Even days after BYU’s 28-24 victory against Notre Dame, Hall of Fame quarterback Gifford Nielsen was still stuck in amazement. The unprecedented moment unfolded before his eyes on Saturday, and it reminded him of the vision LaVell Edwards had for BYU football five decades earlier.
“I remember sitting in LaVell’s office and we were talking about what this program could become,” Nielsen told the “Y’s Guys” podcast this week. “He was committed to the passing game. He wanted to be relevant. He said, ‘We are going to do this.’”
Nielsen and his wife Wendy stood on the field before the game and watched the Cougar Marching Band perform the fight song and then the national anthem before the powerful F-35 flyover. It was almost too much.
“When those jets came overhead, I got tears in my eyes and they were rolling down my cheeks,” he said. “Wendy looked at me and said, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ I said, ‘What has been built in the last 50 years?’ The stadium is packed with all the emotion of the fans who have been here for two hours and now we are on the national stage. What has been built in the last 50 years? I turned my attention to my coach and thought, ‘Wow! What we started in 1976 and where we are right now.’”
Nielsen returned to the field for the final play and watched Notre Dame’s last pass attempt fall incomplete in the corner of the end zone to give the single greatest night in BYU football history an exclamation point.
“What’s happening here is just above and beyond anything we could have imagined and it’s because of Kalani (Sitake) and the way he is coaching these kids and the way he is teaching them correct principles,” Nielsen said. “He’s got these guys believing and he’s got them believing in a higher purpose. Now, the key is to keep them focused and help them understand that they are in the driver’s seat of a higher purpose and that is to go to (UCF) and not stub your toe (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDT, Fox).”
Rare Bear
Watching Bear Bachmeier march BYU down the field late in the fourth quarter and throw a game-winning touchdown pass to Walker Lyons only solidified what Nielsen has long believed about the sophomore quarterback.
BYU should also thank this official for doing a hell of a job of ducking out of the way on what proved to be Bear Bachmeier's game-winning touchdown pass. pic.twitter.com/bwGGNeujiy
— Drew Mentock (@AndrewMentock) October 18, 2026
“I’m just so impressed with him and the way he handles himself and the way he just guts it out and he makes plays,” he said. “How many times have we seen him just put the game on his shoulders and say, ‘This is not too big for me!’”
Bachmeier is 18-2 as BYU’s starter. He has won with his legs, and he has won with his arm. He has won with LJ Martin, the Big 12’s top running back, and he has won without him.
“He’s winning with his heart and he’s winning with his mind. He’s winning as a leader,” Nielsen said. “He has tremendous mechanics and A-Rod has done a fabulous job putting him in situations to succeed.”
At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Nielsen earned first-team All-America status at BYU in 1976 and contended for the Heisman Trophy. His Cougar career was cut short by a knee injury, and naturally, he is looking out for Bachmeier.
“One thing I’m a little worried about is the punishment he takes when he starts to run. He’s like Taysom (Hill), you can’t not run him,” Nielsen said. “You have to run him because that puts a lot of pressure on a defense, but I’m hoping that he can showcase his arm even more and then run when he needs to, but he still has to run those option plays because it is so tough to stop.”
Final play
Trailing 28-24 with four seconds remaining, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr threw an incomplete pass in the end zone. The stadium scoreboard showed one second remaining, but the officials declared the game over and the crowd stormed the field.
The debate over whether the scoreboard operator started the clock late or if the officials botched the ending has cast a slight shadow over BYU’s signature win. Nielsen has his own opinion.
“There is no way you can snap the ball, get it to the quarterback and the quarterback roll to his right and throw a 15-20 yard pass in under four seconds,” he said. “Let’s just put that to rest right now. There is no way that can happen. That was a legitimate win for BYU, no questions asked.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.