Terry McAulay rips referees during NC State at Notre Dame after controversial call, replay review

In the second quarter of Saturday’s game against NC State, Notre Dame appeared to get a key stop with an incomplete pass. However, the referees called it a catch and upheld the call after replay review, and NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay ripped the decision.

Terrell Anderson went to make a shoestring grab on a catch a pass from CJ Bailey. The officials called it a catch on the field, but they went to the monitor afterward.

After reviewing, the call was upheld. The announcing crew of Dan Hicks and Jason Garrett were surprised at the decision, as was McAulay, who didn’t hold back.

This “catch” by NC state WR Terrell Anderson was thoroughly reviewed by an ACC officiating crew and upheld as a completed pass.

Ball is all over the ground and moving. Anderson didn’t maintain control and complete the process of the catch. Pretty clear.

Notre Dame got hosed. pic.twitter.com/mD6j0Z8g1H

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) October 11, 2025

“The failure to reverse to incomplete in ND/NC State is quite possibly the worst Replay ruling I’ve seen this season,” McAulay wrote on X.

NC State wound up punting on the drive, but not before Notre Dame nearly intercepted Bailey. However, the officials called it an incomplete pass on the field and upheld that call, as well – once again surprising the broadcast team.

The Fighting Irish eventually took a 10-7 lead into halftime after a Noah Burnette field goal, but found the end zone in the third quarter. CJ Carr connected with KK Smith for an 18-yard touchdown to make it a 17-7 Notre Dame lead with 6:58 remaining in the quarter.

Notre Dame put up strong numbers on offense in the first half, totaling 241 yards – including 182 passing yards from Carr. However, the Fighting Irish only reached the end zone once as they went 2-for-7 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down through two quarters.

After a three-and-out to start the third quarter, the offense put together a surgical 90-yard scoring drive. Notre Dame took 11 plays to go down the field in 5:56, capped by the touchdown pass from Carr to Smith. It marks Smith’s first career touchdown.

Notre Dame is looking for its fourth consecutive win after starting the season off 0-2 with a three-point loss to Miami and a one-point loss to Texas A&M. The Fighting Irish rattled off three straight wins from there against Purdue, Arkansas and Boise State heading into the matchup with NC State.

A big game awaits next week, though. USC will make the trip to South Bend for the annual rivalry game with Notre Dame, which will get the primetime treatment with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on NBC.