Big 12 admits referee mistake in Notre Dame vs. BYU
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The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish suffered a crushing 28-24 loss to the No. 8 BYU Cougars on Saturday night, and the game’s controversial ending immediately had fans and analysts up in arms. Now, the Big 12 has admitted that its officials made a mistake on the last play of the game.
In a statement late Saturday night, the conference acknowledged that there should have been one second left on the clock after Notre Dame’s final pass fell incomplete, meaning the Irish should have had one more chance to win the game.
Controversial Finish
Trailing by four with three seconds remaining, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr threw toward wide receiver Jaden Greathouse in the back of the end zone. The pass fell incomplete as Greathouse appeared to be held, but no flag was thrown, and officials ruled the game over.
Replays quickly showed that the clock still read 0:01 when the ball hit the ground. Former NFL referee and current NBC Sports rules analyst Terry McAulay was among those who called out the mistake on social media.
“As some have noted, there was indeed :01 on the bug clock when the pass hit the ground (BYU/ND). Replay should have reviewed to determine if the in-stadium clock was at :01 at that point and if so, ND would have had one more play,” McAulay wrote on X.
‘Incorrectly cleared’
Following a review of the play, the Big 12 confirmed that McAulay was right, issuing a statement declaring that Notre Dame should have had one more play after review.
“Following the Big 12’s review of the final play of Saturday’s Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew,” the conference said in a statement, via On3. “The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games.”
It’s the second high-profile clock controversy of the college football season. In Week 1, a replay review gave Michigan one extra second against Western Michigan, and Bryce Underwood used it to complete a game-winning Hail Mary.
Unfortunately for Notre Dame, the admission doesn’t change the result. The Irish will have to live with the loss, even though the conference now agrees they should have had one more shot at the end zone.
Needless to say, that’s not going to make Notre Dame fans feel any better.
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