It's because the Louisville opener is on Labor Day Monday.

On the one hand, they ought to be able to handle New Mexico even if they played the game 15 minutes after the Louisville game ends.

On the other hand, playing on a Saturday after a Monday night road game, with only 4 off days in between is not a normal routine for any football team. Having extra time to self-scout, teach, and make adjustments after so many players have their first significant playing time under the bright lights is probably beneficial.

The most ideal thing would have been for ND to tell the TV people to pound sand on the Monday night offer, play their layup game on 9/7, and then take their first bye week ahead of the Georgia game. But if we're going to criticize the ACC teams for strategically scheduling their bye weeks, and criticize ND fans for getting upset about that, then I guess we shouldn't lose too much sleep over ND missing an opportunity to do the same.