around UNLV’s schedule, as they’ll play their home football games there too.
BYU and Notre Dame are both private institutions, so their emails and game agreements aren’t subject to state or federal Freedom of Information Act requests. So keep checking Vanquish the Foe until we hear something official from Provo.