Bear Bachmeier threw an interception with BYU down three and 8:05 left. Notre Dame had the ball, the lead and a chance to turn a loud night in Provo into a lesson about missed opportunities.
The next two possessions decided the game.
BYU’s defense forced a three-and-out. Bachmeier returned and drove the Cougars 55 yards in 10 plays, finding Walker Lyons for a six-yard touchdown with 1:47 left. Notre Dame then moved inside the BYU 10, but CJ Carr’s final throw sailed incomplete as time expired.
No. 8 BYU beat No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars are 6-0 for the third straight season. More important, they beat the highest-ranked opponent they have faced since the 1990 win over No. 1 Miami.
This was not a clean upset built on one lucky bounce. BYU led 21-10 at halftime, lost the lead after two special-teams mistakes, survived its quarterback’s interception and won the two drives that still offered a choice.
BYU-Notre Dame final receipt
| Game item | BYU | Notre Dame |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 28 | 24 |
| Total yards | 360 | 376 |
| Rushing yards | 121 | 115 |
| Passing yards | 239 | 261 |
| First downs | 23 | 22 |
| Third downs | 8 of 12 | 8 of 19 |
| Fourth downs | 0 of 1 | 4 of 4 |
| Red-zone scores | 4 of 4 | 3 of 5 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 29:02 | 30:58 |
| Record | 6-0 | 6-1 |
The official BYU event record is completed, the official box score carries the 28-24 final and WMT marks the statistics finalized. The permanent Notre Dame game center now carries the score, team comparison, leaders and official BYU video at the same URL fans used before kickoff.
Bachmeier’s strangest line was also his best answer
Bachmeier completed 23 of 36 passes for 224 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He rushed 13 times for 45 yards and two scores. He also caught a 15-yard touchdown from Kyler Kasper.
A quarterback passing, rushing and receiving for touchdowns in the same game sounds like a trick-play footnote. Here, it described the entire burden BYU placed on him.
The opening touchdown came on a five-yard keeper after Bachmeier moved the offense 75 yards in 11 plays. His receiving score came on a backward pass to Kasper, who threw the ball back across the field. Bachmeier followed his blockers for 15 yards and a 14-10 lead. His second rushing touchdown put BYU ahead 21-10 before halftime.
The passing touchdown had to wait until BYU had made the job much harder.
Notre Dame took a 24-21 lead with 9:31 remaining. Bachmeier answered by reaching Irish territory, then threw an interception to Jayden Sanders at the Notre Dame 15. That mistake could have swallowed every clever thing BYU had done before it.
Instead, the defense returned the ball three plays later.
Bachmeier’s next drive was calm without being conservative. Jojo Phillips converted third down with a nine-yard catch. Legend Glasker gained 26 to the Notre Dame 15. Bachmeier ran three straight times and moved the ball to the 1. A false start backed BYU to the 6 on third down.
That penalty removed the obvious quarterback sneak. Bachmeier stayed in the pocket and hit Lyons on a slant in tight coverage.
The useful part of his night was not the novelty of touching three touchdown categories. It was his response after the interception. BYU asked the same quarterback who had just given the ball away to win the game, and he did it before Notre Dame could take another snap.
The defense kept paying for BYU’s mistakes
Notre Dame scored 14 second-half points. Eleven came from possessions that started in BYU territory after special-teams failures.
Cannon DeVries muffed a third-quarter punt at the BYU 41. The defense allowed one fourth-down conversion but stopped the Irish short of the end zone, forcing a 31-yard field goal.
On BYU’s next possession, a fake punt lost four yards and handed Notre Dame the ball at the BYU 30. Again the defense forced a field goal, this time from 39 yards.
That sequence cut the lead from 21-10 to 21-16. It should have been worse. Notre Dame received two short fields and scored six points.
The defense made the same kind of repair after Bachmeier’s interception. Cade Uluave dropped the first Irish play for a four-yard loss. Notre Dame gained nothing on second down and threw incomplete on third. The three-and-out gave BYU possession at its own 45 after DeVries’ 23-yard punt return.
Uluave finished with nine tackles. Raider Damuni had seven tackles and a pass breakup in his first action since the season opener. Jayven Williams recovered Carr’s fumbled spike late in the first half, protecting the 21-10 lead when Notre Dame had reached the BYU 5.
None of those stops erased the mistakes. They changed the price. The muffed punt and fake punt cost six points rather than 14. The interception cost field position rather than the game. Carr’s fumble removed at least a field-goal attempt before halftime.
