No. 8 BYU makes statement with upset win over No. 2 Notre Dame

PROVO — In the first ever top-10 matchup at LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYU knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 to earn its first win over an Associated Press top-two team since defeating No. 1 Miami in 1990.

Bear Bachmeier totaled four touchdowns — one passing, two rushing, and one receiving — to help the Cougars overcome multiple turnovers in the second half. And BYU's defense got a stop on the final play of the game to walk off the Fighting Irish.

"I'm really proud of the way we played," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. "Obviously, made some mistakes, probably more on me than anything else. I got a little bit too risky and aggressive."

Bachmeier's performance, though, deserves plenty of praise, but the Cougars' defense earned plenty of the credit for stepping up to the task and getting key stops throughout the night.

BYU forced multiple three-and-out series, and were able to hold Notre Dame to field goals instead of touchdowns, keeping the score margin close and allowing Bachmeier to make winning plays in crunch time.

Bachmeier finished the game throwing for 224 yards on 23-of-36 passing, while adding 45 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

"He's just so tough man, and he's resilient and he's a great leader," Sitake said. "He's having a lot of fun and he's grown so much, but he's an excellent teammate and the boys like being around him. I love being around him."

After the game, Bachmeier made it clear the game was personal to him.

"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."

Bachmeier has quickly made a name for himself in his first two seasons of college football, but he added a statement win to his resume Saturday. The sophomore QB utilized his playmakers throughout the game and got a much-needed boost from Preston Rex in the run game, who tallied 66 yards on the ground on 10 carries.

Legend Glasker and Kyler Kasper both added 66 receiving yards to help the BYU offense.

"I know I wear the No. 47 and I like to run the ball, but at the end of the day, I'm a quarterback and I want to be a point guard — just being a distributor," Bachmeier said. "When you get a lot of guys touching the ball, good things happen."

Out of the gate, the Cougars set the tone. Bachmeier capped off a masterful opening drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown after he was finding open receivers all over the field. Notre Dame star edge rusher Boubacar Traore was ejected for targeting on the game's first drive after hitting Bachmeier with a helmet-to-helmet hit.

The loss of Traore proved to be costly for the Fighting Irish as BYU's offensive line was able to control the line of scrimmage and help give Bachmeier time in the pocket and open lanes in the run game.

The play of the first half came when Aaron Roderick dialed up a trick play to get a wide receiver pass. Kyler Kasper caught a lateral pass and then threw the ball back to Bachmeier, who took the screen pass 15 yards for a touchdown.

Down 11 points, Notre Dame was in striking distance with six seconds left in the half. Irish quarterback CJ Carr went to spike the ball following a first down but never controlled the ball while trying to spike it and the ball was recovered by the Cougars.

Following a review, it was ruled a fumble and BYU was given possession, ending the Irish's drive and preserving BYU's double-digit lead going into halftime.

"I just thought that maybe he could have lost control of it but honestly I was just super biased," Sitake said. "I was just taking shots in the dark, I said, 'did he spike it, did he lose it?' Then some of the guys were saying that yeah he actually lost control of the ball so I wasn't gonna move off the field until they reviewed it."

Notre Dame's offense was held in check for much of the night thanks to a strong performance from Kelly Poppinga's defense. Carr was held to 261 yards passing with no touchdowns, but Jaden Greathouse moved the sticks multiple times with his eight catches for 125 yards.

The Fighting Irish's run game was effective as Nolan James Jr. led the team with 16 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown. However, Notre Dame was forced to move off the run game due to trailing for most of the game.

Special teams miscues turned the game in the Irish's favor in the second half. Cannon DeVries muffed a punt and then a fake punt attempt by the Cougars set up Notre Dame on the plus side of the field but BYU's defense held the Irish to six points on two field goals.

"I can learn some lessons and be better," Sitake said. "That fake punt, that's on me. So we thought we had a good call in there and Notre Dame had a better one."

It was apparent that the Cougars' defense was feeling gassed after being on the field for much of the third quarter and Notre Dame pounced. Jonaz Walton gave the Irish the lead with a 3-yard rushing touchdown before running in the two-point conversion to give his team a three-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Following a Bachmeier interception, the Cougars were able to get another key defensive stop to give their offense another chance.

"The defense was able to get some stops and force some field goals and not turn those into detrimental mistakes," Sitake said.

Bachmeier helped execute a perfect final drive for BYU and it was Bachmeier who capped it off with a passing touchdown to Walker Lyons for the go-ahead score with 1:47 left.

Facing a fourth-and-5 on BYU's 14-yard line with 10 seconds left, Notre Dame converted it to give themselves one play to win the game. Carr's pass fell incomplete and the Cougars captured their biggest regular-season win in their history.

"It took everybody, it took everybody on the defense," linebacker Cade Uluave said. "I'm just super proud of the guys and how they responded."

Fans stormed the field to celebrate the monumental win for a program that had been looking for a big-time win to catapult them into the national conversation. A primetime win over the second-ranked team in the nation and one of the biggest brands in the sport is certainly what Sitake was looking for.

"I thought it was a good move for us to have this game because our team grew up quite a bit was really proud of the way they developed throughout this week and the sense of urgency that we've been wanting for this team, I think is here," Sitake said. "We gotta stay humble though and keep working."

BYU is going to celebrate this one, but they will have to refocus with a road trip to Florida to face UCF coming up next Saturday.

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