Another Nightmare Ending

Brian Kelly said he’s going to wake up from this nightmare and his Notre Dame team will be 11-0.

Or maybe not, the seventh-year Irish head coach said.

Following a script that’s become all too common in South Bend, Notre Dame blew another big first-half lead and eventually lost as home favorites, falling to Virginia Tech 34-31 on Senior Day.

“I’m at loss for words really as to what to tell the team,” Kelly said. “It’s just been a difficult year.”

The loss moves the Irish to 4-7, effectively ending their chances at going to a bowl game. Notre Dame now faces No. 13 Southern Cal in Los Angeles, a game that has the potential to rival the 2014 blowout.

Notre Dame will end the season without consecutive wins, the first time since 1960 an Irish team has failed to do so.

Virginia Tech’s Joey Slye hit a 20-yard field goal with 4:16 remaining in the game to give the Hokies (8-3) their first lead of the game. It completed a comeback that began with Tech trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half.

Notre Dame junior quarterback DeShone Kizer — potentially playing in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium — went 13-of-18 passing for 199 yards in the first half. However, he was just 3-of-15 passing for 36 yards in the second half.

“Really a tale of two halves,” Kelly said. “Obviously offensively we got it going very well in the first half; in the second half we weren’t as sharp.”

The Irish started quickly, going up 7-0 less than four minutes into the game on a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Josh Adams. It capped a seven-play, 78-yard drive.

Notre Dame has scored first in all but one game this season, the exception a 10-3 loss at North Carolina State Oct. 8.

Sophomore kicker Justin Yoon added a 25-yard field goal with 4:26 left in the first quarter to make it 10-0. Then, on the first play of the second quarter, sophomore wide receiver Chris Finke caught a 31-yard touchdown from Kizer to extend the lead to 17-0. Including the touchdown to Finke, Notre Dame outgained Virginia Tech 204-4 yards to open the game.

Virginia Tech got on the board on the ensuing drive, finishing with a 23-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Jerod Evans to cut the Notre Dame lead to 17-7.

Notre Dame extended the lead back to 17 with six minutes left in the half, when Kizer found sophomore wide receiver Miles Boykin for an 18-yard touchdown. The Hokies then had a crucial scoring drive at the end of the half, capped by a 16-yard touchdown toss from Evans to junior wide receiver Cam Phillips to make it 24-14 at the break.

“I don’t think there was any great revelation at halftime,” first-year Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente said. “We had to play better. We were out there dropping the ball on the ground — just not playing Virginia Tech football.”

Fuente said once his team settled down and got their feet underneath them, their play was much better. Tech came out of halftime and went 75 yards on five plays for a touchdown, sparked by a 62-yard catch-and-run by sophomore wide receiver C.J. Carroll.

Evans finished the game 22-of-29 passing for 267 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Kizer, meanwhile, was just 16-of-33 passing for 235 yards with two touchdowns.

Kelly was asked after the game about Kizer’s poor second-half performance.

“We had some opportunities that we missed in terms of throws,” Kelly said. “We had some catches that we didn’t make.

“I don’t know that there is one thing. When I caution you about watching the film, there are a lot of different things. I don’t think it’s just one thing. Maybe a couple protection issues. A couple routes that weren’t run properly. Maybe a couple things that we could have done better in terms of play calls. A little bit of everything. I don’t think there was one specific thing I can put my finger on.”

With 5:20 left in the third quarter, Notre Dame caught a break when an Evans pass intended for Phillips was deflected into the arms of Irish junior safety Drue Tranquill for an interception. Four plays later, Adams broke through the line and scored a 67-yard touchdown to give the Irish a 31-21 lead.

The Hokies were able to overcome the momentum swing.

“Obviously that was a big play that didn’t go our way … but our guys just kept battling through,” Fuente said. “I don’t know if it’s a belief in each other or it’s the work that they put on, but they just kept plugging away.”

Tech would end the game by scoring the final 13 points — two Slye field goals and a seven-yard pass from Evans to redshirt junior receiver Bucky Hodges.

On what would be the Hokies’ game-winning drive, Evans — a junior college transfer — accounted for 49 of the 51 yards. His total included a 20-yard pass to junior wide receiver Isaiah Ford early in the possession that led to Slye’s game-winning field goal.

Notre Dame finished with 449 yards to Virginia Tech’s 419. Adams led the way on the ground, carrying 13 times for 100 yards. Kizer also ran for 69 yards. Evans was Tech’s leading rusher, carrying 18 times for 67 yards.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, Notre Dame is the first Power Five team to lose seven games by one score since North Carolina State in 2006.

“We’ve just got to finish,” senior cornerback Cole Luke said. “We’re only losing by less than eight points. We’ve just got to finish, that’s all it really is.

“Coach Kelly said it best in the locker room — it’s a combination of things. It’s not just one thing.”