BYU spent the final four AP polls of the 1984 college football season at No. 1, and Saturday’s 28-24 upset of No. 2 Notre Dame in Provo gave the Cougars their best shot at a return since then.
Only No. 3 Miami and No. 4 Ohio State ranked above BYU in the Week 7 AP Top 25, and the Buckeyes will play without injured quarterback Julian Sayin for several weeks according to postgame reports from head coach Ryan Day.
MORE: When was Miami last ranked No. 1? Hurricanes could end long wait in new AP Top 25
When was BYU last No. 1?
BYU first reached No. 1 on Nov. 20, 1984, and stayed there after beating Michigan 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl to finish 13-0. Coach LaVell Edwards’ team topped the AP and UPI polls and remains the last national champion from outside a power conference.
Coach Kalani Sitake’s team now has the marquee win that critics said the 1984 schedule lacked. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier ran for two touchdowns, caught a 15-yard scoring pass from receiver Kyler Kasper and hit tight end Walker Lyons for the go-ahead 6-yard touchdown with 1:47 left. The defense then forced Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr’s final throw to fall incomplete in the end zone.
BYU converted 8 of 12 third downs and led until Notre Dame’s two-point conversion made it 24-21 in the fourth quarter.
Sitake praised the Irish all week, saying they “could easily be No. 1.” His own team now makes that argument after Steve Young returned to Provo as College GameDay’s guest picker for the first top-10 matchup at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Miami Hurricanes stay unbeaten
Miami survived Florida State 43-35 in double overtime. Quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, and receiver Malachi Toney caught the second-overtime score before throwing the two-point conversion to Cooper Barkate.
A holding penalty wiped out a Florida State touchdown on fourth down, and defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald’s game-ending interception was upheld on review.
The 6-0 Hurricanes reached last season’s national title game and own a 41-13 road rout of Clemson. But they needed two overtimes at home against a 3-4 Florida State team whose coach, Mike Norvell, was under scrutiny entering the week.
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Can Ohio State survive without Sayin?
Ohio State ended Indiana’s 22-game winning streak 19-15 in Bloomington, and the defense held when receiver Nick Marsh came down out of bounds on a fourth-down catch.
But the 6-1 Buckeyes lost 24-23 at Texas in September, and the Longhorns have since dropped two straight. Sayin, who held No. 1 in my Big Ten QB rankings entering the week, hurt his throwing shoulder on a fourth-quarter sack.
“I don’t have a ton of details, but he’ll probably be out for several weeks,” coach Ryan Day said. True freshman Luke Fahey takes over before an Oct. 31 trip to USC.
Why BYU deserves a shot at No. 1 ranking
Voters usually reward the higher-ranked team that wins, which favors Miami. But Miami’s six wins came against Stanford, Florida A&M, Wake Forest, Central Michigan, Clemson and Florida State, and none matches beating an unbeaten Notre Dame team.
Ohio State’s win at Indiana is the strongest single result on the board. However, the Buckeyes carry a loss and will play the next several weeks without the quarterback who built that résumé.
BYU is 6-0 with the best win any unbeaten team owns and a quarterback who scored three ways against the nation’s top-ranked total defense. The Cougars have earned the top spot entering Week 8 before they visit UCF on Oct. 24.
MORE: Notre Dame football team pays respect to iconic BYU student section
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