BYU beats Notre Dame 28-24 as Bachmeier's late TD pass seals it in Provo
No. 8 BYU held off No. 2 Notre Dame late to win 28-24 in Provo, with Bear Bachmeier's go-ahead touchdown pass standing up after a goal-line stop.
Bachmeier's late touchdown holds up
No. 8 BYU beat No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 on Saturday night in Provo, Utah. Bear Bachmeier threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Walker Lyons with 1:47 left, then the Cougars stopped the Irish at the goal line on the final play to close it out. It was BYU's first win over Notre Dame since 2004 and kept the Cougars unbeaten at 6-0.
Bachmeier did almost everything for BYU. He ran for two touchdowns, caught a touchdown pass thrown by receiver Kyler Kasper on a trick play, and finished 23 of 36 passing for 224 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Preston Rex ran for 66 yards on 10 carries, and linebacker Cade Uluave led BYU with nine tackles.
Notre Dame drove to the 9 but came up empty
CJ Carr threw for 261 yards on 27-of-49 passing for Notre Dame, and Jaden Greathouse caught eight passes for 125 yards. Nolan James Jr. ran for a touchdown and 77 yards on 16 carries. After Bachmeier's score put BYU ahead 28-24, Carr drove the Irish to the BYU 9-yard line with four seconds left, converting a fourth down to Micah Gilbert to get there. His final pass into the end zone fell incomplete.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said, "We had them on the ropes," after the loss. BYU coach Kalani Sitake said his team has been in tight games like that one before and knew its offense could get back into scoring position when needed.
A back-and-forth game decided late
BYU led 7-0 after a Bachmeier touchdown run in the first quarter before a Spencer Porath field goal cut it to 7-3. Nolan James Jr.'s touchdown run put Notre Dame ahead 10-7 in the second quarter, but BYU answered with the Bachmeier-to-Kasper trick play and a Bachmeier touchdown run to take a 21-10 lead into halftime.
Notre Dame cut the margin to 16-21 in the third quarter on two Porath field goals set up by a muffed BYU punt return and a failed BYU fake punt. Jonaz Walton's 3-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion gave the Irish a 24-21 lead with 9:31 left in the fourth quarter, before Bachmeier and Lyons connected for the winning score.
Big 12 says the final play should have continued, and BYU wasn't the only upset
The Big 12 said in a statement that time remained on the clock when Carr's final incomplete pass hit the ground, and that the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew. The conference said it will review its end-of-game officiating process before next week's games.
The result was part of a wild day in college football. Five of the top eight teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same Saturday, including No. 1 Georgia's 27-24 loss to Auburn, marking the first time the top two teams in the country lost on the same day in the regular season since Nov. 17, 2012. Bachmeier summed up BYU's season after the win: "We're tired of being disrespected."
Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.