Turnovers Doom Vanderbilt at Notre Dame, 22-17

Notre Dame Main Building

South Bend, IND.- In the shadows of the Notre Dame Touchdown Jesus, Vanderbilt fell 22-17 to the Irish. Losing always hurts but when you gift an opponent a win it really stings. On Saturday the Commodores fell behind 16-0 before rallying to score 17 points in the final 31 minutes and 15 seconds of the game. But it wasn’t enough as Notre Dame prevailed.

By Don Yates

The Commodores narrowed the Irish lead to 16-3 with just 1:15 remaining in the first half, on a Ryley Guay field goal. In the second half the Commodores came out with more intensity – and fewer mistakes. Ke’Shawn Vaughn cut the lead to 16-10 on a 3-yard scoring run. Notre Dame then drove down the field to quickly score a touchdown to rebuild their lead to 22-10 but the 2-point conversion failed.

Vanderbilt, however, would not quit. They responded to the Irish score with another scoring drive of their own. Kyle Shurmur’s 18-yard scoring toss to tight end Jared Pinkney pulled Vandy within one score at 22-17.

On its final possession Vanderbilt drove to the Irish 35 where it faced fourth-and-4 situation. Shurmur’s pass to Kalija Lipscomb was on target but when the Commodore receiver hit the ground after being tackled the ball popped out for an incompletion. The ball went over to Notre Dame.

Vanderbilt would get the ball back again with just 5 seconds remaining. After a CJ Bolar catch, Vandy tried some razzle-dazzle backwards passes. In the end they lost two yards after a fumble by Jared Pinkney and the game was over.

Vanderbilt was very poor offensively throughout much of the first half, failing to sustain drives and keeping the defense on the field. A missed field goal, a Vandy fumble on the Notre Dame 1-yard line were the lowlights of the first half. In the third quarter Vandy drove to the Irish 36 before an interception was thrown by Kyle Shurmur into the end zone for a touch back.

In the end the Commodores out-gained the Irish 420-380 but the turnovers where the difference here. Vandy 2, Notre Dame 0, not including the Vandy fumble on the last ditch attempt to score.

“We didn’t do enough today and there are no moral victories in this game,” said a somber Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason after the game.

Vanderbilt will host a well-rested South Carolina team on Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium. The Gamecock’s game with Marshall this week was canceled due to the hurricane situation in the Carolinas.

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