SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame football team dropped a 26-21 contest to the visiting Marshall Thundering Herd Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish fall to 0-2, the first 0-2 start to a season since 2011. The loss marks the first loss to an unranked team at home since Nov. 19, 2016 when the Irish fell to Virginia Tech 34-31.
The Fighting Irish offense worked for 130 yards on 37 carries on the ground, Through the air, the Irish connected on 21-of-38 passing for 221 yards
Quarterback Tyler Buchner led the ground attack, picking up 44 yards on 13 carries and scoring twice. Audric Estime added 33 yards on 10 carries.
Michael Mayer led the receiving corps with eight catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Lorenzo Styles added seven catches for 69 yards.
Howard Cross III led the defense, earning a career-best 11 tackles. D.J. Brown also set a new career best with nine tackles, while Jack Kiser and J.D. Bertrand equaled that total. Kiser added 1.5 tackles for loss, including a sack.
The Thundering Herd opened the scoring in the second quarter. Marshall utilized a series of outside screen passes to move into Notre Dame territory before scoring on a fou- yard run up the middle by Khalan Laborn. Marshall special teams missed the extra point to take the lead at 6-0 just a minute into the second quarter.
Notre Dame answered in the waning minutes of the half. After playing the field position game with special teams, the Irish started the drive on their own 44. Buchner carried twice to start the series before the sophomore quarterback hit Mayer on back-to-back passes to get the ball down to the Marshall one yard line. Buchner carried off left tackle for the one-yard scoring run. Blake Grupe was true on the extra point and the Irish took a 7-6 lead with three minutes left in the half.
Marshall took over with 2:15 left on the clock in the first half. The Thundering Herd marched 74 yards in 12 plays and connected on a 21-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff to take the lead at 9-7 into halftime.
After the Irish failed to convert a fourth and one in their own territory, Marshall used a 30-yard rush down the left sideline to work their way into the red zone. With a second and three inside the Irish five, Jayson Ademilola broke through the line of scrimmage to drag the Marshall running back down for a loss of three. Another stop on an outside run by Joseph and Justin Ademilola forced the Thundering Herd into a 20-yard field goal attempt. The kick was good and Marshall took a 12-7 lead with 3:54 remaining in the quarter.
On the ensuing possession, the Irish stormed down the field. Buchner hit Mayer down the right sideline for a gain of 30 and moved the Irish into Marshall territory. Notre Dame moved down to the one-yard line after Buchner found Kevin Bauman between the hashes as the third quarter came to a close. Buchner took the one-yard plunge for his second score of the game and put the Irish up 13-12. Buchner did it again on the two-point conversion, running outside the right end to give Notre Dame the 15-12 lead with 14:57 remaining.
After an Irish punt, the Thundering Herd took over at its own six-yard line with a little over 10 minutes to go. Laborn broke free for a rush of 42 yards to put the Herd inside the Irish 10 before Henry Colombi hit Devin Miller for a three-yard touchdown pass to go up 19-15 with 4:35 remaining.
On the ensuing Irish possession, Notre Dame threw to the left flat and the pass was jumped by the Marshall cornerback who returned in 37 yards for the score to put the Herd up 26-15.
A third Notre Dame interception gave Marshall the ball back with 3:01 on the clock. The defense held strong, forcing a punt that was blocked by Bo Bauer and the Irish took over on the Marshall 32 yard line with 1:56 remaining. Backup quarterback Drew Pyne led the scoring drive, finding Mayer on the right side for the touchdown. After the two-point conversion failed, the Irish trailed 26-21.
Notre Dame’s onside kick attempt was recovered by Marshall on the Notre Dame 48 yard line, and the Herd took a knee to claim the victory.
The Irish are back in action next Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium as they will play host to the California Bears, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m.