Notre Dame was expected to beat the BYU Cougars Saturday in Provo, but they were unable to do so, due in no small part to puzzling decisions made by the coaching staff and lackluster performances from some of their key personnel.
In prior contests this year, Notre Dame was able to set the tone for the day early in the game with big plays. Notre Dame did just that against BYU, but unfortunately the big play went against the Irish. Boubacar Traore hit BYU’s quarterback Bear Bachmeier in the face and was rightfully ejected from the game for targeting. The penalty also gave BYU a first down, and the Cougars would then march down the field and score a rather easy touchdown against the Irish defense. With that, Notre Dame was without their star defensive end, and the Cougars were able to set the tone for the night.
Notre Dame’s quarterback CJ Carr had a rough evening, missing open receivers and inexplicably fumbling on an attempted spike of the ball. These miscues would haunt the Irish, as BYU was able to come out on top by 4 points.
Notre Dame’s defense seemed to play a soft prevent against BYU, and it successfully prevented the Irish from winning the game, as BYU was able to march up and down the field seemingly at ease when so desired. The Irish offense looked bland and predictable, and BYU was often able to key in on what the Irish were trying to do. In a puzzling move, Jonaz Walton, the star running back from last week’s contest against Stanford, was only given the ball 5 times. Nolan James received the majority of the carries for Notre Dame, but giving limited carries to their most explosive running back begs the question of what the Irish coaches had in mind against BYU.
On the bright side, Notre Dame’s kicker Spencer Porath was 3 for 3 on his field goals for the day. If not for Carr's terrible fumble before the end of the half, Notre Dame would have been able to kick a field goal to win the game as time expired versus needing a touchdown with less than two minutes on the clock - a touchdown they would be unable to get.
Notre Dame's coaches, players, and fans certainly feel frustrated and likely believe they could have won the game if they had played a cleaner, smarter ballgame. However, in the end BYU made the plays that Notre Dame could not, and deserved the win.
Notre Dame only dropped 2 places in the AP poll, but any more losses this year will likely keep Notre Dame out of the playoffs for a second straight year.
