(photo courtesy BYU Football)

(Provo) — At the midterm of the semester, Notre Dame’s football team faced its first big test of the season.

They did not pass. Or at least complete the pass when they needed one.

Instead, 8th-ranked BYU held on at the end– some might say literally — to beat the 2nd-ranked Fighting Irish, 28-24 at a raucous Lavell Edwards Stadium.  The Irish fall to 6-1, see their 16-game win streak (all by double digits) come to an end, and re-open the door to critics who question if they can win “the big game”.

The game came down to the final play. Notre Dame had the ball at the BYU 9-yard line with four seconds left. CJ Carr lofted a ball to the back corner of the end zone intended for Jaden Greathouse. BYU cornerback Evan Johnson blanketed Greathouse (a television replay showed him holding the receiver’s arm) as the ball fell incomplete. The same replay showed an angle of the scoreboard with :01 left on the clock as the ball hit the ground, but the game was ruled over and the celebration was on.

Cameras caught Irish head coach Marcus Freeman yelling “P-I” for pass interference, but Freeman refused to assess blame after the game. “I feel some type of way when I’m out there,” said Freeman. “I know people are gonna look for me to blame someone else, but that’s not what we do around here.”

Carr explained what he saw on the last play saying “Zero (Edwards)…kind of a manbeater for him. Tried to roll out and give him a shot. Probably could have given him a better one.”

BYU had set the stage for its success in the first half, using a terrific play mix to keep Notre Dame’s vaunted defense off balance on the way to a 21-10 halftime lead. BYU had four possessions in the first half, making 16 first downs and scoring three touchdowns…two on runs by quarterback Bear Bachmeier and another when receiver Kyler Kasper took a pitch out and threw back to Bachmeier who weaved his way to paydirt from 15 yards out.

“They used some of our weaknesses against us,” noted Irish co-captain Drayk Bowen.

The Irish had a chance to cut into the lead late in the first half. However, quarterback CJ Carr’s attempt to spike a pass to stop the clock was ruled a fumble, recovered by BYU at their own six with six seconds left in the half.

Notre Dame mounted a comeback in the second half, sparked by two special teams miscues. First, BYU fumbled a punt, recovered by Bubba Frazier at the BYU 41. The Irish stalled in the red zone and Spencer Porath kicked a 31-yard field goal.

“I thought we moved the ball wellm” lamented Carr. “Just didn’t end up punching in some of those red zone opportunities we had, so credit to them for holding string in the red zone. Tough team, played tough, good players.”

Later in the third, BYU attempted a fake punt deep in its own territory, but Luke Talich made the stop at the Cougar 25. Again, BYU’s defense kept the Irish out of the end zone, and Porath drilled a 39-yarder, narrowing the gap to 21-16.

The Irish them embarked on a nine-play 68-yard drive in the fourth, capped by a Jonaz Walton three-yard run and it looked as though Notre Dame had regained control, up 24-21.

But Notre Dame’s offense sputtered on its next possession, and a punt return gave the Cougars the ball at their own 45. Bachmeier completed a 26-yard pass to freshman Legend Glasker for a key first down. Then on third and goal from the 6, Bachmeier found tight end Walker Lyons for the go-ahead score with 1:47 remaining.

Receiver Jaden Greathouse had his best game of the season, catching eight passes for 125 yards, while Nolan James, Jr. led the rushing attack with 16 carries for 77 yards and Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the game.

Carr completed 27-of-49 for 261 yards, but couldn’t manufacture Notre Dame’s first road win against a top-5 ranked team since 2012.

The Irish fall to 6-1 and have to linger with this loss for a while before facing Navy on October 31 at noon in Foxboro, Massachusetts.