Ineffective offense, turnovers doom Notre Dame vs Marshall in Marcus Freeman’s home debut

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame could not run the ball when it needed to. It could not throw the ball efficiently. The Irish could barely stop Marshall’s ground game, and then they could not even do that.

Struggling in all facets, No. 8 Notre Dame (0-2) lost to the Herd (2-0) on Saturday, 26-21, making Marcus Freeman the first Irish coach in history to start his career 0-3. On a day when Notre Dame could barely move the ball in the first place, Marshall eliminated any chance of an Irish comeback with an interception return for a touchdown in the final five minutes, giving it enough of a lead to withstand a last-gasp Notre Dame touchdown.

From the outset, the Herd bullied Notre Dame. It took a second-quarter lead with a long touchdown drive, a 10-play march on which six Marshall rushes gained 27 yards on the drive, the Irish able to render only one ground attempt as ineffective.

The Herd eventually attempted two field goals with the ball inside the five-yard line, leaving crucial points on the board in its upset bid, but even that conservative approach was too much for a struggling Notre Dame offense to overcome.

That turnover aside — though, obviously, that was a critical mistake that eliminated any genuine lingering Irish hope — sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner combined with junior tight end Michael Mayer to be essentially the entire Notre Dame offense.

On the first two Irish touchdown drives, the only two before the game was decided, Buchner found Mayer for 60 yards on three catches, plus another nine yards and an automatic first down when Mayer drew a defensive pass interference flag. To get to the edge of the end zone on the second scoring drive, Buchner connected with sophomore tight end Kevin Bauman for 18 yards