A week after losing a tough game in Columbus, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish opened their 2022 home schedule with a stunning 26-21 loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd in South Bend Saturday.
Notre Dame, trailing by two points at halftime, took a brief lead in the second half, but Marshall took advantage of two fourth quarter interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by Steven Gilmore as they cruised to a win that dropped the Irish to 0-2 on the regular season.
According to NBC Sports, Marcus Freeman now becomes the first Notre Dame coach in program history to start 0-3 in his career after losing the 2022 Fiesta Bowl to Oklahoma State.
Recap:
Notre Dame’s offense struggled badly in the first half, but they seemed to figure things out late in the third quarter as they advanced down the field and scored on a Tyler Buchner run, giving the Irish a 15-12 lead as the fourth quarter got underway.
The teams traded punts after that, but Marshall put together an 11 play, 94-yard drive to take a 19-15 lead with 5:16 remaining in the contest thanks to a Henry Colombi touchdown pass to Devin Miller.
Three plays later, a Buchner pass was picked off by Gilmore, who returned it 37 yards for a touchdown and a 26-15 Marshall lead with 4:35 remaining.
Sports
After Buchner was injured on the ensuing Notre Dame drive, Drew Pyne was intercepted by Owen Porter at the Marshall 19-yard line, sticking a dagger in the Irish hopes of a comeback victory.
Stats:
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-After throwing for 177 yards in last week’s loss to Ohio State, Buchner did rush for two touchdowns against the Thundering Herd, but he also threw a pair of interceptions, including a critical pick that was returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Combined, Notre Dame’s quarterbacks were 21-for-38 for 221 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in the losing effort, leaving unanswered questions about the quarterback position for the Irish.
-Notre Dame rushed for 130 combined yards on 37 carries, but their defense was completely unable to slow down the Marshall attack, giving up 221 yards on the ground Saturday.
Khalan Laborn, who had 102 yards and two touchdowns a week ago, had another banner day against Notre Dame with 163 rushing yards and a touchdown on 31 carries.
Notre Dame gave up 172 yards on the ground last week agains the Buckeyes, with TreVeyon Henderson picking up 91 rushing yards and Miyan Williams scoring a touchdown for Ohio State.
Last season, the Irish gave up an average of 127.8 yards per game on the ground.
-According to NBC Sports, the win was Marshall’s first against a top-10 opponent since they defeated No. 6 Kansas State 27-20 in Manhattan in Sept. 2003.
What’s Next:
The Fighting Irish will be back at home next week, taking on California in South Bend on Sept. 17. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m., and the contest will air on NBC and Peacock.
