Red-zone failures cost No. 2 Notre Dame against No. 8 BYU

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Missed chances in the red zone doomed Notre Dame against BYU.

The No. 2 Irish failed to reach the end zone on both their game-ending drive and final first-half drive. It proved to be the difference in a 28-24 loss to the No. 8 Cougars on Saturday night.

Notre Dame’s final drive before halftime unraveled in a frustrating and unusual fashion.

CJ Carr drove the Irish down to the BYU 5 and went to spike the ball in the final seconds to preserve time for a final play. Carr mishandled the ball on the spike and it slipped out of his hand. Isaiah Glasker immediately pounced on the ball seconds later.

After a review, officials ruled Carr had fumbled the ball — leaving Notre Dame empty handed on a critical drive. It was just the second turnover the Irish had committed this season.

“It’s a crucial crucial play,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “That again, I’ve never seen it happen with us. Obviously, maybe it just happened at other places but we can’t allow that to happen.”

Notre Dame initially overcame the gaffe by capitalizing on a pair of special teams mistakes by the Cougars in the third quarter. Cannon DeViries muffed a punt at the BYU 41. Then, one drive later, Fuller Shurtz ran on a fake punt and got tackled for a 4-yard loss at the BYU 24.

“That’s on me,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said concerning Shurtz’s fake punt. “I thought we had a good call in there. Notre Dame had a better one.”

The Irish did not fully capitalize, settling for back-to-back field goals from Spencer Porath from 31 yards and 39 yards to cut into a 21-10 halftime deficit.

Notre Dame seemed to have momentum squarely on its side after Jayden Sanders picked off a pass from Bear Bachmeier at the Irish 15 with 8:05 remaining. But the Irish went three-and-out after the takeaway.

Bachmeier quickly moved the Cougars down the field again and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 6-yard pass to Walker Lyons with 1:47 left.

Notre Dame had a final chance after reaching the BYU 8. But Carr could not connect with Greathouse in the end zone on the final play.

“I probably could’ve given him a better one,” Carr said.

The Big 12 acknowledged in a statement that there was one second left on the game clock when the game ended. The Irish would have been able to run a final play had the error not occurred.

“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 said in a statement. “The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games.”

The Cougars allowed Notre Dame to go 4 of 4 on fourth down, including a dramatic 6-yard catch by Marcus Gilbert on the penultimate play of the final drive. But they got enough stops at just the right moments for their first victory over a Top 10 foe since 2018.

“We thrive for those moments,” BYU linebacker Cade Uluave said. “We want those moments. Credit to the guys for going out there and balling.”

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