Rece Davis isn’t backing off after the chaotic finish to Notre Dame’s 28-24 loss at No. 8 BYU. He’s pushing harder.
The College GameDay host said the issue was bigger than a controversial ending. It was about a clock mistake that cost No.
2 Notre Dame one last snap. The Big 12 later acknowledged that one second still remained when CJ Carr’s final throw fell incomplete in the end zone, and Davis used the College GameDay Podcast to make his point crystal clear: “administrative errors have to stop.”
Davis had already previewed the game on the podcast before kickoff, but after Saturday night’s finish he split Notre Dame’s complaints into two separate issues. One was the clock. The other was the non-call on BYU cornerback Evan Johnson.
“Notre Dame should have had another second. They also should have had pass interference called,” Davis said.
“I said on the podcast last week, I’m not going to go crazy over judgment calls like pass interference. I will go crazy over seconds on the clock.
Administrative errors have to stop. The stripes have to clean it up.
The game’s too good.”
The clock problem was the one Davis believed should have been fixed immediately. The rulebook allows replay officials to put time back on the clock if it runs out too soon, which meant the missing second was recoverable in real time.
The pass interference question was different. That was a judgment call, though ESPN/ABC rules analyst Matt Austin said he “would’ve supported a DPI.”
Notre Dame got to first-and-goal at the BYU 8-yard line with four seconds left. Carr fired to Jaden Greathouse, and replay showed there was still one second left when the ball hit the ground. That didn’t translate into another play, and the Big 12 later said the snap was “incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew.”
Because Notre Dame is independent, the Big 12 handled the officiating for the game. The league also said it will conduct a full review of its end-of-game process before this week’s games.
This wasn’t the first time this season that a clock decision has become a major storyline. In Week 1, the Big Ten restored one second, and Michigan turned that extra tick into a Hail Mary win over Western Michigan.
Davis also tied the Week 7 mess to the bigger playoff debate. The College Football Playoff is close to a deal that would expand the field to 24 teams in 2027, but Davis argued this kind of chaos is exactly why the current format matters.
“I know a lot of people are going to say, ‘See? See, Rece Davis ... you’re wrong.
This is why you need 24,’” Davis said. “I would argue this is perfect evidence to show why you don’t. ...
We need the chaos to have lasting impact.”
For Notre Dame, the margin for error is still tight. Miami comes to Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 7 in what Dan Wetzel called “a straight elimination game.” Davis said a similar loss to Miami would leave the Irish without “anything approximating Texas’ wins,” though Notre Dame would still receive a guaranteed playoff berth if it finishes ranked in the top 12.
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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 🡒]
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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 🡒]
BYU Suddenly Faces A UCF Test That Could Shake Its Playoff Push
BYUs win over Notre Dame did more than add a marquee result to the rsum. It also gave the Cougars a significant lift in ESPNs Football Power Index projections, which now see a much clearer path to 11 wins and a College Football Playoff berth than they did before kickoff against the Irish. The model has BYU at 70.7% to beat UCF and 70.6% to make the playoff, a sharp jump from roughly 33% in the wake of the Notre Dame matchup.
Still, the numbers come with the usual caveats, especially for a team whose playoff case is being compared against the rest of the Big 12. FPI can brighten a forecast quickly after one statement win, but BYU still has to keep backing it up on the field, starting with a UCF test that could say plenty about whether this surge is real or just the kind of projection that changes again as soon as the schedule turns. [Read more 🡒]