BYU didn’t just beat No. 2 Notre Dame on Saturday night in Provo. It walked out of LaVell Edwards Stadium with a 28-24 win, a 6-0 record and a place in the national title contender conversation.
The Cougars had answers everywhere, and the biggest one came from Bear Bachmeier. The sophomore quarterback put together the kind of performance that travels fast through a fan base: one touchdown pass, two touchdown runs and a receiving touchdown. The Murrieta, California, native also threw for 224 yards, steering BYU through a game that will stick around for a long time.
Walker Lyons also delivered his best night in a BYU uniform. The former USC transfer arrived with some extra energy, one of the first players into the stadium and fired up enough to get the student section going.
Later, he made the biggest catch of the game, hauling in the winning touchdown with 1:47 left. Lyons finished with five catches for 49 yards and that fourth-quarter score when BYU needed it most.
The defense had its own defining moment before halftime. Jayven Williams came up with a fumble recovery that changed the feel of the game, scooping up a spiked pass by Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr. Williams and Cade Uluave recognized that Carr lost control of the ball while trying to spike it, and BYU turned what could have been a big Notre Dame sequence into a stop that mattered.
That play came after Notre Dame had worked its way to the BYU five-yard line and looked poised to get points before the half. Instead, Williams made the recovery, and the Cougars escaped that threat.
Williams has been one of the better portal additions BYU has made, and this one fit right into that theme. Even after a penalty a few plays earlier that didn’t look like pass interference - and at first looked more like offensive pass interference - BYU kept playing. The recovery was the payoff.
BYU’s night also started the right way offensively. The Cougars opened with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a Bachmeier run and featuring freshman Bott Mulitalo on the right side of the line.
The drive wasn’t flashy in a new way; it was classic BYU football with power read, play-action and direct quarterback runs. It set the tone immediately.
And the Cougars did it without LJ Martin. That matters, because the absence of the star running back could easily have become the headline if BYU had come up short.
Instead, Kalani Sitake’s depth showed up again, especially at running back. Preston Rex had his best game as a BYU back, and Journee Tonga helped keep the offense on schedule with his ability to make people miss and move the chains.
There was also a dangerous moment in the third quarter when BYU went for it on a fake punt. Up eight and facing 4th & 5 from its own 28, punter Fuller Shurtz tried to run for it and got stopped.
Sitake later said he got too aggressive. It was plenty aggressive.
BYU got away with it, but not by much.
Special teams had another hiccup later in the third quarter. Cannon DeVries, back in the punt return role after missing last week’s win over Iowa State, muffed a Notre Dame punt from the Irish’s own 10-yard line. Bubba Frazier recovered it for Notre Dame, and the Irish used 10 plays to move 28 yards before settling for a field goal that trimmed the lead to 21-13.
Still, BYU found enough answers to finish the job. The Cougars beat a No. 2 team, improved to 6-0, and did it with Bachmeier, Lyons, Williams and the rest of a roster that kept delivering when it had to.
In Other News...
Rece Davis Turns BYU Win Into Bigger Officiating Fight
The fallout from BYUs win over Notre Dame kept moving well after the final whistle, with ESPNs Rece Davis taking aim at the officiating mistake that ended the game with the Irish out of time for one last snap. The Big 12 later acknowledged the error, saying one second should have remained on the clock and promising a review of the replay officiating process, which only added to the sense that the finish was about more than just one result.
Davis also tied the episode into a broader conversation that has been simmering around the College Football Playoff expansion debate, using the clock mishap as another example of why the sport keeps getting pulled into bigger questions about fairness and control. For BYU, the win stands, but the way it ended has ensured the discussion will linger well beyond one Saturday night. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Got The Statement Win Fans Dreamed About
Bear Bachmeier gave BYU the kind of all-around performance that can change the way a season feels, helping the Cougars outlast Notre Dame in a 28-24 win that should resonate well beyond one Saturday. The sophomore quarterback was effective as a passer and a runner, and the offense found another steady presence in tight end Walker Lyons, who kept showing up as a reliable target when the game tightened up.
The result pushed BYU all the way to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25, a sign of how much national respect the Cougars earned with the victory. For a team trying to prove it belongs in the top tier, the bigger question now is how this performance carries over, because statement wins only matter if they become part of a pattern. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Turned The Big 12 Race Into Something Much Bigger
A wild Saturday across college football sent the AP poll into a spin, and BYU found itself at the center of it. Five of the top seven teams lost on the same day for the first time in the history of the poll, a shakeup driven by results all over the country as Miami moved to No. 1 after a double-overtime win against Florida State and the Cougars climbed to No. 2 after upsetting Notre Dame.
The bigger picture for BYU is how much larger its season has suddenly become. What had been a strong run inside the Big 12 now comes with national relevance, especially after a slate that also saw Ohio State beat Indiana, Tennessee knock off Alabama, Florida upset Texas and Auburn topple Georgia. The rankings changed fast, and with them the spotlight on a BYU team that has turned a conference race into something far more consequential. [Read more 🡒]