Against No. 2, BYU did not play error-free football. It repeatedly kept one error from becoming two.
Four-for-four on fourth down was almost enough for Notre Dame
The final defensive line has an uncomfortable number in it: Notre Dame converted all four fourth-down attempts.
Carr and the Irish kept extending possessions that should have ended. They converted fourth down on both second-half scoring drives, then did it twice on the final possession. The last conversion moved Notre Dame inside the BYU 10 with four seconds left.
BYU did not solve the down. It survived the sequence.
That matters because the final stand was not a dominant four-play shutdown. Notre Dame drove 66 yards in 15 plays after Lyons’ touchdown. Carr found Jaden Greathouse for a 24-yard gain and Jordan Faison for another conversion. BYU’s rush came close several times without producing a sack.
The defense still kept the end zone clean. Carr finished 27 of 49 for 261 yards but did not throw a touchdown. Greathouse caught eight passes for 125 yards, yet his final target fell incomplete. Notre Dame reached the red zone five times and scored touchdowns on two of them.
BYU was perfect on four red-zone trips. Notre Dame was not. In a four-point game with nearly even yardage, that was the difference hiding behind all the late drama.
Kasper and Glasker stretched a defense that wanted Bachmeier boxed in
BYU entered the game without a normal LJ Martin-centered backfield. Preston Rex became the lead runner and gained 66 yards on 10 carries. Bachmeier supplied 45 more, but the offense needed receivers to stop Notre Dame from squeezing every important down.
Kasper caught six passes for 66 yards and completed the touchdown throw to Bachmeier. Glasker added five catches for 66 yards, including the 26-yarder on the winning drive. Lyons caught five for 49 and the deciding score.
That distribution mattered more than any one total. Three targets forced Notre Dame to defend different parts of the field, and Rex punished the space with a 23-yard run during BYU’s late first-half touchdown drive.
The Iowa State recap identified the red zone as the obvious Notre Dame-week problem after BYU scored on only three of five trips. Saturday supplied the answer: four trips, four touchdowns.
BYU did not reach 400 yards. It did not produce a 100-yard rusher or receiver. It did turn every red-zone visit into seven points against a defense that had allowed only 66 points in six games.
That is a much more useful offensive receipt than another 500-yard night with empty possessions.
The biggest win came with a warning label
BYU beat an unbeaten No. 2 team, ended Notre Dame’s 16-game winning streak and moved to 6-0. It also lost a 21-10 lead, committed two turnovers and gave the Irish two short fields on special teams.
Both descriptions belong in the same recap.
The celebration is earned. BYU built an 11-point halftime lead, answered Notre Dame’s comeback and made the final stop. Bachmeier delivered one of the oddest complete quarterback performances the program has seen, and the defense held a top-two opponent to 24 despite repeatedly inheriting bad situations.
The warning is just as plain. Fourth-down defense cannot keep going 0-for-4. A muffed punt and failed fake punt will lose a less forgiving game. The offense scored only once after halftime and needed that drive to be perfect.
Saturday was valuable because BYU won without hiding any of those flaws. The Cougars now have a top-two win and a fresh correction list.
UCF comes next, without an open week to exhale
BYU travels to Orlando to face UCF on Saturday, Oct. 24. The UCF game center will carry the official kickoff, broadcast, live and postgame details as BYU Athletics confirms them. The football schedule and results page carry the full season.
The next opponent will not care how long Provo celebrated. BYU has one week to repair punt decisions, close fourth downs and redistribute the emotional energy spent on a final snap against No. 2.
That work can wait until the film starts. For one night, the last two drives were enough: the defense gave Bachmeier another chance, Bachmeier gave BYU the lead, and the defense kept it by one incomplete pass.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: official BYU-Notre Dame recap, official box score, postgame notes and quotes and official event record for the final, scoring sequence, completed status, venue, records and stable event ID.
- WMT Statistics: BYU 28, Notre Dame 24 and finalized player statistics for team totals, down efficiency, red-zone results, possession time, attendance and individual lines.
- Notre Dame Athletics: Irish rally, then fall late at BYU for opponent-side confirmation of the final drive, Carr and Greathouse totals, Traore’s ejection and Notre Dame’s second-half defensive response.
- Associated Press game report for independent confirmation of the final, Notre Dame’s 16-game winning streak, BYU’s third straight 6-0 start and the late interception-to-touchdown sequence.
- Notre Dame Athletics brand standards and BYU brand colors for the verified palettes used in the original matchup art.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Notre Dame game center, How to Watch BYU-Notre Dame, football hub, schedule and results.
