Marcus Freeman won’t blame Big 12 officiating in controversial loss: ‘Not what we do’

Marcus Freeman won't blame Major 12 officiating in controversial loss: 'Not what we do'.

Key points

• Notre Dame will have Week 8 off before traveling to Gillette Stadium in Week 9 to take on Navy at noon ET on Saturday, Oct.
• Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer.
• But Marcus Freeman won't point fingers at authorities for the Fighting Irish's defeat.
• The loss doesn't eliminate the Fighting Irish from College Football Playoff contention, but it does reduce their margin of error.

Marcus Freeman won't blame Major 12 officiating in controversial loss: 'Not what we do'. John Leuzzi USA TODAY. BYU coach Kalani Sitake on Cougars' dramatic win over Notre Dame.

Notably, the Cougars upset the Fighting Irish in a final sequence that featured two potentially missed calls.

Notably, the Major 12 acknowledged late Saturday night that an officiating error occurred on the final play of Notre Dame's loss to BYU, a top-10 showdown that appeared to end with the Cougars' defense making the game-clinching stop.

REQUIRED READING: Notre Dame asked for BYU. The Cougars created the Irish regret it.

"It is what it is. I know individuals are going to look for me to put blame on somebody else, but that's not what we do around here, " Freeman stated after the loss. "We own it. And we've obtained to be better, and we've secured to execute no matter what the situation is."

For context, the final play of the game featured two potential officiating errors, including an acknowledgment by the Major 12 that there was a second remaining on the game clock.

"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, " the Major 12's statement read. "And the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew."

Another matter saw office-holders swallow their whistles on a potential defensive pass interference that would have given the Fighting Irish an untimed down – assuming the clock error wasn't addressed – for a final play at roughly the 5-yard line.

CJ Carr's pass fell incomplete to Jaden Greathouse in the right corner of the end zone. There was extra contact between Greathouse and the BYU cornerback Evan Johnson on the play, but no flag was thrown for defensive pass interference.

REQUIRED READING: Did BYU commit pass interference vs Notre Dame? See final play here.

In practice, the loss doesn't eliminate the Fighting Irish from College Football Playoff contention, but it does reduce their margin of error. It is worth noting that Notre Dame has a Memorandum of Understanding with the CFP committee starting this year that would put the Fighting Irish in the CFP if it's ranked in the top 12 of the CFP rankings.

Notre Dame will have Week 8 off before traveling to Gillette Stadium in Week 9 to take on Navy at noon ET on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts and Spotify. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

Taken together, the developments around marcus Freeman wont blame Big 12 officiating in controversial loss: Not what point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.