Charleston, W. Va. – The Notre Dame Falcons were narrowly defeated by the University of Charleston Golden Eagles 34-32 Saturday afternoon at UC Stadium.

Despite 529 total yards by the Notre Dame offense and huge games from Ray Russ, Pedro Powell and Mikhail Morgan, Notre Dame moved to (2-2, 1-2 MEC), the Golden Eagles move to (2-2, 2-0 MEC). 

NDC moved the ball effectively on each drive, but putting it all together seemed to be a problem for the Falcons in the first half.
Mikhail Morgan made a few big pickups in the first-half, including a 32-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Morgan's touchdown snag paired with a Kyle Kaplan 25-yard field goal staked Notre Dame to an early 10-0 lead.

Charleston, however rallied back and evened the score by halftime at 10-10.

The sceond half started with back to back interceptions. Unfortunately for the Falcons the Charleston interception reculted in 6 points as Russ' pass was picked off and returned for a touchdown. 

The Falcons responded with at Kyle Kaplan 37-yard field goal, his second of the game, which capped off a 9 play 61 yard drive to cut the Golden Eagle lead to 17-13 with 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A high snap for Charleston on their next possession led to a turnover as Notre Dame's Jake Chestnut recovered the fumble at the UC 30-yard line.

The Falcons cashed in on the short field, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ray Russ with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter. Russ used the left side of his offensive line and ran behind Brandon Nelli and Jeremy Glass to cap off the Falcons driveand give NDC a 20-17 lead. 

UC came roaring back and after a 27-yard run and a personal foul on Notre Dame, the Golden Eagles found themselves deep into NDC territory.  John Knox broke loose and scored on a 19-yard touchdown run to put Charleston back on top, 24-20 with 1:52 left in the third quarter.

Ray Russ quickly drove the Falcons back inside Golden Eagle territory. The drive seemingly stalled when the UC defense forced a fourth-and-thirteen at the UC 35-yard line. Ray Russ then completed a huge 35-yard touchdown strike to Colton Wallace to regain the lead for Notre Dame. A failed PAT attempt kept the score at 26-20 Notre Dame with 9:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame's defense couldn't hold the lead for long, as UC quarterback John Knox took the opening play of the next possession and scampered 67 yards to push the UC lead to 31-26 midway through the fourth quarter.

After the NDC offense stalled, UC drove back into Falcon territory, setting up a field goal attempt by the Golden Eagles. Notre Dame blocked the field goal to keep it to a one possession game with just over 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Ray Russ then orchestrated a six play, 78-yard drive to put the Falcons up by a score of 32-31. Mikhail Morgan caught his second touchdown of the day, this one a 15-yard touchdown in the corner of the endzone.

The Falcons failed on the 2-point conversion, leaving just under two minutes on the clock for the Golden Eagle offense. With three timeouts left at their disposal, UC used 10 plays to drive down to the Falcon 18-yard line with 0:04 seconds left on the clock. As time expired, UC's Puma Nuredini booted a game-winning, 35-yard field goal.