Social Media Reacts to Notre Dame vs BYU Finish: Was That Pass Interference?

College Football was full of upsets in Week 7, and that included No. 2 Notre Dame.

The 5-0 Irish lost to No. 8 BYU, who was also undefeated, in Provo, Utah. But none of the games had an ending like what happened in Notre Dame's 28-24 loss to the Cougars.

Here's the final play of the game where Carr targets senior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse in the end zone.

But should it have been the final play of the game? You decide for yourself.

The game clock showed one second left on the clock, and since it was first down, Carr and the Notre Dame offense might have had one more shot to win the game - at the very least, the moment seemed like it would've deserved a longer look.

But that wasn't the only controversial moment. What about BYU defensive back Evan Johnson not getting call for pass interference or defensive holding?

And, to no surprise, people had plenty to say on social media about how the game ended.

I'm not one who complains about the officiating too often, but the officials appeared to make two mistakes on that final play. There was clearly one second left in the game, and that was a penalty on Johnson.

Personally, I thought it was defensive pass interference, but if it wasn't PI, it was at least defensive holding.

Either way, Notre Dame should have had one more shot to win the game. And if they do score and win the game, they're the clear-cut No. 1 team in the nation and on cruise control to the College Football Playoff.

Instead, they're one loss away from potentially missing the CFP for the second straight year.

But let me make another thing perfectly clear: That's not why Notre Dame lost.

CJ Carr's fumble on the spike attempt at the end of the first half really hurt Notre Dame, and, ultimately, was the difference in the Irish playing for three vs. seven to end the game.

But what really was the difference in the game was Notre Dame's slow start and third-down conversion rate.

Notre Dame was just eight of 19 on third down against the Cougars, and that's simply not going to get it done against a team of BYU's caliber. Going 4-for-4 on fourth down certainly helped the ND offense, but a couple of those fourth-down conversions were late in the game when the Irish had to go for it.

Meanwhile, the ND defense simply couldn't get off the field on third down. BYU went 8-for-12 on third down and did a great job of extending drives.

But the main reason why ND lost was because of its slow start.

The Irish trailed the entire first half, and the defense really had no answers for BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier in the first half. The Cougars scored on three of its first four possessions, and make no mistake about it, they carved up the ND defense in the first half.

And despite the controversial ending, those are the main two reasons why ND's perfect season came to an end.

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JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster