The Irish suffered a shocking loss to Navy, losing 23-21, and have no one to blame but themselves, writes Keith Arnold. Among the things we learned this week are the red zone offense caused ND's demise and the defense was a big let down again.
The Irish fought hard, but too many mistakes led to a 23-21 loss to Navy.
Notre Dame may have gotten Michael Floyd back from a broken collarbone for its clash against Navy, but the Irish had no answer for the Midshipmen's option offensive attack as Navy won 23-21 in South Bend. Navy ran all over Notre Dame, racking up 349 rushing yards, dashing any BCS hopes Jimmy Clausen and company might have had. The Irish also hurt their own cause, committing three turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 INT) and missing two field goals on the day.
Notre Dame traveled to San Antonio, Texas to face Washington State in an offsite home game and left behind all the drama of the Irish's last six games, which were all decided by seven points or less. This time the Irish were able to cruise to a 40-14 win over the Cougars in the Alamodome.
Kyle McCarthy notched two of the Irish's three interceptions, and the Irish defense made Eagles star running back Montel Harris lose two fumbles, something he hadn't done in his previous 356 touches, en route to a 20-16 win Saturday in South Bend.
Jimmy Clausen threw three incomplete passes into the end zone in the closing seconds as No. 6 Southern California held on for a 34-27 victory and its eighth straight win against No. 25 Notre Dame on Saturday.
Jimmy Clausen connected with Golden Tate for a 22-yard completion on the first play of overtime, and then Robert Hughes bullied his way into the endzone to put the Irish up 37-30.
Jimmy Clausen threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, including a 33-yarder to Golden Tate with 5:18 left to lead Notre Dame to a 33-30 victory over Michigan State on Saturday.
Notre Dame's offense was flying high as Jimmy Clausen was 15-for-18 for 315 yards and four touchdowns as the No. 23 Fighting Irish opened the season with a 35-0 throttling of Nevada.
Watch the highlights of Notre Dame's first win of the season, 21-13 over San Diego State.
Watch first quarter action from Notre Dame's 28-7 victory over Duke and then watch the rest of the game.
Watch first quarter action from Notre Dame vs. Florida State from 1993 and then watch the rest of the classic game.
Watch highlights from Notre Dame's 31-30 victory over Miami in 1988.
Take a look back at the best photos from each Notre Dame game this season.
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