Turnovers kill Notre Dame again

For the second straight week, turnovers doomed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

In a game where each team turned the ball over four times, the Irish’s mistakes were a little more costly, as 28-point underdog Northwestern rallied for a 43-40 victory in overtime. Notre Dame turned it over three times in the second half alone.

“So many things happened in that game that it’s hard to put them all in perspective,” said Irish coach Brian Kelly. “We had the game pretty much in our hands and we turned the ball over.”

With 10:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, quarterback Everett Golson connected with wide receiver William Fuller for the third time, putting Notre Dame up 40-29. When the Wildcats missed a field goal on their very next drive, the game looked as good as over.

Unfortunately, a fumble and missed field goal in overtime eventually did the Irish in.

The Wildcats gave themselves a chance when they drove 73 yards in less than two minutes and quarterback Trevor Siemian scored untouched on a 6-yard run with 4:10 left. Warren Long made a two-point conversion on a run after Notre Dame was called for pass interference.

Notre Dame’s final turnover occurred with 1:28 left when the Irish were trying to run out the clock. The usually reliable Cam McDaniel fumbled at the Northwestern 33-yard line when he was stripped by safety Ibraheim Campbell and it was recovered by linebacker Jimmy Hall.

Mitchell kicked a 45-yard field goal with 19 seconds left, sending the game to overtime. Then he nailed a 41-yard field goal for the game-winner after Notre Dame’s Kyle Brindza missed from 42 yards.

For his part, Golson had a solid game, throwing for 287 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception on 21-of-40 passing while rushing for another 78 yards and a score. Running back Tarean Folston also got back in stride, racking up 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Losers of two straight, the Irish (7-3) will look to get back on the winning track when Louisville comes to town next weekend.

On bye this weekend, Boston College (6-4) will look to make headlines when it visits Tallahassee to take on No. 3-ranked Florida State on Saturday.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Results for Catholic colleges around the US

Catholic schools, in italics below, went 21-13 this weekend.

Division I FBS

Northwestern 43
Notre Dame 40 (OT)

Division I FCS

Dayton 21
Butler 14

Wagner 23
Duquesne 13

Fordham 52
Georgetown 7

Bucknell 31
Holy Cross 24