The final play at LaVell Edwards Stadium was a CJ Carr incompletion to Jaden Greathouse, sealing a 28-24 win for No. 8 BYU over No. 2 Notre Dame.
There may have been a second left on the clock, but it didn’t matter as Cougar fans stormed the field to celebrate.
Carr’s incompletion sealed the loss, but Notre Dame had multiple opportunities to win the game long before the final play.
With 8:05 remaining, Notre Dame led 24-21 and had a chance to put the game away after a Jayden Sanders interception.
The Irish failed to capitalize. Notre Dame gained just three yards on three plays, taking only 2:22 off the clock before punting the ball back to BYU. Ten plays later, the Cougars found the end zone to take a 28-24 lead with 1:47 remaining.
Both programs likely expected a four-quarter dogfight and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman believed his team had a chance to escape with a comeback win. But the Irish couldn’t finish when it mattered most.
“We had them on the ropes and we couldn't find a way to finish,” stated Freeman. “They found a way to get a stop when they needed it the most. I want to make sure to give them that credit.”
Notre Dame also squandered a golden opportunity at the end of the first half.
The Irish had driven 69 yards to reach the BYU 4-yard line when Carr attempted to spike the ball to stop the clock.
Instead, Carr never gained full control of the ball, allowing BYU to recover the fumble immediately. Notre Dame came away with zero points despite reaching the doorstep of the end zone, missing an opportunity to cut into the Cougars’ 21-10 lead before halftime.
“It's a crucial, crucial play,” stated Freeman. “I've never seen it happen to us. Maybe it's happened other places, but we can't allow that to happen. You've got the ball on the plus four, I think. You want to kill it and you don't have ball security. They call it a fumble.
“We've got to continue to rep that, too. We can't get it wrong. We can't allow a play like that to end the half with zero points when you have the ball inside the plus five.”
Carr didn’t have much to say when asked whether he thought the play would be ruled a spike.
“I guess,” said Carr.
BYU kept Notre Dame’s offense off balance throughout the night, and the Irish failed to match the efficiency they had displayed during the first six weeks of the season.
Carr finished 27-of-49 for 261 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. For an offense that had consistently found ways to create plays, the lack of execution proved costly.
Freeman acknowledged that Carr and his receivers weren’t on the same page but didn’t have an immediate explanation for the disconnect.
“It wasn't his preparation,” Freeman explained. “Some of those big plays that we usually hit, we weren't executing them. We weren't hitting them. I don't know if it's CJ’s fault. I don't know if it's the wide receiver's fault or accumulation of both. We weren't hitting on those types of plays that we've been doing with as much success as we've been doing.”
Notre Dame outgained BYU 376-360, but the difference came in the red zone. The Irish converted just three of five opportunities, while the Cougars went a perfect 4-for-4.
“I thought we moved the ball well and just didn't end up punching in some of those red zone opportunities we had,” Carr explained. “So credit to them for holding strong in the red zone. Tough team. Played tough. Good
For Notre Dame, the loss came down to missed opportunities at critical moments.
But Carr isn’t planning to dwell on the loss, though. With a bye week ahead, the focus shifts to correcting the mistakes and preparing for the next challenge.
“Just got to go back to work,” said Carr. “Get the work in. Do what we do. I think we practiced well all week and got to continue to string those together through the bye week and then into whoever we got next.”
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