Notre Dame's 10 Most Heartbreaking Losses of the Past 25 Years

No team had a more disappointing first two weeks than Notre Dame, wasting a great defensive performance with five turnovers and countless mistakes in a 23-20 loss to South Florida, and then seeing a 24-7 fourth-quarter lead go by the wayside in a 35-31 last-second loss to Michigan.  Unfortunately for many Irish fans, they have become all too familiar with gut-wrenching losses. Here are the 10 games over the past quarter-century that Notre Dame fans will never forget, for all the wrong reasons.

No. 10: Purdue 28, Notre Dame 23: September 11, 1999

After a last-minute loss at Michigan, Notre Dame hoped to rebound in West Lafayette against Drew Brees and Purdue. In a back-and-forth affair, Bobby Brown's six-yard touchdown reception from Jarious Jackson late in the third quarter put the Irish ahead 23-22.  After two Travis Dorsch field goals gave the Boilermakers a five-point lead, Jackson drove Notre Dame inside the five-yard line.  Facing 3rd-and-goal at the one-yard line with 16 seconds left, Jackson called a fake audible that his teammates heard as a true audible, and Jackson was sacked at the 10-yard line. The Irish were out of timeouts, and time ran out before Jackson could run another play. 

No. 9: Michigan 26, Notre Dame 24: September 10, 1994

No. 4 Notre Dame welcomed No. 5 Michigan to South Bend for the second game of the 1994 season, and the game lived up to the hype. The Fighting Irish staged a furious rally from a 23-7 deficit, going ahead 24-23 on a highlight-reel catch by Derrick Mayes with 52 seconds left.  However, Ron Powlus' first game in Notre Dame Stadium would not end well, as Todd Collins led Michigan to the Notre Dame 25-yard line with time running out. Remy Hamilton's 42-yard field goal with two seconds gave the Wolverines their first win in South Bend since 1986, 26-24.

No. 8: Michigan 38, Notre Dame 34: September 12, 2009

2009 was supposed to be the year Charlie Weis returned Notre Dame to the college football elite, and all was well after a 35-0 shutout of Nevada in the season opener. A week later in Ann Arbor, the Irish found themselves in a shootout with the Wolverines. Trailing 31-20, Notre Dame found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to take a 34-31 lead. After getting the ball back, the Irish failed to run out the clock, throwing two incomplete passes that left Tate Forcier and Michigan with over two minutes left. The true freshman led a 58-yard drive capped off by a five-yard touchdown pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left for a 38-34 upset of Notre Dame.

No. 7: Michigan State 34, Notre Dame 31 (OT): September 18, 2010

After a last-second loss to Michigan a week earlier, Notre Dame hoped to win in East Lansing for the fourth time in their last five visits. The game was a back-and-forth affair that went to overtime.  After David Ruffer's field goal put Notre Dame ahead, the Irish defense stood tall, forcing a 46-yard field goal attempt. MSU coach Mark Dantonio reached deep into his bag of tricks for a play called "Little Giants", and a perfectly executed fake field goal pass from holder Aaron Bates to tight end Charlie Gantt gave the Spartans a 34-31 victory. While Dantonio suffered a mild heart attack later that night, it sparked the Spartans to an 11-1 season and a share of the Big Ten title.

No. 6: Colorado 10, Notre Dame 9: January 1, 1991

No. 1 Colorado was looking to clinch at least a share of the national title against Notre Dame, as well as exact a bit of revenge for costing the Buffaloes the 1989 national title in the 1990 Orange Bowl. In a game dominated by the defenses, Colorado took a 10-9 lead in the third quarter, which they held late in the fourth quarter when punter Tom Rouen kicked to lightning-fast Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. Ismail fielded the punt at his own nine and took it 91 yards for an apparent game-winning touchdown, but the punt was called back due to a debatable clipping penalty. The Buffaloes escaped and claimed a share of the national title. It would be Ismail's final game at Notre Dame.

