Notre Dame finds direction to ...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 9 Notre Dame’s offense won the game Saturday, but the Irish defense lost many moments, whole drives of intervals, to use head coach Marcus Freeman’s preferred unit of time measurement.

Those were the dueling Notre Dame storylines. For every time Hartman dropped a deep pass right into a receiver’s stride, the Irish defense would commit a personal foul penalty to prolong a Chippewas’ drive, eventually giving up a scoring chance.

If there is tangible evidence the closer-than-expected result was the byproduct of Notre Dame looking ahead to the top-10 matchup next week, it was those penalties. The Irish committed eight in total for 72 yards, but three stood out for the points they eventually allowed.

Sophomore defensive end Joshua Burnham drew a 15-yard roughing the passer personal foul in the first quarter, turning what would have been a 3rd-and-5 into a 1st-and-10, a drive that ended in a touchdown and a tie game.

Senior defensive tackle Rylie Mills notched the same penalty call in the second quarter, turning a 2nd-and-10 into a 1st-and-10 in the red zone, a drive that ended with a missed field goal and the reason for previous paragraphs needing to mention scoring opportunities rather than simply scores.

And then on Central Michigan’s next drive, sophomore cornerback Jaden Mickey was whistled for a questionable pass interference call that gifted the Chippewas first-and-goal on the 2-yard line rather than a 2nd-and-10 at the 11. The result? A touchdown.

Perhaps those drives would have still yielded points or at least scoring opportunities, but the Burnham play, in particular, likely kept Central Michigan in business. Mickey’s pass interference turned a situation that probably ends in a field goal into a nearly-assured touchdown. Whether Mickey should have been flagged or not was beyond the point. He was, and it cost Notre Dame.

Those penalties, combined with a bevy of missed tackles, kept the Chippewas in the game far longer than they should have been, but even then, they were nowhere near enough for Central Michigan to hang with Hartman’s accuracy.

The sixth-year quarterback finished with 330 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-26 passing. Hitting Tobias Merriweather in stride on Notre Dame’s first possession and Chris Tyree over the shoulder early in the second quarter emphasized the wide margin the Irish could afford in the tuneup. Add in junior running back Audric Estimé’s 176 yards and a touchdown on just 20 carries, and Notre Dame could survive those defensive mistakes, furthering the hype around next week’s top-10 tilt.

7:30 ET on NBC, in case you are already wondering.

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

10:52 — Notre Dame touchdown. Tobias Merriweather 75-yard pass from Sam Hartman. Spencer Shrader point after good. Notre Dame 7, Central Michigan 0. (4 plays, 91 yards, 2:03)

7:22 — Central Michigan touchdown. Myles Bailey 6-yard rush. Tristan Mattson point after good. Notre Dame 7, Central Michigan 7. (6 plays, 65 yards, 3:30)

2:13 — Notre Dame touchdown. Audric Estimé 17-yard rush. Shrader point after good. Notre Dame 14, Central Michigan 7. (11 plays, 75 yards, 5:09)

Second Quarter

14:17 — Notre Dame touchdown. Chris Tyree 76-yard pass from Hartman. Shrader point after good. Notre Dame 21, Central Michigan 7. (3 plays, 87 yards, 1:18)

0:17 — Central Michigan touchdown. Jase Bauer one-yard rush. Mattson point after good. Notre Dame 21, Central Michigan 14. (9 plays, 83 yards, 3:58)

Third Quarter

11:36 — Notre Dame touchdown. Hartman 1-yard rush. Shrader point after good. Notre Dame 28, Central Michigan 14. (7 plays, 74 yards, 3:19)

1:59 — Central Michigan field goal. Mattson 23 yards. Notre Dame 28, Central Michigan 17. (12 plays, 50 yards, 5:37)

0:30 — Notre Dame field goal. Shrader 50 yards. Notre Dame 31, Central Michigan 14. (5 plays, 43 yards, 1:29)

Fourth Quarter

10:07 — Notre Dame field goal. Shrader 31 yards. Notre Dame 34, Central Michigan 17. (10 plays, 47 yards, 3:54)

5:45 — Notre Dame touchdown. Holden Staes 4-yard pass from Hartman. Shrader point after good. Notre Dame 41, Central Michigan 17. (6 plays, 82 yards, 2:51)