(Photo: Jason Strother/Fighting Irish Preview)
Notre Dame’s first loss in 399 days was painful, frustrating and, in some respects, entirely avoidable. But the 28–24 defeat at BYU didn’t suddenly transform a national championship contender into an ordinary football team. It did, however, expose some problems that had been obscured by six consecutive victories, most of them convincing.
The Irish are 6–1, and their goals remain within reach. But the comfortable margin for error that accompanied their undefeated start is gone. The next five games will determine whether Saturday’s defeat becomes a turning point or the beginning of a disappointing finish.
Remember 2024? Notre Dame was 1–1 after an embarrassing home loss to Northern Illinois. The Irish responded by winning 13 straight games, beating Indiana, Georgia and Penn State in the College Football Playoff before reaching the national championship game.
Remember 2025? Notre Dame opened 0–2 after losses to Miami and Texas A&M. With its season seemingly on the brink, the Irish rattled off ten consecutive victories. That remarkable recovery wasn’t enough to earn a playoff invitation, but it demonstrated something important about Marcus Freeman’s teams: Adversity hasn’t defined them. How they’ve responded to it has.
A Game Notre Dame Could Have Won
BYU deserves big time credit. Bear Bachmeier was outstanding, accounting for four touchdowns and repeatedly finding ways to extend drives. The Cougars played with confidence, handled the pressure of a top-ten showdown and made the plays that mattered most.
Notre Dame’s problems began before the opening kickoff. Barely an hour before game time, the Irish announced that tight end Cooper Flanagan would be unavailable because of a hamstring injury. Then, on just the fifth play of the game, Notre Dame lost its best pass rusher, Boubacar Traore, to a targeting ejection. Two significant pieces of the Irish attack, one on each side of the ball, were gone almost before the game had begun.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, left lots and lots, on the field.
The Irish outgained BYU 376–360 and won the turnover battle, but managed just 115 rushing yards and failed to produce a single sack. CJ Carr attempted a career-high 49 passes, completing 27 for 261 yards without a touchdown. Jaden Greathouse was excellent, catching eight passes for 125 yards, but the offense lacked the balance that had made it so dangerous in recent weeks.
The biggest problem was finishing drives. Notre Dame turned two excellent third-quarter scoring opportunities, both beginning in BYU territory, into just six points.
And then there’s the officiating controversy, which is real, legitimate and impossible to ignore.
Just before halftime, what initially appeared to be a routine spike by CJ Carr was overturned after replay, with officials ruling that Carr had lost possession before throwing the ball to the ground. BYU recovered, and a promising Notre Dame scoring opportunity disappeared. It was an unusual and consequential ruling.
The ending was even more controversial. Replays showed significant contact on Notre Dame’s intended receiver in the end zone, but no pass interference penalty was called. ABC rules analyst Matt Austin believed the contact warranted a flag. And there was another problem: the game wasn’t actually over. The Big 12 subsequently acknowledged that one second should have remained on the clock, giving Notre Dame another opportunity to score.
These aren’t imaginary grievances or excuses invented by disappointed fans. The officiating questions are legitimate, and the conference itself has acknowledged a mistake. Notre Dame was denied a final opportunity to win the game.
But none of that changes the final score, and dwelling on it accomplishes nothing. BYU played an outstanding game, Bear Bachmeier was terrific, and Notre Dame had plenty of opportunities to take control of the outcome long before those final seconds.
I’ve been following Notre Dame football closely for most of my life, including more than 30 years covering the Irish professionally. That ought to earn me the right to preach just a little. So here goes: If Notre Dame fans expect their team to play like champions, they ought to react to a loss like champions, too.
The Running Game Needs to Be a Strength Again
One of the most encouraging developments of Notre Dame’s first six games was the emergence of a powerful, versatile running attack. The offensive line was improving, the backs were producing and the Irish were becoming increasingly difficult to defend.
Against BYU, that identity largely disappeared.
After rushing for 241 yards against North Carolina and 361 against Stanford, Notre Dame managed just 115 against the Cougars. Nolan James provided some tough running, but the offense became increasingly dependent on Carr’s arm.
And what about Jonaz Walton? One week after his spectacular 181-yard performance against Stanford, the freshman received only five carries. He didn’t really get his opportunity until the fourth-quarter drive that put Notre Dame ahead 24–21. And when he finally got his chance, he looked every bit as explosive as he had against Stanford, scoring a touchdown and then adding the two-point conversion on the ground.
It’s fair to wonder why it took so long to get him involved.
Not every opponent will allow Walton to break a 97-yard touchdown run. But his explosiveness demands more opportunities, and Notre Dame has too much talent in its backfield to become a one-dimensional offense.
A balanced attack isn’t just preferable. Against the opponents Notre Dame hopes to face in December and January, it’s essential.
The Defense Has Some Work to Do, Too
Notre Dame’s defense entered Provo with some extraordinary numbers, but BYU found ways to challenge it that previous opponents hadn’t.
