One Second Left in Provo
Picture the last snap at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Notre Dame trails BYU 28-24, the clock reads five seconds, and CJ Carr hits Micah Gilbert for five yards and a first down. Notre Dame takes a timeout. Then Carr throws toward Jaden Greathouse in the end zone. Incomplete. The clock shows zero, and BYU’s sideline erupts.
Replays told another story. The ball hit the ground with one second still showing. An incomplete pass stops the clock, so Notre Dame was owed one more play, from around the 8-yard line.
The Big 12 admitted as much. In a statement carried by the Deseret News, the conference said time remained when the pass fell and that the replay crew wrongly let the game end. It also announced a review of its end-of-game officiating procedures.
A second possible miss
The clock may not have been the only error on that snap. BYU defensive back Evan Johnson made heavy contact with Greathouse, and ABC rules analyst Matt Austin said on the broadcast, “I think it warranted a flag.” Austin argued Johnson was playing the receiver, not the ball. Pass interference is a judgment call, though, and the Big 12 has said nothing publicly about the non-call.
The conference has had a rough season on this front. Observers cite clock trouble in Michigan-Western Michigan, a missed illegal dropkick flag in Tennessee-Texas and a wrong spot on a two-point try in Oregon-UCLA.
What it does to the playoff picture
None of this proves Notre Dame wins. The Irish still needed a touchdown against a BYU team that led 21-10 at halftime, answered Notre Dame’s fourth-quarter rally to 24-21 with a late go-ahead drive, and got four touchdowns from quarterback Bear Bachmeier.
But the stakes are real. Notre Dame came in ranked No. 2 and unbeaten, and the loss to No. 8 BYU ended a 16-game winning streak and dropped the Irish to 6-1. It landed on a Saturday when the No. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 teams in the AP Poll all lost, so the national race is wide open.
Notre Dame’s remaining schedule is thin. The best win so far is Wisconsin in Week 1, and the Badgers have since lost to UCLA. The big chance is Miami in November, in South Bend. Win that and finish clean, and the BYU game fades into a footnote. Lose, and a 10-2 finish with this schedule might not be enough.
Sources
- Notre Dame on Cusp of Missing CFP and 8 Overreactions after Week 7 of 2026 College Football Season
- CFP Bracketology: Week 6
- Notre Dame Was Robbed: Big 12 Admits Clock Error Cost Irish One Final Shot at BYU
Photo: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Public domain)
