BYU beats No. 2 Notre Dame 28–24: Bachmeier’s late pass settles thriller
Walker Lyons caught the go-ahead touchdown with 1:47 left. Notre Dame reached the red zone again, but its final pass fell incomplete after an earlier comeback erased BYU’s lead.
Verified brief
The story in 60 seconds
BYU beat Notre Dame 28–24 in Provo on Saturday, October 17. Bear Bachmeier accounted for all four Cougars touchdowns—two rushing, one receiving and the decisive pass to Walker Lyons. BYU improved to 6–0 and Notre Dame fell to 6–1. The No. 8 and No. 2 labels are the teams’ rankings entering the game, not a newly released Sunday poll.
This brief and the full story below are based on the disclosed sources. SearchTrends Daily’s interpretation appears later under “Our take.”
Full reporting
The complete story
The answer to the final-drive question
Notre Dame still had a chance after Lyons’ touchdown. CJ Carr kept the final possession alive with fourth-down conversions and brought the Irish into the red zone. His last attempt, intended for Jaden Greathouse in the end zone, was incomplete as time expired. Both schools’ accounts and the Salt Lake Tribune confirm that decisive sequence.
The winning possession covered 55 yards in ten plays. BYU had just forced a punt after Jayden Sanders intercepted Bachmeier; a 23-yard punt return then gave the Cougars the ball at their own 45. The touchdown arrived with 1:47 remaining. That response matters because Notre Dame, rather than BYU, had controlled much of the second half.
How the lead changed hands
Bachmeier ran for the opening touchdown. Notre Dame answered with a Spencer Porath field goal and a Nolan James Jr. rushing score to go ahead 10–7. BYU then used a double-pass play: Kyler Kasper sent the ball back to Bachmeier, who scored as a receiver. Another Bachmeier rushing touchdown helped establish a 21–10 halftime advantage.
The Irish lost a late first-half scoring opportunity when Carr’s attempted clock-stopping play was reviewed and ruled a fumble recovered by BYU. It was a lost possession, not a field goal that was actually attempted and missed.
After halftime, BYU’s special teams gave Notre Dame two openings. A muffed punt and a failed fake punt each led to an Irish field goal. A later Jonaz Walton touchdown and successful two-point run put Notre Dame ahead 24–21 with 9:31 left. BYU needed its late touchdown because that comeback had already overturned the halftime margin.
The individual performances
Bachmeier completed 23 of 36 passes for 224 yards and added 45 rushing yards. His four touchdowns came in three different roles: runner, receiver and passer. Carr finished 27 of 49 for 261 yards; Greathouse caught eight passes for 125 yards. Notre Dame also lost defensive lineman Boubacar Traore to a targeting ejection on BYU’s opening possession. These are completed-game details, not injury projections or a forecast about future availability.
Source perspectives
What other reporting adds
These are the reports, official records, and trend observations used to build the story. The note under each link explains exactly what it contributes.
Official October 17 event report, read October 18. Supports result, records, Bachmeier statistics, scoring roles, late drive, opponent-ranking history and October 24 UCF schedule. URL date differs from displayed event date. Minor final-drive yard-line discrepancies between school recaps were not used.
Read original source ↗Notre Dame AthleticsIrish rally, then fall late at BYU 28–24Official October 17 account supports Carr/Greathouse statistics, halftime fumble review, targeting ejection, Irish comeback and final incomplete pass. Its assertion that the fourth-quarter lead was the first lead conflicts with its own earlier 10–7 sequence and is not repeated.
Read original source ↗The Salt Lake TribuneNo. 8 BYU football stuns No. 2 Notre Dame in wild finishShreyas Laddha’s independent October 17 report, updated 11:28 p.m., corroborates the 28–24 final, touchdown with 1:47 left, final incompletion and two special-teams mistakes leading to field goals. No photographs republished.
Read original source ↗Associated PressAP Top 25 college football pollDynamic primary poll read October 18 around 07:19 UTC. Week 6 still marked Current, with game results alongside the old ranks; page announces October 18 rankings at 2 p.m. ET. No projected Sunday ranking treated as released.
Read original source ↗College Football PlayoffCFP Selection Committee and 2026 rankings scheduleCurrent official page read October 18; supports separate committee process and November 3/December 6 milestones, not an AP-based playoff berth.
Read original source ↗SearchTrends DailyRelated: Auburn stuns No. 1 Georgia 27–24Related October 17 result, not independent corroboration of the BYU game.
Read original source ↗SearchTrends Daily opinion
Our take
Analysis
What the evidence and search signal suggest
Our analysis: two separate recoveries explain the finish
For BYU, the strongest evidence is not simply that Bachmeier produced four touchdowns. It is that the offense found a scoring drive after the second-half mistakes and an interception. The defense also prevented Notre Dame from extending its new lead. Those events worked together: without the stop, the eventual touchdown possession might have started with a larger deficit or less time.
For Notre Dame, the two field goals after special-teams errors show a limit to the comeback. The Irish benefited from short-field opportunities but did not turn either into a touchdown. That does not mean a different play call would certainly have won; it identifies where the score left little room for the next defensive concession.
The final drive supplies a second caution. Repeated conversions demonstrate that Notre Dame could still move the ball under pressure, but reaching scoring range is not the same as finishing. The result should be credited to BYU’s completed late sequence without pretending that the narrow margin proves a large, permanent gap between the teams.
Analysis and commentary are SearchTrends Daily’s interpretation. They are intentionally separated from the sourced account above.
Meaning
Why this matters
The win keeps BYU unbeaten and gives it a direct victory over an opponent that entered second in the AP poll. Notre Dame’s first defeat changes its record, but it does not by itself announce a playoff exclusion. A result, a media ranking and a committee selection are different decisions. Our related Auburn–Georgia report covers another major October 17 upset; the games should not be blended into a single explanation for every college-football search.
Background
How we got here
BYU’s official account describes Notre Dame as its highest-ranked defeated opponent since the Cougars beat No. 1 Miami in 1990. That is a specific comparison about the opponent’s ranking at the time, not a claim that this team has matched a previous season’s full achievements. The immediate history within this game is equally useful: BYU won after surrendering an eleven-point halftime lead, while Notre Dame lost after recovering from it. Neither a comfortable-wire-to-wire narrative nor a one-way Irish collapse fits the scoring sequence.
Outlook
What is likely to happen next
BYU’s official schedule lists an October 24 trip to UCF. At our October 18 morning review, the school said time and broadcast details would be announced Monday; readers should check the official schedule for subsequent changes. The next AP rankings are a separate publication: AP’s poll page says the October 18 release is due at 2 p.m. Eastern. No new order is confirmed here. Our assessment would change with that published ballot, later game evidence or an official statistical correction. For postseason context, the CFP’s own schedule still lists November 3 as its first 2026 committee ranking and December 6 as Selection Day; this regular-season win is not a committee seeding announcement.
A conditional editorial assessment based on the evidence available at the review date, not a guaranteed outcome.
Live record
Updates to this story
No material updates yet.
Commentary
What we think
SearchTrends Daily opinion: BYU deserves the clearest credit for answering adversity twice—first with the late scoring drive, then with the last defensive stand. That is more informative than calling the outcome inevitable because of home-field atmosphere. Notre Dame’s comeback is real evidence of resistance, but it cannot erase the empty possessions that left a four-point deficit at the end. Our judgment is about this game, not a claim to know how either team will finish the season.