Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons won their home opener for a fourth consecutive season, as they defeated Urbana, 28-13, on Saturday afternoon at Mueller Field. 

The victory for the Falcons (2-0, 2-0 MEC) gives them their first 2-0 start in program history, and it was their first over the Blue Knights (1-1, 1-1) in four tries. The Falcons had lost the previous three meetings by 20-plus points. 

Most of the damage was done through the air for both teams, as the Falcons and Blue Knights both threw for over 300 yards in the contest, and most of the scoring was done in the second half. There were a ton of flags thrown in the game as well, as the two teams combined for 22 penalties, racking up 229 penalty yards. 

Notre Dame set the tone early, as they scored on their opening drive for the second week in a row. After forcing Urbana to go three-and-out on their opening drive, Notre Dame received great field position, taking over at their own 48-yard line. 

The Falcons then marched 52 yards down the field on nine plays, as Ray Russ went 7-for-8 on the opening drive through the air and connected with DaJunn Graham on a 15-yard touchdown pass to give the Falcons an early 7-0 lead. 

As it turned out, those would be the only points of the opening half. NDC limited Urbana's chances to score in the first half, forcing them to punt six times in the first half, while they turned it over on downs once, missed a field goal, and also threw an interception. 

Notre Dame squandered a few chances to score more in the opening half as well, as they brought the ball deep into Urbana territory twice. On those two occasions, the Falcons saw drives sputter inside the Urbana five-yard line. Russ lost a fumble on a quarterback keeper at the one-yard line, one series after the Falcons failed to convert at the one on a fourth-and-goal situation. 

In the second half, the Falcons scored on their second drive to take a 14-0 lead. After punting on their first offensive series, the Falcons put together an 11-play, 76-yard drive, which ended with Russ tossing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Perkins. The TD toss was the 50th of Russ's career. 

On their next drive, the Falcons marched 67 yards on seven plays to put up seven more points. The big play of the drive was a third and nine conversion, where Russ found Mitchell Shegos on a 35-yard pass down the Urbana 17-yard line. Two plays later, Russ threw his third TD pass of the contest, on an 11-yard scoring strike to Ray J. Brown. 

Urbana scored all of their points in the fourth quarter, to avoid being shutout for the first time in six years. Cody Schroeder found Sanders Sius on a five-yard touchdown pass to complete an 11-play, 72-yard drive, but their PAT was blocked, making it 21-6 with 13:44 remaining. 

The NDC defense forced the Blue Knights to punt the ball out of their own end zone with just over 11 minutes to play, and Notre Dame capitalized on the great field position, as they took over at the Urbana 34-yard line. NDC needed just four plays to go 34 yards, and score one final time to put the game away. The drive was highlighted by a third and 11 conversion, on a 31-yard to pass from Russ to Colton Wallace, which set up a four-yard touchdown rush from Kenneth Butler. 

The Blue Knights scored one final time with two minutes left as Schroeder found Dan Krupko on an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-13, but the Falcons recovered the onside kick moments later to seal the deal. 

In throwing three touchdown passes, Russ becomes the first NDC signal caller to surpass 50 passing touchdowns in his career, giving him 51 altogether, and he has thrown three touchdowns in back-to-back weeks to start the season. Overall, he completed 20-of-37 passes for 301 yards and no picks. 

Shegos led all NDC receivers with nine catches for 135 yards on the afternoon, while Wallace hauled in six passes for 91 yards. Brown's 11-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter gives him a catch in 23 consecutive games. 

NDC also came away with two more interceptions on the day, giving them six in the first two games of the season. Marlon Oden and Cedric Hill both had interceptions for the Falcons, while Zach Chatlain led the Falcons with nine tackles. 

The Falcons will return to action next Saturday, Sept. 20, when they head down to Buckhannon, W.Va., to square off against WV Wesleyan. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.