The Big 12 Conference admitted to an officiating error regarding the final play of the game between No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 8 BYU, according to a report published October 18. The conference determined that time should have remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground, meaning the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew.
During the final seconds of the game, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr threw a pass toward Jaden Greathouse in the right corner of the end zone. While contact occurred between Greathouse and a BYU defender, no flag was thrown, and the game clock failed to stop. This error occurred during a drive where Carr had previously converted multiple crucial fourth-down attempts, including a 4th-and-3, 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-3, and 4th-and-5.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake stated after the game that he initially believed the Cougars had won on the final play. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman described the situation as chaos and noted that his team would review the play, stating that they own their performance and must execute better regardless of the situation.
The game saw Notre Dame rally from a 21-10 halftime deficit to take a 24-21 lead before falling behind 28-24 in the closing moments. Earlier on Saturday, Oct. 17, several top teams including No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Indiana, No. 6 Texas, and No. 7 Alabama all lost their respective games.
The Big 12 stated it will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process before next week's games.
