Notre Dame has taken their first loss of the year. Notre Dame fell 28-24 on the road to BYU, making it eight straight times that the Irish have lost to a top-10 team on the road. It is a streak that dates back to the 2013 season and includes a loss to Miami on the road last year.
Notre Dame came into the game as a 10.5-point favorite on the road. BYU struck first in the game with a touchdown run from Bear Bachmeier, but Notre Dame responded with a field goal and a touchdown of their own. Still, Bachmeier had a touchdown reception and run to end the half as BYU led 21-10. Notre Dame took the lead in the fourth quarter on a Jonaz Walton touchdown, but Bachmeier struck again, this time finding Walker Lyons with a touchdown pass as BYU won 24-20.
The game ended with controversy. A missed pass interference call, and the fact that Notre Dame should have still had one second left on the clock for another shot at a game-winning touchdown, have led to Notre Dame fans feeling robbed. Regardless, the Irish were heavily favored, and had they executed properly, would not have been in the situation. With that, there are three places to put the blame for the loss.
Mike Denbrock's play calling was poor
Notre Dame had been dominating on the ground. They had run for over 150 yards in four straight games, while racking up 602 yards and six touchdowns in their last two games before facing BYU. Notre Dame ran the ball 30 times against BYU, which was the fewest of the season. It was also for just 115 yards. Notre Dame is running the ball on 54.37 percent of their plays this year, while sitting 38th in rushing yards per game. Mike Denbrock, the offensive coordinator and playcaller for the Irish, abandoned the run in the second half, calling running plays on just 34.1 percent of the snaps.
The run game was not struggling either. While overall they averaged just 3.8 yards per game, Nolan James Jr. ran well. He ran the ball 16 times for 77 yards, good for 4.8 yards per carry, but still, Denbrock did not feed him the ball, while letting CJ Carr throw 49 times in the contest.
Adding to it, the play calling in the red zone was poor as well. Notre Dame went into the red zone five times, scoring just two touchdowns, with two field goals and a turnover. They scored a touchdown on their first trip to the red zone, and then Carr fumbled on their second trip. The next two red zone trips ended in field goals, with questionable red zone plays being called.
CJ Carr made too many mistakes
CJ Carr missed some big plays. It started in the first half. It started on a third-and-ten play with nine seconds left in the first half. He found Micah Gilbert on the slant. Had it been on target, Gilbert would have had the space to score, but it was just slightly off. Still, it got a first down, and he was able to get Notre Dame to the line to spike the ball. That would have given the Irish a shot at the end zone, or at least a field goal, which would have cut into the 21-10 BYU lead. Carr bobbled the snap and pushed the ball towards the ground. The attempted spike was deemed to be a fumble, leading to a turnover and a lack of points for Notre Dame.
Carr was also just off on many of his passes. He set a career high in pass attempts with 49, but completed only 27 passes and did not have a touchdown pass. It was the second time this year he did not have a touchdown pass. Also, with the play calling, Carr was in passing situations on third downs plenty of times in the second half. The Irish went just 3 of 12 on third down in the second half, leading to drives stalling out and BYU getting the win.
Article Continues BelowBoubacar Traore made a massive mistake
The first major mistake of the game came on the first drive of the game. On a second-and-seven, Bear Bachmeier dropped back to pass and found Roger Saleapaga II for a two-yard gain. Boubacar Traore was called for targeting on the play because of a hit on Bachmeier as he attempted the pass. It turned a two-yard completion into a 15-yard penalty. BYU would score a touchdown on the drive, and Traore was ejected from the game.
The ejection led to more than just the drive extending and a BYU touchdown. The ejection led to the pass rush being diminished. Traore leads the team in sacks with 3.5, while also facing two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. The pass rush produced nothing against BYU. They did not have a sack, with just two tackles for a loss and three quarterback hurries on 67 plays. With no pass rush, the Cougars moved the ball at will, and Bachmeier put on a show. The BYU quarterback threw for 224 yards with a touchdown, while also running for 45 yards and two touchdowns, and bringing in a 15-yard reception for a touchdown. The game would have had a completely different tenor with Traore out of the game.