PROVO, UT – Careful what you wish for, Notre Dame.
You asked BYU to play. The Cougars weren’t messing around.
Sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier hit tight end Walker Lyons on 3rd-and-goal from the 7 inside the final two minutes, providing the go-ahead score in a 28-24 Cougars upset, Saturday, Oct. 17.
In spring, its rivalry with USC unraveling, Notre Dame called BYU and said, “Let’s play.”
Only one team fulfilled that bargain to the fullest Saturday night inside sold-out, LaVell Edwards Stadium — with its crowd of 65,179 the most since the Irish’s last visit in 2004, also a Notre Dame loss.
This contest carried immense stakes.
Especially as Notre Dame was positioned
to perhaps wake up Sunday morning back in South Bend as college football’s top-ranked team.
Earlier Saturday, No. 1 Georgia, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Texas and No. 7 Alabama all lost.
In this game, Bachmeier — who tried to commit to the Fighting Irish of Marcus Freeman in 2023, only for Notre Dame to hold out for Deuce Knight — scored touchdowns passing, rushing and receiving.
It was a dart to Lyons, the tight end who arrived this year from USC, who gathered the ball in his midsection while sliding to the turf in the end zone — almost directly in front of the stunned fans of Notre Dame.
The Cougars charged to a 21-10 halftime lead because they consistently marched the field against Notre Dame’s defense, which had entered the contest as the nation’s No. 4 scoring defense — just 11 points per game.
Instead, BYU churned through touchdown drives of 75, 75 and 72 yards.
Notre Dame held BYU scoreless through the first 28 minutes of the second half, but Bachmeier delivered the magic that finished off a 10-play, 55-yard drive.
The Cougars, now 7-0 and with a showdown against fellow unbeaten and heated rival Utah looming Nov. 7, should move into the top-5 of the US LBM Coaches Poll, and may even get consideration for the top spot after Saturday's carnage.
Meanwhile, the Irish see their season boil down to this: a date that same first Saturday in November, in primetime on NBC against Miami — likely the nation’s top-ranked team after surviving rival Florida State in double-overtime.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Notre Dame asked for BYU. The Cougars made the Irish regret it
