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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Barry Werner

Marshall shocks Notre Dame in South Bend

There is good news for the Notre Dame faithful. Seriously.

Marcus Freeman became the first Fighting Irish coach to start 0-2 in the regular season since Lou Holtz in 1986 when Marshall staggered Notre Dame, 26-21, Saturday.

Technically, Freeman is 0-3, of course, since he coached Notre Dame against Oklahoma State in the Fiest Bowl after Brian Kelly bailed on the Fighting  Irish for LSU.

He is the first Notre Dame coach to start 0-3, if you want to look at it that way.

To give you an idea of how stunning an upset this was, Marshall was a 20.5-point underdog and Notre Dame was -1400 on the money line.

The game was sealed with a pick-six by Steven Gilmore, who returned it 37 yards for a touchdown with 4:35 left.

If the name sounds familiar, it is because he is the younger brother of star NFL DB Stephon Gilmore.

Khalan Laborn rushed for 163 of the more than 220 yards Marshall had on the ground. A year ago, Laborn was an Uber driver.

Back to Freeman and Holtz.

Holtz started with losses to Michigan and Michigan State in 1986. He went on to win a national championship at Notre Dame.

Freeman, however, is going to hear that while Marshall begins with an “M,” it has never been confused with Michigan or Michigan State.

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