How Notre Dame blew easy points with bizarre CJ Carr fumble
· Yahoo Sports
How Notre Dame blew easy points with bizarre CJ Carr fumble originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Visit biznow.biz for more information.
Notre Dame is in a tough battle with BYU, down 21-10 at halftime in Provo, but the Fighting Irish cost themselves with a strange player before halftime.
The Notre Dame offense was in a strong position to score points at the end of the second quarter, either collecting a field goal or a touchdown depending on how they finished the drive. That was until quarterback CJ Carr made a crucial mistake on a spike attempt, leaving the Fighting Irish with no points.
Carr has been great all season, but this play was perhaps his worst of the season and left his team down 11 instead of cutting the deficit to eight points. If the Fighting Irish don't come back in this game, this play will be one the team looks back on as a key moment.
Here's a look at CJ Carr's costly fumble at the end of the half.
MORE: SEC 'Hangover Saturday' with Texas, Alabama and Georgia losses comes with no excuses
CJ Carr fumbles before half
Notre Dame was trying to get points before halftime, but with no timeouts, quarterback CJ Carr knew that he would need to spike the ball after a completion in bounds. That was the exact case with nine seconds left, when Micah Gilbert caught a Carr pass for a first down in the red zone.
The Fighting Irish hustled to get ready to spike the ball, but they had plenty of time with the clock briefly stopped due to the first down. Initially, it appeared that Carr successfully stopped the clock with six seconds to go.
However, it turns out that Carr did not take the snap cleanly, which meant his spike wasn't particularly clean. Upon further review, the officials determined that Carr fumbled the ball in his hands, then pushed the ball down to the ground before he secured it in his hands.
CJ CARR FUMBLES ON A SPIKE 😮 BYU recovered 👀 https://t.co/vMOczouW8s
— ESPN (@espn) October 18, 2026
BYU's defense was able to secure a clear fumble recovery, so the officials changed the call to a turnover and BYU ball, which led to the Cougars kneeling out the clock.
At the very least, Notre Dame was in position to get a short field goal, with an outside chance to score a touchdown if they wanted to be aggressive. Instead, the Fighting Irish went into the locker room with no points on the drive.