Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from clutch win over Virginia Tech

2. Turnovers killed several prime Notre Dame scoring chances

In many ways, this game should never have been so close. Virginia Tech was outgained by nearly 200 passing yards, and the Fighting Irish held the football for two and a half more minutes than their visitors. Notre Dame gained 25 first downs against just 11 for the Hokies. By all rights, this should have been a blowout that put into question whether Notre Dame is a legitimate top-12 team.

Instead, a pair of Ian Book interceptions killed drives inside Virginia Tech territory. The first came inside the red zone in the first half. The latter was snatched away by Divine Deablo, who also boasted a 98-yard fumble return by Divine Deablo that prevented Notre Dame from scoring on yet another drive deep in Hokies territory.

That goes without mentioning the missed field goal, nearly missing an extra point, and all the other issues on special teams. As it were, all the missed opportunities nearly proved fatal for a Notre Dame team with dreams of returning to a major bowl game. In many ways that is always the measuring stick for the Fighting Irish, especially as an independent without any chance at a conference championship.

While Notre Dame survived against Justin Fuente’s Hokies on Saturday, Brian Kelly and the coaching staff in South Bend have a lot of work ahead of them instilling better ball discipline.