Analysis: ‘Disrepected’ 8th-ranked BYU shamrocks No. 2 Notre Dame, makes case to be ranked No. 1

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Forty-two years after a series of fortunate events throughout the 1984 college football season — surprising upset losses by teams ranked ahead of them in the polls — enabled the upstart BYU Cougars to win their first and only national championship, history is starting to repeat itself.

There’s a long, long way to go, but midway through the 2026 season, coach Kalani Sitake’s 11th team is right on track, maybe even ahead of that 1984 team.

In arguably the greatest regular-season victory in school history, the No. 8-ranked, 10-point underdog Cougars stunned No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 Saturday night in front of a national television audience and 65,179 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the largest crowd to watch a game in Provo since BYU’s 20-17 upset of Notre Dame in 2004.

This might not have been the most significant regular-season win in school history — the 21-14 win over then-No. 1 Miami in 1990 can’t be overlooked — but it was probably the most nail-biting, thrilling, excruciating and heart-stopping in recent memory.

“It was the most memorable moment of my life,” said BYU linebacker Cade Uluave, summing up what the rest of Cougar Nation probably felt after BYU’s first-ever win in a top-10 game, ever.

The Cougar defense, fittingly, sealed it on the final play as Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr’s desperation throw to the end zone hit nothing but blue-painted turf. The throw was beyond the reach of receiver Jaden Greathouse with All-American Evan Johnson and seldom-used backup Matthias Leach on the coverage.

BYU fans promptly stormed the field for the first time since beating Utah last year, ignoring the possibility that one second remained on the clock.

Sitake in his postgame comments mistakenly thought it was on fourth down, when in reality it was a first-down play.

So the epic showdown of faith-based institutions ended with some controversy, and a lot of euphoria, even from the usually even-keeled Cougar quarterback Bear Bachmeier.

“We were tired of being disrespected,” said Bachmeier in a rare show of emotion a good hour after the game concluded. The sophomore also said Notre Dame out of high school “disrespected me and my family pretty badly. I wasn’t going to lose to those guys. There was no way I was going to lose to those guys tonight.”

After a moderator had ended the postgame news conference, Bachmeier semi-apologized, saying he “loves Notre Dame” and that he shouldn’t have complained about the school a few minutes earlier. He also added that Carr is a great quarterback.

BYU returns the visit to Notre Dame next year.

Now back to Saturday, and the Cougars’ sure rise in the national college football landscape. The question now is: How high will No. 8 BYU move up in the polls?

The Cougars (6-0) weren’t the only team to pull off a major upset on Saturday in one of the most memorable days in recent memory, as No. 1 Georgia, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas lost, joined by No. 2 Notre Dame.

No. 3 Miami, which held off Florida State 43-35 in double overtime as a 21-point favorite, will probably take over the top spot. Assuming Ohio State jumps to No. 2 after beating Indiana on the road, BYU will more than likely be No. 3.

Asked if his team should be ranked No. 1, Sitake demurred, as is his style.

“I am not gonna worry about that,” he said. “I hope a lot of people watched the game, but I am not really worried about that stuff. I just try to go 1-0 every week and try to be humble. You are trying to stroke my ego … Nice try, dude.”

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, who was among the dozens of national college football reporters at the game, said he would rank BYU No. 1 if it were up to him, though he cautioned that he is not an AP voter.

Whatever the case, this win goes down in BYU lore as one that will never be forgotten, even after the two absolute gaffes in the third quarter that enabled Notre Dame to erase a 21-10 halftime deficit and score 14 unanswered points to take a 24-21 lead with 9:31 remaining in the game.

Sitake took personal responsibility for calling the ill-advised fake punt that backfired immensely and shifted the momentum entirely in the visitors’ favor.

“I need to do a better job at leading and managing the game and not put us in risky positions like I did tonight,” he said, “and so I will learn from it.”

Just as tens of thousands of Cougar fans claim to have been at the 1990 win over Miami — Sitake himself was at that game and stormed the field — twice that will claim in 10, 20 and 30 years to have been here on a picture-perfect day in Provo that was kicked off by a visit from ESPN’s “College GameDay” pregame program.

Only Pat McAfee and guest picker Steve Young picked BYU to pull off the upset, although Nick Saban said the Cougars would cover the 10-point spread.

One person who was definitely there Saturday night was cornerback Evan Johnson, as he made a huge play in the end zone to preserve a win in the same way that he halted Georgia Tech’s last-second attempt in the Pop-Tarts Bowl a season ago.

Speaking of which, the victory was extra satisfying for BYU because the Irish avoided it in that Orlando affair, opting out after being snubbed by the College Football Playoff.

