College Football Has a One-Second Problem Again. This Time It Happened in the Big 12

When Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, as time seemingly expired, threw for the back-corner of the end zone towards wide receiver Jaden Greathouse, and the pass fell incomplete, the Cougars had scored a massive victory.

But BYU cornerback Evan Johnson was all up in Greathouse’s real estate, and the narrative shifted to the lack of a defensive pass interference call at a pivotal moment in the game.

ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin said on the ABC broadcast that he believed a flag should have been thrown for defensive pass interference.

But the most important words in that first sentence were ‘as time seemingly expired,’ for college football’s pesky one-second problem reared its ugly head once again at the end of a hard-fought top-10 battle won by the Cougars over the Fighting Irish.

Just six weeks after Michigan’s one-second-heard-’round-the-world game, in which a phantom second was added to the clock that allowed the Wolverines one last heave for the end zone, the troublesome second this time should have remained on the clock.

The issue was first pointed out by NBC’s Terry McAulay on social media.

“As some have noted, there was indeed :01 on the bug clock when the pass hit the ground (BYU/ND),” McAulay, a former NFL referee for 20 seasons, wrote on X. “Replay should have reviewed to determine if the in-stadium clock was at :01 at that point and if so, ND would have had one more play.”

Multiple videos on social media, pulled from the ABC broadcast, seemed to show that there was one second remaining on the game clock as Carr’s pass fell to the ground incomplete.

The officiating crew declared that the game was over, and a massive celebration at LaVell Edwards Stadium ensued, with thousands of BYU fans storming the field in elation.

Just a couple hours after the chaotic ending, the Big 12 spoke.

Big 12 admits ending of BYU-Notre Dame game was mishandled

Seeing as Notre Dame is an independent, the game was officiated by a crew from its opponent’s league, in this case, the Big 12. The conference said its crew had erred in declaring the game over.

“Following the Big 12's review of the final play of Saturday's Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew," the conference said in a statement. "The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week's games.”

Was the ending of BYU-Notre Dame reviewed by replay center?

Given the video evidence that shows both ABC’s scorebug clock and a stadium clock showing one second left, one would hope that replay would act as the second line of defense behind the officials.

In this case, per Fox Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira, it did not.

“I talked to the Big 12 center, they said replay did clear it, but it’s pretty obvious here there is a second left on the clock and there should’ve been another play for Notre Dame,” Pereira said.

The play, despite key differences, hearkens back to the Michigan-Western Michigan ending, in which officials, despite the broadcast game clock seemingly showing otherwise, put a second back on the clock, citing the in-stadium clock.

And there was no mea culpa from the Big Ten, which released a statement and video defending its process. The explanation was initially accepted by Western Michigan president Russ Kavalhuna, who said he discussed the ending with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. But Kavalhuna eventually said he believed the Big Ten’s replay process was “not as good as it could be”, and the Mid-American conference, which Western Michigan participates in, wrote letters to the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee and to College Football Playoff executive director Russ Clark, asking to have records and rankings reflect a Western Michigan win.

The committee, echoing the NCAA, said proper replay protocols were not followed by the Big Ten, but noted that it doesn’t have the authority to overturn the result.

It’s not clear if Notre Dame will pursue similar back channels to Western Michigan. Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman was not asked about the clock issue after the game.

In addition to snapping Notre Dame's 16-game winning streak dating back to last season, BYU’s victory carries significant College Football Playoff implications, giving the Cougars one of the best resume-boosting wins in the country. Unfortunately, the victory is now mired in controversy.