The Big 12 conference admitted early Sunday that its replay booth ended No. 8 BYU’s 28-24 upset of No. 2 Notre Dame one snap too soon. According to a statement released October 18, the error left the Fighting Irish without a final scoring opportunity from the Cougars' 8-yard line.
The conference stated that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew. While the result of the game stands, the Big 12 promised a full review of its end-of-game officiating process before Week 8.
During the game, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr completed a 5-yard pass to wide receiver Micah Gilbert for a first down with five seconds remaining, prompting the Irish to call a timeout. Carr's subsequent pass to Jaden Greathouse in the south end zone fell incomplete while the ABC scorebug displayed 0:01. This led to BYU fans flooding the field before the replay booth intervened to stop play.
The error occurred despite NCAA directives following a Week 1 matchup between Western Michigan and Michigan. That memo instructed replay officials to use the embedded game clock in the broadcast feed rather than the in-stadium clock. NBC rules analyst and former NFL referee Terry McAulay noted that replay should have determined if the in-stadium clock was at 0:01, which would have granted Notre Dame one additional play.
Following the 28-24 loss, BYU moved to 6-0, led by quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who recorded four touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to tight end Walker Lyons with 1:47 remaining. Notre Dame fell to 6-1, snapping a 16-game winning streak. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman stated that the team would own the loss rather than placing blame on the officiating crew.
This incident mirrors a 2024 event involving BYU at Mountain America Stadium. On Nov. 23, 2024, Arizona State fans entered the field before officials ruled one second remained in a 28-23 Sun Devils victory. In that instance, BYU coach Kalani Sitake noted the remaining second did not matter because the play was on fourth down.
Because Notre Dame competes as an independent, the team has no conference title game to offset the loss. The defeat leaves the Irish with a four-point deficit on a drive that the Big 12 admitted ended one play early.
