A missed call and a late clock issue weren't good, but Notre Dame did this to itself on Saturday
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Notre Dame saw its perfect season come to an end Saturday night at BYU as it fell to the Cougars, 28-24.
The Fighting Irish had chances all night, and a chance in the final seconds, but a pass attempt to Jaden Greathouse in the end zone fell incomplete, while no flag was thrown, and the game was declared over, despite replay showing one second remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground.
While frustrating, that's not the main reason Notre Dame lost to BYU.
And while the Notre Dame defense struggled mightily in the first half by allowing 21 points, it ultimately wound up doing enough to give the Fighting Irish a chance at victory.
One thing simply couldn't be overcome all night, though, and that's Notre Dame's execution in the red zone.
Notre Dame's Brutal Red Zone Showing Against BYU
Notre Dame won the turnover battle, was gifted a short field after an awful BYU decision to run a fake punt, and still managed to lose the game.
That's because Notre Dame epically failed in the red zone throughout the night.
On the night, Notre Dame made five trips to the red zone.
On those five visits, it walked away with a total of just 17 points, barely averaging a field goal per visit.
In a game that wound up being a four-point defeat, finding the end zone on just one more would have made the world of difference, the Fighting Irish fell short.
Obviously, the two that come to mind in the biggest way are the trips that resulted in no points at the end of each half: CJ Carr fumbling his attempt to spike the ball just before halftime, as three points there would have wound up being big, and at the end of the game when Carr's pass fell to the ground as the game ended.
That's two red zone trips with goose eggs, and the biggest reason Notre Dame walked out with a loss.
Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thought
When I watch Notre Dame regularly, I can't help but think how complimentary it plays.
Sometimes the defense is playing great, others it isn't. Same goes for the offense, but usually one is able to, for lack of a better term, pick up the other.
That wasn't the case on Saturday night for Notre Dame.
The defense didn't make stops in the first half, which caused the offense to press.
When one side struggles, the other needs to pick it up. That didn't happen for the vast majority of Saturday night's game, and the red zone woes speak to that.
If Notre Dame is going to right the course and end up in the College Football Playoff with a chance to win the whole thing, that needs to be cleaned up starting immediately following the off week.
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Published
Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.