Big 12 admits one second was left on clock at end of Notre Dame-BYU game

The Big 12 has admitted that one second was left on the clock when CJ Carr's would-be game-winning pass hit the ground in No. 8 BYU's 28-24 win over No. 2 Notre Dame on Saturday night in Provo.

“Following the Big 12’s review of the final play of Saturday’s Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew,” the statement read. “The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games.”

The clock discrepancy was not noticed by officials or the ABC broadcasting crew (or, admittedly, by this writer) in real time. Only upon replay, when examining why pass interference was not called on the BYU defender, was it evident one second remained on the clock after the ball hit the ground.

This is the third high-stakes officiating snafu of the season. Proper protocol was not followed when one second was put back on the clock in Michigan's Hail Mary win over Western Michigan in Week 1, and in Week 4 SEC officials allowed Tennessee to execute an illegal onside kick, which they recovered, in their loss to Texas. 

In football, three groups face public scrutiny as they go about their jobs: players, coaches, and officials. Officials are the only group that face little, or no, public accountability. The crew that botched Texas-Tennessee worked the very next week, and it's unclear if the unnamed replay official will face accountability, either.

Even if they do, it's cold comfort for Notre Dame. (And, to be clear, it's far from guaranteed Notre Dame would have scored had they gotten the additional second.) The only reason the Fighting Irish needed a touchdown in the first place was because, at the end of the first half, CJ Carr was ruled to have fumbled an attempted spike, which would have given Notre Dame the opportunity to try for a touchdown or field goal. That play, of course, was ruled an incomplete pass in real time but overturned to a fumble upon review.

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.