The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, ranked No. 5 in the country going into Saturday's game against BYU, struggled some offensively, other than in the ground game, in the 17-13 win, but Notre Dame blog One Foot Down points out that the team can always rely on its defense:

Defense. Again. They gave up a few scores through the air, but you know you should be pleased with your defense when 14 points is the second most they've allowed all season. The D held the Cougs to under 100 yards rushing, and kept the no-rushing-TD's streak alive.

Next week brings the first strong passing attack the Irish have faced, so we'll see pretty soon whether this Irish D really puts its pants on two legs at a time, but for now let's be happy.

After taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a touchdown pass from Tommy Rees to Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame trailed in the game 14-7 at halftime and 14-10 entering the fourth quarter. The defense shutout BYU in the second half, however, and George Atkinson ran for the game-winning touchdown.

Theo Riddick had 15 carries for 143 yards in the game and Cierre Wood had 18 carries for 114 yards.