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Seven Takeaways From an Unforgettable BYU win over No. 2 Notre Dame

A deep dive into BYU's win over Notre Dame
Joe Wheat|
BYU Football Quarterback Bear Bachmeier against Notre Dame
BYU Football Quarterback Bear Bachmeier against Notre Dame | BYU Photo

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BYU Cougars

It was a perfect day in Provo. BYU announced itself on the national championship scene with a 28-24 win over no. 2 Notre Dame to the delight of 65,000 fans and the shock of the college football world. On a hectic and unforgettable Saturday, this was a crown jewel. A back-and-forth affair between two of the best teams in the country. Here is absolutely everything you need to know about a game no one will ever forget.

1. BYU has one of the best offensive coordinators in all of college football

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick at Fall Camp
BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick at Fall Camp | BYU Photo

To truly contextualize the magnitude of this offensive performance, we must first appreciate how good Notre Dame was coming into this game. Per FEI (and the AP Poll), Notre Dame was the #2 team in the country, with the #5 most efficient offense and #1 most efficient defense. Their defense ranked 3rd nationally in points per drive (.92), 1st in available yards allowed (24.9%), 1st in success rate (33.2%), and 2nd in yards per play (3.73). Without their best offensive player, BYU averaged 3.1 points per drive, gained 51.5% of available yards, had a 48% success rate, and averaged 5.5 yards per play. BYU’s combination of misdirection and physicality had the Irish looking lost in a way we rarely, if ever, see from a group that talented.

Any discussion about whether Aaron Roderick is the guy at offensive coordinator should be put to bed. BYU’s 360 yards were the most put up on Notre Dame this season by nearly 100 yards. BYU became the first team this season to score 20 offensive points on the Irish and did it in a single half. Even as the offense sputtered at times in the second half, they were never inept. Coming in, 44% of Notre Dame’s defensive drives ended in a 3-and-out. BYU cut that in half on Saturday. Everything about the game plan was perfect, from the 11 play, 75-yard opening touchdown drive that set the tone to the 10 play, 55-yard drive that sealed the game. Flowers can and should be sent to the BYU Student Athlete Building.

2. BYU should be the #1 team in the country

I know fans always think their team is “#1” but let’s have a real discussion. Saturday was a wild day of college football where 5 of the top 7 teams lost, including 2 to unranked opponents. Of the 2 that didn’t lose, #4 Ohio State has a loss to a team that now has 2 losses and #3 Miami was taken to double overtime by an unranked opponent. In terms of resume, BYU should unequivocally be considered the #1 team in the country as the only undefeated team with a top 5 win.

In terms of tape, it’s the same story. Coming in, Notre Dame had trailed for less than 7 minutes. BYU led for nearly 48 of the 59 minutes and 59 seconds played. They were +9% in success rate, +25% on third down, +0.8 in yards per play, and -1 in the turnover margin. This was no fluke. Two special teams blunders frankly made this game closer than it should have been. No “luck” needed. BYU not only belonged, but was better on this night than the team with the second-best odds to win the national championship. In my opinion, that would make BYU the number one team in the country.

3. The officials got it right

There will be some discussion on the controversy of how the game ended, including an uncalled pass interference and a hypothetical second left on the clock. That conversation does not interest me. I only bring it up to say this:

1. I don’t think that was pass interference. Both players engaged in hand-fighting and Johnson had completely let go by the time the ball was in a catchable position. That is a good no-call.

2. The Big 12 released a statement that there should have been one second when the ball fell incomplete, which video confirms. However, Notre Dame had 15 plays on that final drive and probably wasn't going to win on a 16th either. In the end, the right team won.

4. Bear Bachmeier should start getting Heisman consideration

It’s time to have a national reckoning about Bear Bachmeier. A very common take in the lead up to the game was that if Bear Bachmeier was going to be the entire offense, BYU was going to lose. That he was not a good enough passer to throw on the best secondary in the country nor physical enough to stand up to the best run defense in the country. How are we feeling about that now? Bachmeier accounted for all four BYU's touchdowns and 269 of BYU’s 360 total yards. He dropped back a career high 37 times and realistically had one bad throw with some absolute lasers in the clutch.

Facing off against a future first-round draft pick in CJ Carr, it was Bachmeier who had a +24% passing success rate over his counterpart on 3rd down, completing 67% of his third down throws for 6.8 yards per attempt, including the game-winning touchdown. Speaking of that last drive, when BYU had one final drive for their biggest regular-season win in program history, all 10 plays were run through Bachmeier: 6 passes and 4 rushes. If Heisman moments still exist, that was it. He’s a better passing Tim Tebow and BYU fans should not be embarrassed to say that. The kid isn’t just a “winner”. He’s one of the best players in college football and it’s time BYU started making some noise about it.

5. BYU’s front is top 5 worthy

BYU Football defensive end Nusi Taumoepeau pressures Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr
BYU Football Nusi Taumoepeau against Notre Dame | BYU Photo

We wrote in the pregame that BYU had a shot because of its offensive and defensive fronts. Boy were we correct. Losing Boubacar Traore on the first drive was obviously a huge loss for Notre Dame, but even without him, Notre Dame has the best defensive line BYU will face all season. Their 40% pressure rate against P4 opponents led the nation. Against BYU that pressure rate fell to 17.5% with no sacks and one QB hit. Only 2 of Notre Dame’s 6 total pressures were attributed to the offensive line with true freshman Bott Muitalo leading the team with an 86.5 pass blocking grade. In the run game, BYU’s offensive line generated more yards before contact (2.85 yards per carry) than Notre Dame’s average yards per carry total coming in (2.1).

On defense, BYU actually improved on its 14.5 pressures per game vs P4 opponents with 16 in this game. BYU’s 27.5% pressure rate on CJ Carr was the highest he’s faced this season and it showed. Against pressure, Carr completed 42% of his passes compared to 59.5% when not pressured. Against the run, BYU was equally impressive, holding leading rusher Jonaz Walton to 3.4 yards per carry. Only 3 of Notre Dame’s 30 rushing attempts gained more than 10 yards with a long of 26. Outside that run, Notre Dame rushed for 89 yards on 29 carries.

6. BYU has finally caught up in the skill positions

Close up of BYU wide receiver Legend Glasker on the final drive against Notre Dame
Legend Glasker makes a catch on the final drive against Notre Dame | Jaren Wilkey/BYU

We also wrote in the pregame that BYU had the skill position players to match up with Notre Dame. Again, that was correct. Kyle Kasper, Legend Glasker, and Walker Lyons belonged on that field with four future NFL players in Notre Dame’s secondary. Combined, they caught 16 passes on 21 targets for nearly 9 yards per attempt. By far the biggest hole on the roster was at running back, and all Preston Rex did was become the first player to average more than 3.6 yards per carry against Nore Dame this season, let alone his 6.6 average in the game. This group made plays all night long on a night when BYU needed it most.

On defense, Jayven Williams, Matthias Leach, Tre Alexander, and Evan Johnson were all spectacular, especially down the stretch. BYU’s secondary held Carr to his lowest pass efficiency performance of his career, which was also under his career average by nearly 75 points. This is an extremely talented Notre Dame passing attack. The catches their receivers made were so spectacular you just tip your cap. But when it mattered most, Evan Johnson was the best player on the field, and it won BYU the game. Skill positions are not easy to recruit at BYU, but my goodness has BYU done an incredible job. On a night where BYU played a skill position unit full of future NFL players, BYU’s were better.

BYU deserves an immense amount of credit for what it’s built along the lines of scrimmage. At this point, it is clearly national championship contender worthy.

7. BYU football will live on for another generation

Every generation of BYU fan has its founding myths. The Miracle Bowl begat the National Championship begat beating #1 Miami begat 14-1 in 1996 begat beating Oklahoma in 2009. These are the moments that define fandom for a lifetime. Saturday was one of those moments. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect day for a BYU fan.

It started with 30,000 of your closest friends at College Gameday, where a student won 3 million dollars on a made field goal, and Pat McAfee was preaching from the Book of Mormon. It finished with a win over the #2 team in the country and a field storm with the entire AP top 10 melting down in between. Saturday was arguably the greatest day in the history of college football and BYU was the main character.

This had all the makings of a moment. The kind that could get a full page in the 150 years of BYU football book yet to be written if things went right and BYU met that moment. As a result, an entire new generation of BYU fans has its founding myth. A young boy sitting next to me at the game cried watching Bear Bachmeier throw an interception only for those tears to turn joyful, just as his dad’s were for Beck to Harline, and his dad’s were for BYU over Miami. On and on we go. But today we enjoy the moment with the knowledge that, with as good as this team is, the job’s not finished and more is to come.

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Joe Wheat
JOE WHEAT

Joe Wheat has covered BYU since 2020. He specializes in passionate opinions fueled by statistics and advanced analytics. Joe’s goal in writing is to celebrate the everyday fan by understanding what they are feeling and giving them the data to understand why.

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