Notre Dame made multiple crippling mistakes in the first half that helped stake Cincinnati to a 17-0 lead, and the Bearcats held off the Irish by 24-13 on Saturday. Interceptions thrown by Jack Coan and Tyler Buchner, followed by a fumbled kickoff return by Chris Tyree, proved to be too much for Drew Pyne to overcome despite his best efforts to rally his team. Notre Dame dropped to 4-1 on the season and suffered its first loss at home since September 2017.
Cincinnati was clearly the better team on this occasion. The defense smothered the Irish all day while quarterback Desmond Ridder produced an answer every time the Bearcat offense needed to make a play.