Also snubbed after going 12-2 last year, the Cougars have now won 29 of their last 33 games — the second-best winning percentage in the country during that stretch, behind only Indiana.

Maybe that little stat, and the fact that Notre Dame entered with the longest winning streak in the country (16 games) and had won all those games by double-digits, will resonate with the committee and, in the interim, AP voters.

It was the first time the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams have both lost on the same day since 2012, and many national pundits were calling it the greatest regular-season day in college football history, and BYU was a big part of that.

Now the Cougars have another herculean task: While they were leaving everything they had on the field in Provo, next week’s opponent, UCF, was idle and presumably preparing for BYU in Orlando.

While Heisman candidate Carr’s last of 49 passes hitting the south end zone turf will be remembered forever in Provo, lost in the euphoria for Cougar fans was their sophomore quarterback’s Heisman-like performance.

Bachmier ran for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass (from receiver Kyler Kasper) and threw a touchdown pass — to tight end Walker Lyons.

That last one was the game-winner, coming with one minute, 47 seconds remaining on third-and-goal from the 6. It capped a 10-play, 55-yard drive after Cannon DeVries redeemed himself for earlier muffing a punt with a return to the 45.

The key play was a 26-yard reception by Legend Glasker. He finished with five catches for 66 yards, while Kasper had six grabs for 66 yards.

Bachmeier was 23 of 36 for 224 yards and also rushed for 45 yards. Filling in admirably for LJ Martin, junior Preston Rex had 66 hard-earned yards on 10 carries.

“We know who we are, and this was a great win, for sure,” Bachmeier said. “Man, what a great team win. I am so proud of this team.

“Gosh, the defense played outstanding. Preston played his heart out, the boys up front (were) just gritty and physical. I love his team. I love these guys.”

Had BYU lost, fans would also have remembered two huge mistakes in the third quarter that let the Irish back in a game the Cougars were dominating after taking a 21-10 halftime lead.

The first came when DeVries botched a punt after BYU had forced a three-and-out and the Cougars were set to have great field position.

Ten plays later, Spencer Horath booted a 31-yard field goal to make it 21-13.

On BYU’s next possession, Sitake inexplicably called for a fake punt on fourth-and-6, and Fuller Shurtz’s run lost four yards. Given that gift, Notre Dame gained only three yards, but was in easy field goal range and Porath hit one from 39 yards to cut BYU’s lead to five with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

After a Cougars three-and-out early in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame marched 68 yards to take the lead, 24-21, on Jonaz Walton’s 3-yard TD run and two-point conversion run.

Jayden Sanders subsequently intercepted Bachmeier on BYU’s next possession and momentum was clearly decked out in green and gold. Notre Dame fans, about 3,000 strong, taunted the home crowd with chants of “Why so quiet, why so quiet?”

Uluave’s tackle for loss brought BYU’s crowd back, and the Irish were forced to punt, setting up DeVries’ return and then more heroics from Bachmeier.

“We dialed that play up, and we were executing it well in practice,” Bachmeier said of the TD toss to Lyons. “I was very confident in the play call. They brought the house and Walker just made a great play for the touchdown.”

To say the first half was eventful would be an understatement.

It started with BYU scoring on its first possession, as the Cougars drove 75 yards in 11 plays. Even more noteworthy was that Notre Dame’s top pass-rusher, Boubacar Traore, was disqualified for a targeting hit on Bachmeier.

The helmet-to-helmet hit moved BYU into Notre Dame territory, and after an 18-yard reception by Lyons, the Cougars scored on Bachmeier’s 5-yard run.

Notre Dame promptly answered with a 46-yard drive for a 46-yard field goal.

After a BYU punt, Notre Dame took the lead with an 84-yard touchdown drive, and made it look easy. Nolan James took it in from the 8, and at that point the Irish’s offensive line was simply dominating BYU’s defensive line.

The Cougars answered with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, and what a drive it was. Legend Glasker’s 19-yard reception set it up, and then BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick went to his bag of gadget plays.

Similar to a Jaren Hall touchdown catch against Baylor in an upset at LES four years ago, Bachmeier caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kyler Kasper, after a double pass.

The Cougars then came up with a huge third-down stop, forcing the visitors to punt for the first time.

Another lengthy drive was capped when Bachmeier scored from the 1, giving the sophomore three touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving — in the first half alone.

The first half even had a crazy ending. Notre Dame drove to the BYU 5, aided by a questionable defensive pass interference penalty on Jayven Williams, and Carr attempted to spike the ball to stop the clock.

However, Sitake was told by his coaches or players that the quarterback had actually fumbled that snap, and BYU’s Williams had recovered it. After a review, officials awarded BYU the ball, and the half was over.

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