Controversial Officiating on Final Play of Notre Dame-BYU Game Sparks Outrage

The BYU Cougars pulled off one of their biggest upsets in program history on Saturday night, ending Notre Dame's undefeated season in a thrilling 28-24 victory that came down to the final play of the game.

However, several potential mistakes made by officials on the final play of the game left a sour taste in the mouths of many watching the controversial ending at home.

Notre Dame had a chance to score a game-winning touchdown on the final play of the game, as the final play came from their offense on the BYU 8-yard line. With just four seconds left, the Fighting Irish drew up a pass play to wide receiver Jaden Greathouse.

The pass attempt from Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr would fall incomplete, sealing a win for BYU, as time appeared to expire after the pass hit the ground on first glance. But those who took a deeper look at the play in question saw several potential mistakes on the play from the referees in the game.

More news: Oregon State WR Beats Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith to Impressive Milestone

Despite appearing to restrict Jaden Greathouse from attempting to get to the pass from Carr, BYU cornerback Evan Johnson was not flagged for what clearly appeared to be a textbook pass interference. This of course would have given Notre Dame one more play to potentially find the end zone.

In addition to this, it also appears that both the game clock on the ABC broadcast, and the stadium clock at LaVell Edwards Stadium still had one second on the clock once Carr's pass hit the ground.

This obviously means that Notre Dame should have gotten another attempt to score, even if no pass interference was called on the play given that it was just first down.

While it's obviously not a given that Notre Dame would have gone on to win the game had these officiating mistakes not happened, many took to social media and shared their understandable disgust for how officials handled the final play of the game.

More news: Alabama Football Faces Harsh Reality After Second Straight Loss

Any loss of this fashion has to be difficult to regroup from. So it will certainly be interesting to see how Notre Dame rebounds when they next take the field.

BYU will look to keep their winning ways going in Week 7 when they take on the UCF Knicks, while Notre Dame will get a bye week in Week 8 to recover from this loss before returning to action in Week 8 against the Navy Midshipmen.