PROVO, Utah — No. 8 BYU stayed unbeaten Saturday night by knocking off No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24, sealing it when the Irish came up empty on a last-second throw into the end zone. Debate over how the game ended spread online long after fans had rushed the field.
Notre Dame had a chance to climb to the top of the rankings after No. 1 Georgia lost earlier in the day. Instead, the Irish saw a 16-game winning streak end, and BYU beat them for the first time since 2004.
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier did nearly everything for the Cougars. He ran for two touchdowns, scored a third on a 15-yard catch from Kyler Kasper on a trick play and threw for 224 yards, including a 6-yard scoring toss to tight end Walker Lyons with 1:47 to go that put BYU back in front. No quarterback had scored by run, catch and pass in a single game since Steve Young did it for BYU in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
The Irish lost a defensive lineman, Boubacar Traore, to a targeting call on BYU’s opening series, and BYU took a 21-10 lead into the half. Notre Dame wasted a chance to cut into it when CJ Carr lost the ball trying to spike it at the BYU 5 with nine seconds left before halftime, and Isaiah Glasker recovered.
Notre Dame rallied with three field goals and a 3-yard Jonaz Walton touchdown run that put it ahead 24-21 midway through the fourth. After Lyons scored, Carr kept the final drive alive with two fourth-down conversions, the last a pass to Micah Gilbert at the 9 with four seconds left. His final throw fell incomplete. There was contact on the play but no flag, and clips questioning the clock on the final sequence circulated widely afterward.
Carr finished with 261 passing yards and Nolan James Jr. ran for 77 yards and a score. BYU, now 6-0 for a third straight season, visits UCF on Oct. 24. Notre Dame, 6-1, is off next week before playing at Navy on Oct. 31.
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