Notre Dame had a chance to trim the margin before halftime in Provo, but a bizarre sequence from CJ Carr turned into a drive-killer and left the Fighting Irish empty-handed.
Down 21-10 to BYU at the break, Notre Dame moved into scoring position late in the second quarter with no timeouts left. The setup was simple enough: after a completion, Carr would need to spike the ball and give the Irish a shot at either a field goal or maybe more if they pushed the pace. Instead, the possession unraveled on what should have been a routine play.
With nine seconds left, Micah Gilbert hauled in a Carr pass for a first down in the red zone, and Notre Dame rushed to get lined up. The clock was briefly stopped after the first down, and it initially looked like Carr had gotten the spike off in time with six seconds remaining.
But the review changed everything. Officials determined Carr never secured the snap cleanly, meaning the ball came loose in his hands before he drove it into the turf. In other words, it was ruled a fumble, not a successful spike.
BYU came up with the loose ball, and after the turnover the Cougars simply kneeled out the half. What could have been at least a short field goal attempt - and possibly a touchdown chance - instead became one of Notre Dame’s most costly mistakes of the game, leaving the Irish with nothing on a drive that had been set up to produce points.
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