Big 12 Admits Referees Made Costly Mistake During BYU-Notre Dame Game

A Big 12 replay crew that restored one second for BYU at Arizona State in 2024 let Saturday’s finish stand with Notre Dame at the 8-yard line.

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The Big 12 conceded early Sunday that its replay booth ended No. 8 BYU’s 28-24 upset of No. 2 Notre Dame one snap too soon, leaving the Fighting Irish without a final shot from the Cougars’ 8-yard line.

The conference said in a statement that “time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew.” It promised a full review of its end-of-game officiating process before Week 8, but the result stands.

Why did Big 12 replay miss it?

As some have noted, there was indeed :01 on the bug clock when the pass hit the ground (BYU/ND). Replay should have reviewed to determine if the in-stadium clock was at :01 at that point and if so, ND would have had one more play.

— Terry McAulay (@tjmcaulay) October 18, 2026

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr hit wide receiver Micah Gilbert for a 5-yard first down with five seconds left, and the Irish called timeout. Carr’s next throw, a fade to Jaden Greathouse in the south end zone, fell incomplete as ABC’s scorebug showed 0:01. BYU fans flooded the field before anyone in the booth stopped play.

The booth had a written instruction for that moment. After the Week 1 Western Michigan-Michigan finish, the NCAA issued a memo declaring the in-stadium clock official and directing replay officials to the embedded game clock in the broadcast feed. Michigan’s 13-12 win came on a Hail Mary snapped after replay restored one second, so one second was enough for another Notre Dame snap.

NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay, a former NFL referee, wrote, “Replay should have reviewed to determine if the in-stadium clock was at :01 at that point and if so, ND would have had one more play.”

Big 12’s Tempe precedent from 2024

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The Big 12 put a second back in a nearly identical scene 23 months ago, with BYU on the receiving end. Arizona State fans stormed Mountain America Stadium on Nov. 23, 2024, before officials ruled one second remained in a 28-23 Sun Devils win. The field took roughly 15 minutes to clear, and the Cougars’ Hail Mary came up short.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake got his final snap that night. After Saturday’s game, he said the leftover second didn’t matter because “it was fourth down,” but Notre Dame had just converted a first down.

What does it cost Notre Dame?

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The loss dropped Notre Dame to 6-1 and snapped a 16-game winning streak. BYU moved to 6-0 after quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who accounted for four touchdowns, hit tight end Walker Lyons for the go-ahead score with 1:47 left in front of the College GameDay crowd.

Coach Marcus Freeman wasn’t asked about the clock, and he didn’t pin the loss on the crew for the no-call on Greathouse.

“I know people are going to look for me to put blame on somebody else. That’s not what we do around here. We own it,” Freeman said.

As an independent, Notre Dame has no conference title game to offset a loss. The Irish were left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff field last season, and their résumé now carries a four-point defeat on a drive the Big 12 says ended one play early.