As a lifelong Notre Dame football fan, I have always taken the support of the heavens for granted. Maybe it’s just the 134-foot mural of his son behind the north endzone, but I swear the big man upstairs wears blue and gold robes on Saturdays in autumn. As the only religious perennial powerhouse in the sport, it is really only fitting. But there could be an issue in this year’s college football season.

A new power rises in the West. Cast in blue and white, the “other weird Christians” have put together a football program of their own out in Provo. Storming through the new look Big 12, the BYU Cougars have had a glorious start to their season. Led by the only Jewish quarterback in the FBS and cheered on by seas of Latter-day Saints, there is a new religious force to be reckoned with in college football.

Or, at least, there was. It seems God has spoken in BYU’s latest loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Devils! It couldn’t be clearer. The Fighting Irish haven’t lost to a team with a devil mascot since 2016. It seems the team coached by Catholicism’s handsomest global ambassador is still ordained for victory (unless a mediocre MAC school comes to town of course).

The only remaining worry for Notre Dame fans is the Bible study group that starting quarterback Riley Leonard has been leading for the Irish. C’mon Riley, everyone knows good Catholics don’t read the Bible.

Things are looking good for the Irish. A 11-1 record, a home playoff game on the horizon and a new CFP system that couldn’t be kinder to the program, maybe because it was designed by our own athletic director. My faith in God’s love for the team couldn’t be higher.

Here is the thing about God though: if he sent his only son down to die, what trials and tribulations does he have in store for his favorite football team?