2017 Week 13

Four turnovers in the second quarter crushed Notre Dame's title aspirations as Nebraska State handed the #4 Fighting Irish its only loss on the season, 52-45 at Ab-Linc.

Irish quarterback struggled in the first half and was picked off three times before halftime. That opened the floodgates for NSU as the Prairie Dogs capitalized on all three interceptions and a Notre Dame fumble to build a 31-10 halftime lead.

Despite the first half blunder, Scott came close to rallying his team to a win by tossing four second half touchdowns but a failed onside kick with under two minutes left allowed NSU to hold on for the upset.

"Turnovers can quickly change a game. When Tony threw his pick on the first play, I thought we were done for. But in the second we got some breaks and kept the ball out of their offense's hands," said NSU coach Ryan Ditka.

Schifano was intercepted on NSU's first play from scrimmage and led to a Notre Dame field goal. NSU would answer on its next drive, capped by a seven-yard touchdown from Schifano to tightend Marshall. It took just 30 seconds for Notre Dame to regain the lead after Scott found Curry behind the secondary for a 77-yard scoring pass.

But then the wheels fell off for the Irish. Brown, Notre Dame's sure handed running back, fumbled the ball away after a Prairie Dog punt. The next three possessions for Notre Dame ended with Scott find an NSU player for the pick.

Frankling scored twice before halftime and tallied 107 yards.

"We all knew about Notre Dame's powerful offense so we discussed a lot at halftime about not letting them back into the game. And just about screwed that up," Ditka said.

The Irish started quickly, holding NSU to three and out and then scoring quickly on a 50-yard pass. A tipped interception found the Domers in the end zone again and down by just 14. NSU would match the scores on a TD pass from Schifano to Austin and an eight-yard run by Franklin.

Notre Dame's offensive power was shown again as Scott found Hill on the Irish's first play for an 81-yard score just seconds after Franklin's run.

Notre Dame appeared in a position to take over the game after Scott's fourth scoring pass of the game as the gap closed to seven. But a game-changer in his own right, Ruud took the ensuing kickoff 97-yards to put NSU up 14 midway through the final quarter. NSU's defense allowed one more Scott touchdown pass and the offense ran out the clock to secure the upset.

"It's a great way to wrap up the regular season. I wished we could be playing for the conference title next week, but that's how things go sometimes. We'll just sit back and enjoy this win and see what happens next." Ditka said in a post game interview.

The Prairie Dogs will see where they land in the bowl chase with Nebraska already winning the North Division title after defeating Colorado earlier in the day. NSU ends the regular season at 9-3.