Marshall stuns Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame football in shocking upset
What was supposed to be a celebration of Marcus Freeman‘s first victory as the head coach of Fighting Irish football turned into a party for people in a different shade of green Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium. The Marshall Thundering Herd went into South Bend and stunned the No. 8 Irish, 26-21.
Notre Dame (0-2) was a three-touchdown favorite. The Irish definitely didn’t play like one, and Marshall (2-0) didn’t look the part of a program simply content to take a $1.25-million check to be in sunny South Bend for an afternoon of college football, either.
The Thundering Herd came to win. And that, they did.
Marshall struck first to go ahead 6-0 early in the second quarter. Notre Dame did not score until late in the first half on the first of two one-yard rushing touchdowns on the day from sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner. The Irish took a 7-6 lead with three minutes left until halftime.
It didn’t last long.
Marshall enacted a methodical 12-play, 74-yard drive to regain its lead through 30 minutes. At the half, Thundering Herd running back Khalan Laborn had nearly as many rushing yards (68) on his own as Notre Dame had as an entire team (69). The Irish had trouble establishing any sort of push along either line of scrimmage. The offensive line wasn’t moving Marshall defenders, and the defensive line wasn’t shedding blocks to stop plays in their tracks. That’s a losing combination.
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Notre Dame Slightly improved in the second half, but not by enough to win. Laborn finished with 31 carries for 163 yards. The former five-star recruit and Florida State Seminole wore on the Irish with his persistence. Defensive coordinator Al Golden‘s group showed a chink in its armor in trying to defend the run. A 42-yard Laborn scamper set up Marshall’s go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, meanwhile, might have showed he doesn’t have much of a hand at the poker table at all. Buchner went 18-of-32 for 201 yards with zero passing touchdowns and two costly interception. The second pick was returned for a Marshall touchdown to give the Herd a 26-15 lead with 4:35 remaining. Buchner’s counterpart, Texas Tech transfer Henry Colombi, went 16-of-21 for 145 yards with no interceptions. His lone TD toss put the Herd ahead, 19-15, with 5:16 left.
Notre Dame ran 36 times for 130 yards for an average of 3.6 yards per rush. For a team that said all offseason it wanted to hang its hat on running the ball, the Irish haven’t gotten out to a hot start in doing so through the first two weeks of the season. It’s one of many issues that have manifested for the Irish early in Freeman’s first season at the helm.
