CHARLESTON, W.Va. – On Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame College's Idris Lawrence ran for a career-high 149 yards and Antoine Holloway II returned an interception for a touchdown, but the University of Charleston totaled 282 rushing yards and scored five rushing touchdowns to win, 38-28.

The Golden Eagles struck first, following an NDC punt. UC went 43 yards down the field, with the help of a 37-yard pass from Guy Myers to Thomas Ashworth. Tim McCutchen's field goal attempt went through the uprights with 10:06 on the first quarter clock.

NDC responded quickly, getting the ball and marching 54 yards down the field in 11 plays. The highlights of the drive included a 22-yard pass from Chris Brimm to Napoleon Harris and a 16-yard completion to Zaven Boland. Freshman Idris Lawrence, who got his first collegiate start, finished the drive with a 12-yard run and then a five-yard touchdown run, the first of his career.

"He [Lawrence] played well," said head coach Mickey Mental. "He stepped up for us in a big way. Ran hard between the tackles, outside the tackles, making guys miss. It was really impressive to see him on display today."

Both defenses stepped up and the next four drives ended in a punt. Notre Dame led by a score of 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

On a Charleston drive that began with 13:08 to go in the second quarter, Myers threw for 48 yards before running into the endzone from 12 yards away to put Charleston back in front, 10-7.

Myers would finish the game going 18-for-30 for 148 yards through the air, along with running for 79 yards with two touchdowns.

After both teams punted, NDC received the ball with 6:25 remaining before halftime, starting the drive on their own 48-yard line. Lawrence ran for 52 yards over four carries, including a one-yard scamper to pay dirt to give NDC a 14-10 advantage.

That lead would not last long as Charleston went 74 yards the other way in 3:36, capped by a Tyreik McAllister run. He broke away and ran for a 35-yard score.

Long, momentum changing plays were the theme of the second half, and both teams used them to put points on the board.

On Charleston's second drive of the third quarter, it took only three plays to find the endzone. McAllister found a hole and outran NDC defenders down the field for a 58-yard score and NDC fell behind by ten points (24-14), the largest margin they had trailed all season.

NDC needed a big play, and they got it. After punting the ball away, the Falcons' defense tipped Myers' first pass of the drive. The ball floated in the air and sophomore Antoine Holloway II was in position to make his fifth interception of the season, which he returned 40 yards for six points with 5:31 to go in the third.

Trailing by just three, 24-21, NDC was unable to move their drives into field goal range. After a couple NDC possessions ended with a punt and turnover on downs, Charleston's McAllister broke loose for another big play. On 3rd and 3, the UC running back scored a 61-yard rushing touchdown. The Golden Eagles pulled ahead by 10, 31-21, with just 7:29 remaining in the game.

Notre Dame's defense stepped up and forced a Charleston punt, giving the ball to Brimm and the offense with 4:40 on the clock. The Falcons proceeded to go 45 yards down the field in 42 seconds. Helped by a pass interference to move 15 yards down the field, the touchdown drive was completed by Robert Singletary Jr. Singletary only had three carries in the game, but he powered through the line and ran 10 yards to pull the Falcons within three, 31-28, with just under four minutes to play.

However, the wind was taken out of Notre Dame's sails when Myers used his legs to go 70 yards down the field in one play and give Charleston a 38-28 advantage with less than three minutes to go.

"We missed a lot of opportunities when we had really good field position offensively," Mental said. "We have to limit the explosive plays on defense. But our kids played hard and now we just have to rebound and regroup and become better at the end of the day. We have to learn from our mistakes and have a good week of practice and go right back out there Saturday."

Notre Dame finished with 182 rush yards, 143 passing yards and 325 yards of total offense, running a season-high 84 plays. The Falcons went 3-for-18 on third down conversions, but scored on every trip to the red zone (3-for-3) and are now 18-for-19 in red zone opportunities this season.

Guam Lee led the team with nine tackles, he also had two tackles for a loss. Junior Dominic Buttazzoni finished with a career-high nine punt attempts. He averaged 38.2 yards per punt and placed three inside the 20-yard line.

Notre Dame will return to Mueller Field next week to play Frostburg State University on Oct. 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.