While the game ended in controversy on the final play from scrimmage, it’s hard to say the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish played their best football against the No. 8 BYU Cougars on Saturday night.
Notre Dame entered halftime trailing 21-10 but eventually took a 24-21 lead before giving it right back to BYU, which scored with just over 1:30 remaining to go up 28-24.
The Fighting Irish drove down the field and had an opportunity to score a go-ahead touchdown with first-and-goal and four seconds left.
However, quarterback CJ Carr threw an incomplete pass on a play that some believed warranted a pass interference penalty. The final play also sparked questions about whether time remained on the clock.
Nonetheless, the officials didn’t throw a flag, and BYU fans stormed the field as the Cougars celebrated what was potentially the biggest win in program history.
Marcus Freeman Drops Honest Quote After Loss
Despite the controversial ending, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman didn’t play the blame game after the loss.
“It is what it is. I know people are going to look for me to put blame on somebody else. That’s not what we do around here,” Freeman said. “We own it, and we’ve got to be better, and we’ve got to execute no matter what the situation is.”
“We own it, and we’ve got to be better, and we’ve got to execute no matter what the situation is.”
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman takes ownership after the Irish fall 28-24 to BYU on the final play in Provo https://t.co/cFRdrVPGnW
— Brendan Reidy (@BreidyTV) October 18, 2026
Big 12 Releases Statement on Final Play
The Big 12 later acknowledged that replay officials incorrectly blew the whistle and ended the game with one second still on the clock.
“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 Big 12 wrote in a statement. “The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games.”
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman Drops Honest Quote After Loss to BYU