No. 5: South Florida 23, Notre Dame 20: September 3, 2011

Year two of the Brian Kelly era was supposed to be a breakout year, and it began with a familiar name returning to South Bend, as USF coach and Notre Dame alumnus Skip Holtz brought the Bulls back to the place where his father Lou won a national title in 1988. In a game delayed twice due to weather, USF took advantage of five Notre Dame turnovers, three inside the five-yard line, to stun the Irish, 23-20. Notre Dame produced over 500 yards of total offense, double that of the Bulls, but could not overcome the turnovers, three personal foul penalties, a touchdown called back for a holding call and multiple dropped passes.

No. 4: Boston College 14, Notre Dame 7: November 2, 2002

No. 3 Notre Dame was 8-0 when they welcomed Boston College to South Bend, breaking out their seldom-used green jerseys for what was expected to be a comfortable win over the Eagles. Notre Dame QB Carlyle Holiday was lost for the second quarter due to an injury, and WR Omar Jenkins was ruled out-of-bounds on an apparent touchdown reception, helping the Eagles hold a 6-0 lead.  Backup QB Pat Dillingham's erred in an attempt to throw the ball away, and BC linebacker Josh Ott intercepted the pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.  Notre Dame would cut the lead to 14-7 with four minutes left after Holiday returned, but a last-ditch Hail Mary pass came up empty, knocking the Irish out of national title contention.

No. 3: Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31: September 10, 2011

Notre Dame built a 24-7 lead late in the third quarter, but the fourth quarter was an epic meltdown, as the Irish fell behind, re-took the lead, and lost the lead again all in the final 15 minutes.  The ominous signs began when a Michigan fumble near the Notre Dame goal line bounced right to QB Denard Robinson who ran it in for a touchdown.  With Notre Dame inside the Michigan ten-yard line, QB Tommy Rees dropped the ball with no contact and Michigan recovered, leading to the go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute to play.

The Irish would respond, marching right down the field and taking the lead on a Rees pass to Theo Riddick with 30 seconds left.  Alas, Robinson would take the Wolverines 80 yards in three plays, sparked by a long pass to Jeremy Gallon to get Michigan to the Irish 16-yard line.  With two seconds left, Robinson found Roy Roundtree in the corner of the end zone for the final touchdown, the third consecutive meeting where the Wolverines had scored the game-wining touchdown in the final minute.

No. 2: USC 34, Notre Dame 31: October 15, 2005

ESPN's College Gameday made its first visit to South Bend in five years, as No. 1 USC brought a 27-game winning streak to Notre Dame Stadium to face the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish. Wearing green jerseys, Notre Dame went punch-for-punch with the mighty Trojans, and QB Brady Quinn's touchdown run with two minutes remaining gave the Irish a 31-28 lead. Facing 4th-and-9 deep in their own territory, Matt Leinart found Dwayne Jarrett streaking down the sideline for 61 yards. This led to one of the crazier plays in college football history, as Leinart fumbled the ball out of bounds.  Time ran out on the scoreboard clock, but seven seconds were placed back on the clock. On the next play, Leinart scored from one-yard out with the help of the "Bush Push" from Reggie Bush, a play that is technically illegal but rarely flagged, and the Trojans held on for a memorable 34-31 win.

No. 1: Boston College 41, Notre Dame 39: November 20, 1993

A week earlier in the "Game of the Century," No. 2 Notre Dame defeated No. 1 Florida State 31-24, propelling the Irish to the top spot in the polls as they welcomed Boston College for the season finale. The Fighting Irish were much sloppier than they had been against the Seminoles, and the Eagles soared to a 38-17 lead. Notre Dame then staged a legendary comeback to take a 39-38 lead, capped by QB Kevin McDougal's four-yard touchdown pass to Lake Dawson with just over a minute to play. 

A personal foul on the ensuing kickoff gave the Eagles great field position, and QB Glenn Foley drove them to the 24-yard line with time running out. K David Gordon drilled a 41-yard field goal right down the middle, giving Boston College a 41-39 win and knocking Notre Dame out of a likely national title game with Nebraska. Notre Dame would finish the season No. 2, and has not been ranked No. 1 since.