And that includes the investigative firm hired by N.D. to look into it once he realized he'd been catfished. That said, there are 2 places where he could have prevented this from turning into the fiasco it became.
First, when the story broke that his girlfriend had died, he could have quickly downplayed it. I get that he was likely embarrassed to admit that this was a purely virtual relationship, but he could have squashed the notion that he was grieving over a close loved-one. A simple correction to the magnitude of it would have been adequate, and it never would have ballooned. Instead, he let the story become a national headline attached to his Heisman candidacy.
Second, after the investigation was completed and N.D. was comfortable with the facts, he should have cleared the air immediately. As I recall, in his conversation with Swarbrick and others, he was given the green light to do so, and there was an expectation that he would do just that. Instead, he remained quiet. Again, it's understandable that this was embarrassing, and no one wants to have to admit they've been duped (and that his girlfriend was a purely virtual relationship and not the love of his life that we'd all been led to believe). But the fallout was far worse when it was uncovered by the media later and he'd appeared to be hiding it. That left Swarbrick to have to be the one to make an after-the-fact statement, which wasn't ideal.