BYU walked out of Saturday with a win that felt bigger than the scoreline, and the Cougars made sure nobody in the building missed the point. Their 28-24 victory over No. 2 Notre Dame brought a rush of emotion, a field-storming celebration from the home crowd, and a fresh round of confidence from a program that feels it just proved something on a national stage.
Safety Raider Damuni didn’t hide what the moment meant.
“Growing up watching college football, especially BYU, you dream of playing in these kinds of games,” Damuni said. “You dream of not just playing in them but coming out victorious.
Having the opportunity to go out there - that was the funnest game of college football I have ever played. I feel super blessed to be in this position to play at BYU and have teammates who love the university as well.”
Kalani Sitake sounded every bit like a coach soaking in a career-defining night. He said he had to fight through emotion in the locker room after the final whistle.
“I got really emotional in the locker room just thinking about it,” Sitake shared. “I have so much gratitude that I get to be the head coach during this and have the best seat in the house.
I just have a lot of really good people around me that sacrificed for me to be here. I’m the result of a lot of other people’s hard work and sacrifice, and even though there’s a fan part of me, I just need to make sure that I follow through as a coach and don’t jeopardize all the sacrifices that other people have made for me.”
The Cougars’ players were just as direct about what a win like this does for perception. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier, usually measured, said the team felt it had something to prove.
“We are tired of being disrespected,” he said. “We know who we are, and this was a great win for sure.”
Linebacker Cade Uluave echoed that sentiment, going straight at the outside noise.
“A lot of people weren’t respecting us. That’s just flat-out truth,” added BYU linebacker Cade Uluave.
“A lot of people thought we were flukes. Some people didn’t think we were all that.
We just went out and beat the No. 2 team in the nation. Hopefully, we put some respect on our name.”
For all the emotion, the game also looked a lot like Sitake football: aggressive, imperfect, and somehow still standing at the end. The biggest blemish came late in the third quarter when Sitake tried a fake punt from BYU’s own 28-yard line with the Cougars up 21-13. It didn’t come close to working, and Sitake took full responsibility.
“We made some mistakes, but that was probably more on me than anything else,” Sitake said. “I probably got a little too risky and aggressive, but we’ll be alright.
I can learn from some lessons and be better. The fake punt was on me.
I thought we had a good call there, but Notre Dame had a better one.”
Notre Dame turned the short field into points four plays later, cutting the lead to 21-16. Still, BYU’s defense limited the damage, a theme that has shown up repeatedly during the Cougars’ 20-2 stretch to games dating back to the end of the 2024 season.
“The (offense) took a shot, and it didn’t work out, and that’s fine. That’s what we do.
We have the offense’s back,” Uluave said. “Whatever happens on the field, like if Bear throws a pick, that’s the time for us to step up.
We thrive in those moments, and we want those moments.”
Notre Dame eventually took advantage of another BYU special teams mistake, too, after a muffed punt return by Cannon DeVries. That set up the Irish, and Jonaz Walton’s 3-yard touchdown run gave Notre Dame a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But BYU answered the way Sitake’s teams tend to answer. The Cougars put together an 11-play, 55-yard touchdown drive that took a little more than four minutes off the clock.
Bachmeier kept the chains moving with his legs and with timely throws, including multiple targets to Legend Glasker. On third-and-goal, he found Walker Lyons for a 6-yard touchdown with 1:51 left, flipping the game back to BYU at 28-24.
“We had a penalty right before that and again ebbs and flows down at the goal line,” Bachmeier said. “We dialed that play up, and we were executing it well in practice, and I was very confident in the play call. They brought the house, and Walker just made a great play and touchdown.”
The final stop belonged to the defense. Notre Dame drove all the way to BYU’s 8-yard line, but on goal-to-go, cornerback Evan Johnson stayed tight in coverage and helped force an overthrow by CJ Carr to seal it.
Damuni summed up the significance, but also made clear the Cougars don’t plan to let one night define them.
“This game and these moments are something I will always remember. I will tell my kids about (this game.)
My family being from Provo, it was awesome to experience it together with them all here,” Damuni concluded. “We understand how big this was for us, and we are going to continue to get better and not let this take over our whole season, because we didn’t come here to just beat Notre Dame.
We have bigger goals.”
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 🡒]