Notre Dame lost its best pass rusher barely minutes into the game. But apparently, that wasn’t enough. By the final whistle, another controversial officiating decision had given the Fighting Irish plenty more to be furious about. No. 2 Notre Dame entered Provo undefeated at 6-0, only to leave with a 28-24 loss to No. 8 BYU, a snapped 16-game winning streak, and an officiating controversy that wasn’t going away anytime soon.
“Notre Dame star DT Boubacar Traore has been ejected after being called for targeting on BYU’s Bear Bachmeier,” TSN reported via X.
Traore was disqualified less than three minutes into the game after officials upheld a targeting call for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bachmeier. His early ejection was a significant blow to the Fighting Irish, as BYU turned the 15-yard penalty into a 75-yard touchdown drive. Bachmeier finished it with a five-yard run, while Notre Dame’s remaining pass rushers failed to record a sack.
But Traore’s ejection wasn’t the only officiating decision that left Notre Dame frustrated.
The final play was an embarrassment for the officiating crew. After driving Notre Dame to BYU’s 7-yard line with four seconds left and no timeouts, CJ Carr faced an all-out blitz. He floated a fade toward Jaden Greathouse, who appeared to be contacted by defender Evan Johnson before the ball fell incomplete. No pass interference flag. And despite the clock showing one second remaining when the ball hit the ground, officials declared the game over. BYU celebrated, while Notre Dame was denied another shot at the end zone. So much for getting the final call right.
Warren Sharp also reported on the one-second controversy via an X post: “There is CLEARLY 1 SECOND LEFT. Just watch it back in slo-mo; it’s not close. clock doesn’t even get to 0:00 as I replay it.”
“Forget the BYU pass interference for a second… how did they NOT review an obvious second left on the clock for Notre Dame????” Chase Snyder’s X post read.
The Big 12 acknowledged the officiating error after reviewing the controversial finish. The conference confirmed that one second remained on the clock and that the replay crew incorrectly ruled 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 will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games,” according to an X post by Chris Vannini.
“It was chaos, man,” Freeman said afterward, via Pete Sampson, adding that the fade was a reaction to BYU’s pressure from that side.
Notre Dame had also squandered scoring opportunities earlier. Trailing 21-10 just before halftime, Carr attempted to spike the ball at BYU’s 5-yard line but lost possession. After a review, officials ruled it a fumble, and BYU recovered, costing the Irish at least three potential points.
Notre Dame bounced back with 14 unanswered points to take a 24-21 lead with 9:31 remaining. Jayden Sanders later intercepted Bachmeier, but the Irish offense failed to capitalize. Bachmeier eventually found Walker Lyons for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:47 left. Carr finished 27 of 49 for 261 yards, while Greathouse had eight catches for 125.
For Bachmeier, however, the victory was about more than just beating the No. 2 team in the country.
“We’re tired of being disrespected, and I don’t know, maybe because we’re the color blue, ‘nothing will happen,'” Bachmeier said, according to an X post by FOX College Football. “But that was a bad joke, but we’re tired of being disrespected. I mean, we know who we are, and man, this was a great win for sure.”
“Kalani [Sitake, BYU’s head coach] won’t like this because I’m talking about myself, but out of high school, Notre Dame disrespected me and my family pretty badly, and I wasn’t going to lose to those guys. There was no way I was going to lose to those guys tonight.”
Bachmeier finished with four total touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving, and the game-winning passing touchdown). He also confirmed that he had “receipts” regarding the recruiting issues, making the victory personal.
Notre Dame’s first loss has complicated its College Football Playoff outlook, leaving the Fighting Irish with little room for another setback. The Irish have a bye next week, followed by a Navy matchup on October 31 and Miami on November 7, while BYU (6-0) is set to face UCF next.
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