Bear Bachmeier accounted for all four of BYU’s touchdowns as the No. 8 Cougars held off No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 on Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The sophomore quarterback completed 23 of 36 passes for 224 yards and one touchdown while adding two rushing scores and a receiving touchdown on a trick play.
Bachmeier’s six-yard scoring pass to tight end Walker Lyons with 1:47 remaining capped a 10-play, 55-yard drive that put BYU ahead for good after the Cougars had trailed 24-21.
Notre Dame then drove to the BYU nine-yard line, but quarterback CJ Carr’s final pass into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
The victory improved BYU to 6-0 and marked the program’s first win over Notre Dame since 2004 as well as its first victory against a top-10 opponent since 2018. Notre Dame fell to 6-1 and saw its 16-game winning streak come to an end.
Carr finished with 261 passing yards for the Irish, while Nolan James Jr. rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown.
BYU’s Preston Rex added 66 yards on 10 carries to help the Cougars control the ground game in stretches.
The result came on a chaotic Saturday across college football in which five of the top eight teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same day for the first time, according to Sportradar. No. 1 Georgia also fell that day, marking the first time the nation’s top two teams lost on the same regular-season Saturday since Nov. 17, 2012.
After the game, Bachmeier pointed to his high school recruitment as extra motivation.
“Kalani [Sitake] won’t like this because I’m talking about myself, but out of high school, Notre Dame disrespected me and my family pretty badly,” Bachmeier said. “I wasn’t going to lose to those guys. There was no way I was going to lose to those guys.”
He also said “there are some receipts kept” and declined to elaborate further when asked for details.
Notre Dame offered Bachmeier a scholarship in July 2023 while he was a highly regarded prospect at Murrieta Valley High School in California. His late grandfather had been a lifelong Notre Dame fan, and Bachmeier later described the offer as meaningful at the time.
The Fighting Irish later secured a commitment from another quarterback that fall, while Bachmeier committed to Stanford in February 2024 before transferring to BYU in 2025 alongside his brother.
Bachmeier became the first quarterback since Steve Young in the 1983 Holiday Bowl to record a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. He also became the only FBS quarterback in the past 30 seasons to post a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown against an AP Top 25 opponent in one contest.
BYU led 21-10 at halftime after Bachmeier’s early scoring plays, but Notre Dame climbed back with field goals and a late touchdown before the Cougars’ final drive.
