In a game that could have propelled Notre Dame back into the College Football Playoff discussion, the Irish all but proved why they are not deserving of one of the four coveted postseason spots.

A furious second-half rally wasn’t enough, as Notre Dame fell to Arizona State, 55-31 Saturday. It was a game the Irish at one point trailed 34-3.

Quarterback Everett Golson didn’t help matters, turning the ball over five times.

“It’s all on me, really,” said Golson, who was also sacked seven times on the night. “You play with fire as much as I did today you are going to get burned eventually.”

The senior didn’t have much help offensively, with Notre Dame held to 41 rushing yards on 38 attempts. Tarean Folston finished with 30 yards on 11 carries while Cam McDaniel didn’t fare much better, rushing for 24 yards on nine carries. McDaniel did find the end zone twice, though.

To the Irish’s credit, 28 unanswered points pulled the team within three points late in the fourth quarter.

However, the turnovers — including three in a four-minute span early in the first half — dug a hole that was simply too deep. Golson now has a whopping 17 turnovers in six games.

“This game was set up for our offense to win,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. “We put our defense in such a bad situation today.”

Boston College also felt the wrath of turnovers on Saturday.

After racing out to a 13-3 lead, the Eagles collapsed, succumbing to ACC-foe Louisville, 38-19. The team committed four turnovers on the night.

It was an overall poor performance for quarterback Tyler Murphy, who threw for 149 yards, a touchdown, and four interceptions on 7-of-15 passing while only managing 41 yards on 12 carries.

“It’s real tough. You’re supposed to take care of the ball and that’s something I didn’t do today,” said Murphy. “It was costly. It led to a lot of points for them and good field position.”

Although he found the end zone twice, surprising freshman running back Jon Hilliman had another poor outing. The Plainfield, New Jersey, product finished with 42 yards on 17 carries (2.5 YPC).

Boston College has a bye week next weekend to regroup before traveling to Tallahassee for a tough tilt against No. 2-ranked Florida State.

Meanwhile, the Irish — the No. 10-ranked team in last Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings — will host Northwestern at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Results for Catholic colleges around the U.S.

Catholic schools, in italics below, went 23-13 this weekend.

Division I FBS

Louisville 38
Boston College 19

Arizona State 55
Notre Dame 31

Division I FCS

Drake 34
Dayton 30

Bryant 20
Duquesne 17

Fordham 30
Bucknell 27 (OT)

Holy Cross 27
Lehigh 20

Sam Houston State 40
Incarnate Word 19

Sacred Heart 35
Central Connecticut State 27

San Diego 49
Morehead State 28

Villanova 42
Towson 14

Division II

Assumption 28
Stonehill 21

Gannon 31
Indiana University of Pennsylvania 21

Merrimack 35
Southern Connecticut 7

Minnesota Duluth 52
Mary 35

Mercyhurst 59
California 49

Concord 51
Notre Dame (Ohio) 14

Ohio Dominican 38
Saginaw Valley 14

Truman State 17
Quincy 14

St. Anselm 37
New Haven 34

St. Joseph’s 49
William Hewell 7

Edinboro 31
Seton Hill 27

Walsh 31
Glenville State 23

Division III

Benedictine 56
Rockford 20

Catholic 40
Washington & Lee 36

John Carroll 66
Otterbein 13

Widener 55
King’s 6

Loras 22
Luther 20

Mount St. Joseph 48
Rose-Hulman 31

Salve Regina 20
Coast Guard 10

St. John’s 31
Bethel 8

Macalester 21
St. Norbert 13

St. Scholastica 42
Greenville 14

St. Thomas 83
Carleton 7

Geneva 34
St. Vincent 30

Thomas More 66
Case Western Reserve 34