The Irish struggled to generate pressure on Bear Bachmeier, finishing without a sack. BYU converted eight of twelve third-down opportunities, allowing the Cougars to sustain drives and control important stretches of the game. Losing Boubacar Traore on the fifth play certainly didn’t help.
But let’s give the defense some credit. During Notre Dame’s second-half comeback, the Irish forced two consecutive three-and-outs, giving the offense opportunities to erase an 11-point halftime deficit. And Jayden Sanders’ fourth-quarter interception should have put Notre Dame in position to finish the job.
Instead, the Irish couldn’t protect their 24–21 lead. BYU’s winning touchdown drive was a reminder that championship defenses have to make one final stop when everything is on the line.
The bye week offers an opportunity to get healthier, particularly in the secondary. Paging Brauntae Johnson. The Irish could certainly use his playmaking ability as they prepare for the final five games.
College Football Turned Upside Down
If Notre Dame had to lose a football game, Saturday wasn’t the worst day to do it.
Five of the nation’s top seven teams went down. No. 1 Georgia lost to Auburn, No. 5 Indiana fell to Ohio State, No. 6 Alabama lost to Tennessee, and No. 7 Texas was upset by Florida. Add Notre Dame’s loss at BYU, and you have something college football had never seen before in a regular-season Saturday.
Consider this: There isn’t an undefeated team left in the SEC. And the Big Ten? Its lone unbeaten team is UCLA. Yes, UCLA.
Suddenly, the College Football Playoff picture looks considerably different. The Irish aren’t alone in having a blemish on their record, and some of the programs expected to compete for a national championship now have two losses.
None of that makes Notre Dame’s defeat any less disappointing. But it does provide some perspective. The Irish haven’t been eliminated from anything, and in a season when even the nation’s highest-ranked teams are proving vulnerable, there is still plenty of football left to play.
Five Games. No More Mulligans.
Notre Dame’s remaining schedule is challenging enough to provide opportunities to strengthen its playoff résumé, but also dangerous enough to punish another performance like Saturday’s.
First up is Navy on October 31 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Midshipmen are just 2–4, but their option offense is improving, led by quarterback Jackson Gutierrez, who has rushed for 371 yards and five touchdowns over the last two games. Then comes Miami, which could arrive in South Bend ranked No. 1, bringing a stadium atmosphere every bit as intimidating as Provo—and perhaps considerably more so. Circle that one on your calendar. Boston College follows, then a talented SMU team capable of giving Notre Dame all it can handle, before the regular-season finale at Syracuse.
Five games, five different challenges, no room for another slip, and expect a war on November 7.
Notre Dame doesn’t have to play perfect football over the next five games. But its record probably needs to be perfect. And there’s no reason this team can’t pull that off. The Irish didn’t suddenly forget how to play football somewhere in the mountains of Utah. They’re still loaded with talent, still capable of beating anybody on their schedule, and still very much in the national championship hunt.
But here’s the deal: The Irish have used up their mulligan. Five games left. Win them all, and there’s a pretty good chance this season has a whole lot more football left in it.
The Response Will Define This Team
One loss doesn’t erase the first six games. Notre Dame still has an outstanding quarterback, a stable of talented running backs, an offensive line that’s coming together, dangerous receivers and a defense capable of making life miserable for opposing offenses.
Saturday exposed some weaknesses. Good. Now Marcus Freeman and his staff know exactly what needs attention. The bye week couldn’t come at a better time, and there’s no shortage of motivation waiting on the other side of it.
And let’s not forget CJ Carr. He came within a few yards of engineering the kind of epic Notre Dame comeback that brings back memories of Joe Montana, and Irish fans tell their grandchildren about. Think about that for a moment. On the road, against a top-ten opponent, with an undefeated season hanging in the balance, Carr led the Irish back from an 11-point deficit and then nearly delivered a game-winning drive in the final seconds. He didn’t finish the job, but he’s a better quarterback today because of what he accomplished Saturday night. You can’t manufacture that kind of experience on a practice field.
Notre Dame is every bit as capable of winning a national championship today as it was when the Irish boarded that plane for Provo. The road just got narrower, and the consequences of another misstep a whole lot bigger.
And yes, there are legitimate questions about the officiating, particularly those final seconds. Those questions deserve answers. But they do not overshadow what BYU accomplished. Bear Bachmeier was terrific, the Cougars earned their victory, and their fans created an extraordinary atmosphere in Provo. They deserve every bit of the celebration they’re enjoying today.
Make no mistake: this is still a loaded Notre Dame football team. Six impressive victories didn’t become meaningless because of one disappointing Saturday night in Utah. The talent is there. The coaching is there. And recent history tells us Freeman knows how to get his teams playing their best football when the stakes are highest.
The Irish lost a football game Saturday night, they haven’t lost their chance to achieve something extraordinary.