PROVO, Utah — Bear Bachmeier threw a go-ahead touchdown pass with 1:47 left and No. 8 BYU stopped No. 2 Notre Dame at the goal line to preserve a riveting 28-24 victory Saturday night.
The thriller capped a wild Saturday in which five of the top 8 teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same regular-season day for the first time, per Sportradar. Paired with No. 1 Georgia's 27-24 loss to Auburn, the top two teams in the country lost on the same day for the first time in the regular season since Nov. 17, 2012.
Bachmeier ran for two TDs, caught another and had 224 yards passing to help the Cougars (6-0) beat the Irish for the first time since 2004. Preston Rex added 66 yards on 10 carries to help BYU start 6-0 for the third consecutive season.
The Cougars earned their first win over a top-10 opponent since 2018.
“We’re tired of being disrespected,” Bachmeier said. “We know who we are. This was a great win for sure.”
After Bachmeier’s go-ahead score, CJ Carr completed several clutch passes to drive the Irish (6-1) into Cougar territory, including a fourth-down pass to Micah Gilbert that put Notre Dame at the BYU 9 with four seconds left. His final pass fell incomplete in the end zone.
“We had them on the ropes, and we couldn’t find a way to finish,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “They found a way to get a stop when they needed it the most.”
The Irish cut an 11-point halftime deficit to five going into the fourth quarter after scoring field goals following a muffed punt return and a failed fake punt by the Cougars. Jonaz Walton plowed across the goal line on a 3-yard run to put Notre Dame in front with 9:31 left.
Bachmeier led BYU into Notre Dame territory, but Jayden Sanders picked off a pass at the Irish 15 with 8:05 remaining.
“We knew our offense could score and we knew they could get us in position to take the lead,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “We’ve been in these tight games before. It felt normal for us.”
After the Cougars forced a 3-and-out, Bachmeier drove BYU 55 yards in 10 plays and found Walker Lyons on a go-ahead 6-yard grab with 1:47 left.
Carr threw for 261 yards and Nolan James Jr. added 77 yards and a touchdown on the ground for the Irish. Notre Dame ended a 16-game winning streak.
“I thought we moved the ball well and just didn’t end up punching in some of those red zone opportunities we had,” Carr said.
Bachmeier used a combination of efficient passing and tough running to put the Irish on their heels early. He completed 72% of his passes in the first half.
BYU capped its opening drive with Bachmeier’s five-yard TD run up the middle.
Notre Dame took a 10-7 lead on an 8-yard run from James. Then Bachmeier punished the Irish defense on back-to-back drives. He caught a short pass from Kyler Kasper and rumbled 15 yards to put BYU back in front. Then Bachmeier dove over the goal line from a yard out to extend the Cougars’ lead to 21-10 going into halftime.
The Takeaway
Notre Dame: The Irish struggled to finish drives at critical times, turning the ball over once in the red zone and settling for field goals after twice starting drives in BYU territory.
BYU: The Cougars had a chance to go up 28-10 in the third quarter before a pick penalty by Kasper wiped out a 39-yard touchdown catch by JoJo Phillips. The Cougars then committed back-to-back special teams gaffes that let the Irish back in the game.
Touchdown trifecta
With his second quarter touchdown catch, Bachmeier became the only FBS quarterback over the last 30 seasons to have a rushing TD and a receiving TD against an AP Top 25 opponent. He also became the first quarterback since Steve Young in the 1983 Holiday Bowl to record a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game.
“It’s nice to be able to use him in so many different ways,” Sitake said. “With Bear’s skills, you can do a lot of different things with him.”
Bachmeier said he had something extra to prove to the Irish after being lightly recruited by Notre Dame.
“Out of high school, Notre Dame disrespected me and my family pretty badly and I wasn’t going to lose to those guys,” Bachmeier said. “There was no way I was going to lose to those guys tonight.”
Spike failure
The Irish drove to the BYU 5 in the final seconds of the first half. Carr fumbled while trying to spike the ball, and Isaiah Glasker pounced on it to help the Cougars maintain a two-score lead going into the locker room.
It was just the second turnover of the season for Notre Dame.
“It’s a crucial, crucial play,” 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."
Up next
Notre Dame is at Navy on Oct. 31.
BYU is at UCF on Oct. 24.
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