Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 OCT. 31, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Notre Dame could have left no doubt against BYU on its penultimate drive in its 28-24 loss to the Cougars. The No. 2 Irish took a 24-21 lead on their first drive of the fourth quarter, then Notre Dame's defense gave the ball back to the offense with the same score thanks to an interception by sophomore cornerback Jayden Sanders. An 85-yard touchdown drive would have given Notre Dame a two-score lead and put BYU in a dif- ficult position. Instead, the Irish squandered the op- portunity. Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. lost 4 yards on a first-down rush. Then junior quarterback CJ Carr barely reached the line of scrimmage on a head-scratching draw play. A swing pass to James on third-and-14 didn't stand much of a chance of making a first down, but that's what the Irish went with for a 7-yard gain and a jog to the sideline to be replaced by the punt team. BYU answered with a 10-play, 55-yard touchdown drive for what proved to be the game-winning pos- session. On a night when Notre Dame's offense wasn't at its best, that three-and-out turned the game back in BYU's favor for good. STATS OF THE GAME Even without leading rusher LJ Martin, who missed the game for BYU with an injury, the Cougars out- rushed Notre Dame, 121-115. That's the first time this season Notre Dame's defense allowed an oppo- nent to reach 100 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Notre Dame freshman running back Jonaz Walton received just 5 carries, which he turned into 17 yards and 1 touchdown, after rushing for 301 yards in his previous two games. MORE TROUBLE WITH TIGHT ENDS For a third consecutive game, an opposing tight end caught a touchdown pass against Notre Dame. This time it was the game-winning touchdown reception for BYU. Tight end Walker Lyons beat freshman safety Joey O'Brien in one-on-one coverage to get open for quar- terback Bear Bachmeier, and he secured the 6-yard pass with a diving catch on third-and-goal. The touch- down pushed BYU ahead 28-24 with 1:47 remaining in the game. Lyons' score was the fifth touchdown reception by an opposing tight end in Notre Dame's past three games. Tight ends accounted for all three of North Carolina's offensive touchdowns and Stanford's lone offensive touchdown. Meanwhile, Notre Dame's offense played without senior starting tight end Cooper Flanagan due to a left hamstring injury. Sophomore James Flanigan and junior Jack Larsen filled in at the position, but the Irish have really struggled to make impact plays in the passing game with their tight ends. Larsen caught 4 passes for 23 yards on 7 targets. Flanigan caught 1 pass for 0 yards on 3 targets. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TYLER JAMES WR JADEN GREATHOUSE The senior wide receiver was a big part of a second-half rally that saw the Irish turn a 21-10 halftime deficit into a 24-21 fourth-quarter lead, before BYU answered with a late touchdown to complete the upset. Still, the Irish had one last gasp, and almost rallied again. Greathouse had two of his career-high 8 catches during a 15-play drive that started with 1:47 on the clock at the Notre Dame 25-yard line. One of those catches was a 24-yard reception on third-and-10 to keep that drive alive. It's the one he couldn't corral in the end zone that became controversial on the final play of the game. From the BYU 8-yard line, CJ Carr threw the ball into the end zone to Greathouse as time expired, and it fell incomplete. The ABC announcing crew said BYU should have been flagged for pass interference on the play. That was echoed by Matt Austin, rules and officiating analyst for ABC. "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." Greathouse had 6 of his 8 catches in the second half and finished with 125 yards, three short of his career high set against Ohio State in the national championship game following the 2024 season. Greathouse came into the game with 11 receptions for 138 yards total in his first six games of the season. RB NOLAN JAMES JR. The sophomore got the bulk of the work in the running game against the nation's No. 10 team in rush defense. He finished with a game-high 77 yards on 16 carries (4.8 yards per carry). He scored on an 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and consistently gained yards after contact on a lot of his runs. James had a long run of 26 yards. He also had 3 receptions for 18 yards. He heads into the bye week as Notre Dame's second-leading rusher on the season with 412 yards on a team-high 81 carries with 6 rushing touchdowns, also a team high. S LUKE TALICH The 6-foot-4, 222-pound former walk-on was a standout on defense in No. 2 Notre Dame's 28-24 upset loss at No. 8 BYU. The senior from Cody, Wyo., tied for the team lead in tackles for the Irish with a career-high 8, including a key one for a loss on a BYU fake punt. With BYU leading the Irish 21-13 late in the third quarter, the Cougars faced a fourth-and-5 from their own 28-yard line. BYU punter Fuller Shurtz took a step to his left, then took off trying to make a first down. Talich read the fake perfectly and tackled Shurtz for a 4-yard loss on the play, giving the Notre Dame of- fense the ball just outside of the red zone. In six games this season, Talich has 27 tackles, including 4.5 for loss with a sack, 2 interceptions, 1 pass broken up, 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked kick. He missed one game this season with a wrist injury. GAME BALLS BY ERIC HANSEN Senior safety Luke Talich tied for the team lead with 8 tackles in the loss to the Cougars. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER