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No. 5 Notre Dame Comes Off Its Bye to Face Navy — With No Room for Another Slip

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The 99th meeting of one of college football’s oldest rivalries lands in an unusual place and an unforgiving moment. No. 5 Notre Dame and Navy meet Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET on ABC at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with Navy as the designated home team in a series that dates to 1927. For the Fighting Irish, it is the first step in a closing stretch that will decide whether their season ends in the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame (6-1) has not played since Oct. 17, when its unbeaten start ended in a 28-24 loss at BYU. Quarterback CJ Carr had his roughest day of the season in that one, completing 27 of 49 passes for 261 yards without a touchdown. His season body of work is far better: 1,639 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, a single interception, and just two sacks taken all year. Jordan Faison leads the Irish with 34 catches for 451 yards, and Faison and Micah Gilbert have combined for 880 receiving yards and six touchdowns. The ground game is explosive in small doses — Jonaz Walton has 426 yards on only 57 carries, and Nolan James Jr. has punched in six rushing touchdowns for an offense averaging 41.1 points per game. Defensively, cornerback Leonard Moore, a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist, anchors a secondary that rarely breaks.

Navy (2-5, 1-4 American) is fighting a different battle. The Midshipmen lost a 49-39 shootout to North Texas last week, but their offense remains a genuine problem to prepare for. Quarterback Jackson Gutierrez is the entire show: 869 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground, plus 692 passing yards and seven more scores through the air. The problem is the other side of the ball — Navy’s pass defense ranks among the 20 worst in the nation, a glaring weakness against a quarterback of Carr’s precision.

Notre Dame will be without B. Hebert and Q. Porter, both reported out, but the Irish are favored by more than four touchdowns for a reason. The real stakes sit a week beyond this game: No. 1 Miami looms on Nov. 7. Win Saturday, and the Irish roll into that showdown with their playoff destiny in their own hands. Stumble against the option, and the season’s story changes completely.

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Halloween Under the Lights in Ames: No. 24 Oklahoma State’s Air Show Meets a Desperate Iowa State

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October 28, 2026

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Iowa State gets its first night game of the season at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, and the opponent is the Big 12’s most entertaining surprise. No. 24 Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) visits the Cyclones (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) at 7:00 p.m. ET on FS1, with Halloween in Ames as the backdrop.

Almost nobody saw Oklahoma State coming. The Cowboys lost their opener to Tulsa, and first-year head coach Eric Morris — who brought quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins with him from North Texas — has gone 5-1 since, the only other loss a three-point game at Houston. Mestemaker has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country: 65.7 percent completions, 2,326 passing yards (second-most in the FBS), 20 touchdowns against six interceptions. Oklahoma State averages 40.0 points and 529.1 yards per game, and just hung 598 yards on Colorado in a 57-24 win that put the Cowboys back in the AP Top 25 after a one-week absence.

Iowa State’s week has been about a decision. After playing two quarterbacks in a 39-3 loss to Arizona, head coach Jimmy Rogers announced Tuesday that Jaylen Raynor will start. Raynor has started every game this season, going 93-of-158 for 1,107 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions, with 145 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. The Cyclones need three more wins to reach bowl eligibility, and their path runs through home: their only loss in Ames came against Utah, and their last home game was a 45-42 shootout win over West Virginia.

History gives Iowa State a real argument. The Cyclones won the last two meetings, 20-13 in Stillwater last season and 34-27 in Ames in 2023, though Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 34-22-3. The deciding matchup is Mestemaker against an Iowa State defense allowing 24.1 points per game: if the Cyclones can slow the Cowboys’ tempo and make this a fourth-quarter game, the crowd and the moment give them a shot. If Oklahoma State gets to 40 again, the ranking survives and the Big 12 race keeps its wildest story.

Kickoff: Saturday, October 31, 7:00 p.m. ET. TV: FS1. Venue: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa.

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