Notre Dame Football: Which Loss Will Haunt Irish More, USF or Michigan?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish traveled to Ann Arbor in Week 2 to face the Michigan Wolverines in the first night game ever at the Big House.

The Irish carried a 17 point lead into the third quarter. The Wolverines would outscore the Irish 28-7 in the fourth quarter. Denard Robinson hit Roy Roundtree with two seconds remaining to give the Wolverines a 35-31 victory in front of a raucous home crowd.

Does it get more haunting than that?

Entering Week 2 the Irish had already walked away disappointed once.

In Week 1, the Irish lost a heartbreaker to the upstart South Florida Bulls. The game saw two extended rain delays. The delays, combined with five Irish turnovers, never allowed the Irish to gain any form of consistency offensively.

However, the loss to the Bulls will not haunt the Irish like the debacle in the Big House.

The loss marked the third year in a row the Wolverines have beaten the Irish in heart-wrenching fashion. Last season, Robinson beat the Irish with less than 30 seconds remaining. In 2009, Tate Forcier threw the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining.

This fact alone will haunt the Irish.

Good teams close out games. Great teams close out big games played on big stages.

Last season, the Irish finished 8-5. This season the Irish failed to start the season with a win against the Bulls.

This made the Michigan matchup loom even larger. It also makes the loss hurt a lot worse.

Notre Dame had more than enough chances to beat Robinson's Wolverines. However, they didn't.

Brian Kelly needs to make sure late-game meltdowns do not become the trend in South bend.

If he can, this loss will be forgiven but never forgotten.