2026 College Football Week 7 Expert Picks: Can BYU Keep Up With Notre Dame?

No messing around for me this week — I’m wagering the two biggest games of the weekend. Here are my picks for college football Week 7. This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. The biggest Indiana home game in the history of the program. Indiana is off its national championship, and it hosts Ohio State as an underdog. Let’s discuss what we know about these teams. IU is one of the most well-prepared teams in the country. It does not make mistakes, it does not turn the ball over, it does not get penalties. The Hoosiers make winning plays at the end of games to finish with a victory. Since 2025, they are 6-0 in one-score games. This season, IU has beaten Northwestern by six and last weekend, it took down Nebraska by three. It’s fair to believe the Hoosiers are due to lose a close game. Will it be this weekend? Indiana is not the same team as last season. Josh Hoover at quarterback is not Fernando Mendoza. He’s accurate enough at getting the ball to his fantastic receivers, but they do seem reliant on explosive plays at times. The offensive line was incredible last season but just isn’t as good this year. It’s a small slip — not too grand. But run blocking is a tad more difficult and pass protection isn’t as clean. I’m nitpicking for sure. The Indiana defense is missing an elite lockdown corner. It has allowed more explosive plays than last season as well, and two more plays of 10+ yards per game, without having faced a murderers row of offenses. However, IU just keeps making winning plays and finishing with victories. Ohio State, while being one of the best teams in the country, has some of the same questions as Indiana. Those issues mostly revolve around how well the offense performs against good defenses. Going back to the start of last season, Ohio State has struggled to score against the better defenses it has faced. Against Texas to start last season, it scored 14. Then only 10 against Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game. OSU followed that up with 14 against Miami in the CFP. Things have been better this season, with 23 against Texas, but only three in the second half. The Buckeyes did just score 31 against Iowa, but I have questions about them when facing Indiana’s defense. Ohio State’s offensive line is injured and can have long stretches in games where it is overwhelmed by better units. Jeremiah Smith is the best player in football and, of course, he’s force-fed the ball. Anyone would do that. What if Indiana doubles him and takes him away? Where does Julian Sayin turn for big plays? This is probably too many words to say that I like the Under in this game. Feels square, but I don’t think either team is going to score much unless they are able to rack up explosive plays against each other, which, guess what, the other side knows as well. How many 10-play drives in this game will end with touchdowns? How many drives are going 10 plays for points? I just don’t see it. I think I’m going with the Under in this game as well. Where is BYU better than Notre Dame? Nowhere. It can be that simple sometimes. Yes, the game is in Provo, and it’s an atmosphere unlike anything the Irish have seen this season. However, this BYU team has not played a team even close to the level of the Irish. The two closest teams were Arizona, which BYU beat by 11, and I guess TCU, which BYU beat 17-10. The Cougars’ offense is led by quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who’s a dual-threat. He’s thrown for over 1,000 yards and rushed for 258. BYU is without their star running back LJ Martin, which will put more pressure on Bachmeier to be the offense. One-dimensional offenses, against the Irish’s fantastic defense, don’t show well. How is BYU going to move the ball if the Irish stop the rushing attack? BYU’s passing game doesn’t push the ball down the field. It is 87th in air yards per completion. How are the Cougars going to score in this game? On the other hand, I don’t like specific matchups for the BYU defense against the Irish offense. The Cougars don’t contact the running back behind the line of scrimmage often enough to disrupt the Irish rushing attack. BYU’s defense is poor in the red zone. It is 131st in red-zone defense touchdown rate. BYU doesn’t sack the quarterback, and it allows a ton of deep passes. Could the Irish start slowly because of the environment? Yes. Is BYU going to be jacked up to start the game? Of course. But over 60 minutes, the Irish should handle business and cover.