Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira: BYU-Notre Dame ending was ’embarrassing for all officiating’
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College football’s epidemic of officials not knowing what to do with one second left on the clock added another example on Saturday.
No. 8 BYU defeated No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 on Saturday night, and everyone wanted to talk about whether officials should have called defensive pass interference on the Cougars on the final play.
However, a much more egregious issue involved the clock.
Replays of the final play showed that Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr’s pass to Jaden Greathouse hit the ground with one second left. Under the rules, that should’ve given Notre Dame one more play from BYU’s 8-yard line.
The ABC score bug seemed to back that up, showing one second left after the ball hit the turf. Images of the clocks inside LaVell Edwards Stadium showed the same.
Notre Dame also should’ve had 1 second left for one final play.
Watch the clock here: https://t.co/UEqaEU6txd
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 18, 2026
However, officials didn’t review the time issue, and the game ended. That night, the Big 12 issued a statement confirming the game clock should have had one second left after the first-down incompletion and that the league’s replay center was wrong not to intervene and force a 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,” read the statement. “The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games.”
While the game aired on ABC, Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira used strong words about the officiating decisions.
“You have to review it,” Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira told The Athletic. “That had to be reviewed immediately.
“It is embarrassing for all officiating, quite frankly. Everybody gets brought into this, even the NFL and high school officiating, because it is such a ridiculous miss that has nothing to do with judgment. Nothing. I understand missing pass interference. This, especially after what happened six weeks ago (Western Michigan-Michigan), it’s embarrassing. They get one more play.”
NBC’s rules analyst, Terry McAulay, also shared a similar opinion on social media.
“As some have noted, there was indeed :01 on the bug clock when the pass hit the ground (BYU/ND),” McAulay wrote on X. “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.”
As for ABC’s rules analyst, Matt Austin did discuss whether BYU cornerback Evan Johnson committed defensive pass interference, but announcers Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit didn’t ask him about the clock.
“I think it warranted a flag,” Austin said. “That’s a lot of contact where you’re not playing the ball; you’re just playing the receiver. A lot of contact, grabbing the arm. … I would’ve supported a DPI.”
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