Notre Dame Falls To 0-2 After A Devastating Loss To Marshall

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame had seen this movie before. A stretch of 42 games had gone by since the script had played this way, but on a day that was supposed to see the 8th ranked Irish blow past unranked Marshall, the visiting Thundering Herd upset the Fighting Irish 26-21 in front of a stunned sellout crowd in Marcus Freeman’s first home game as head coach.

Notre Dame had won 42 consecutive games against unranked teams entering the game, but saw that streak come to an end, while Freeman is still in search of his first win three games into his head coaching tenure.

The Irish started with a much different game plan than last week’s game at Ohio State. Tyler Buchner threw on four of Notre Dame’s first five plays, completing his first three attempts. He scrambled for five yards on 3rd and 11 on what would have been another pass.

Notre Dame drove to the Marshall 3 on its next possession, with a mix of runs and short passes, but the drive ended on downs when Buchner’s sideline throw to Braden Lenzy led the Irish receiver out of bounds.

Marshall scored the first points of the game when Khalan Laborn capped a 10-play, 79-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run. Thundering Herd quarterback Henry Colombi hit four short passes on the drive that turned into sizeable gains of 18, 19, 14, and 31 yards. The point after try was no good and Marshall led 6-0 early in the second quarter.

Notre Dame’s fourth drive started with promise after a 22-yard gain by Lorenzo Styles on an end around. It ended two plays later when Buchner threw his first interception of the season, looking for Lenzy in the flat. It gave Marshall the ball at the Irish 48, but the defense held by forcing a three and out.

Buchner finally ignited the Fighting Irish offense on their fifth possession of the game. He ran left on designed QB keepers on the first two plays to move Notre Dame into Marshall territory. Then, he connected with Michael Mayer on consecutive pass plays of 18 and 12 yards, before finishing the five-play, 56-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Blake Grupe’s extra point made it 7-6 Irish with three minutes to go in the first half.

The Herd regained the lead, 9-6, with :15 seconds left before halftime when Rece Verhoff booted a 21-yard field goal. The kick came at the end of a 12-play, 74-yard drive.

Notre Dame’s seven first half offensive possessions resulted in three punts, a turnover on downs, Buchner’s interception, Buchner’s touchdown run, and the end of the half.

The Irish defense forced a punt on Marshall’s opening drive of the second half Isaiah Foskey noted his first sack of the season during the six-play possession.

Freeman gambled and lost on the ensuing Irish possession when Audric Estime was stopped inches short of a first down on a 4th and one dive up the middle. The failed conversion gave Marshall the ball at the Irish 49.

The Thundering Herd capitalized when Verhoff kicked a 20-yard field goal. Marshall drove as far as the Irish three yard line before settling for the kick to go up 12-7 with 3:54 to play in the 3rd quarter.

Notre Dame responded with its best offensive possession of the game to that point. A pass interference penalty on a pass intended for Mayer gave the Irish a quick first down.

Buchner hit Mayer on a 30 yard pass down the right sideline on the next play and followed that with a nine yard screen to Chris Tyree, for just the second touch the game for the running back.

A designed run by Buchner for a five-yard gain was followed by an 18-yard pass to Kevin Bauman down the seam. Buchner scored his second touchdown two plays later and then put the Irish up 15-12 with a run to his right on a two-point conversion.

The touchdown drive seemed to ignite the Irish defense as well. Marshall faced 3rd and nine at its own 39, when Ramon Henderson came on a safety blitz to combine with Justin Ademilola for the third Irish sack of the day.

Notre Dame failed to score after driving to the Marshall 38 on the ensuing possession. A Jon Sot punt was fair caught at the six and seemed to have the Thundering Herd in a precarious position, but Marshall would not go quietly.

Marshall cranked off an 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive to back on top 19-15 with 5:16 remaining. The key play of the series was a 42-yard run by Laborn.

The 5’11 transfer from Florida State started up the middle, breaking tackles along the way. He nearly tripped nearly the 30 yard line, but kept his feet, before being brought down at the six. Columbi hit Devin Miller two plays later with a three-yard TD pass.

Steven Gilmore took the air out of Notre Dame Stadium on the next Irish drive. The defensive back jumped in front of Buchner’s pass intended for Jayden Thomas in the left flat and returned in 37 yards for a Marshall touchdown to put the visitors ahead by 11 with 4:35 to play.

Drew Pyne replaced Buchner after the starting quarterback left after getting banged up on a four-yard run that pushed the Irish to the Marshall 26. Pyne was intercepted two plays later.

Bo Bauer’s block of a John McConnell punt gave the Irish hope and the ball at the Marshall 19. Pyne connected with Mayer for a five-yard TD pass to make it 26-21. Pyne was sacked on a failed two-point play.

The Fighting Irish are 0-2 for the first time since 2011.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter