Losing to Ohio State last weekend was nothing No. 8 Notre Dame needed to worry about too much. It was a quality loss against one of college football’s best teams. In fact, there were plenty of positives to take out of the 21-10 defeat at the hands of the Buckeyes and you’d think the general feeling was today’s matchup against Marshall was an opportunity to get things right.
The Thundering Herd, however, had other plans looking like the better team throughout today’s game scoring by far the biggest upset of the season as they knocked off the Fighting Irish 26-21. In fact, Marshall went into today’s game a 20.5-point underdog, but Khalan Laborn turned that spread on its side running for 163 yards and a touchdown. On the other side of the ball, the Marshall defense completely clowned Notre Dame forcing the Fighting Irish QBs Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne into three interceptions, two costly ones late that sealed the game for the Thundering Herd.
With any hope of securing a CFB Playoff undoubtedly out the window, the 0-2 Fighting Irish head into next weekend against Cal looking to salvage whatever they can from this disastrous start. Next weekend is crucial for Marcus Freeman, who becomes the first Notre Dame head coach to start his stint with the team from 0-3.
Meanwhile, Marshall earns their first win over a top-10 opponent for the first time since 2003.
