SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame is better than Boise State.

That much was obvious throughout most of the first half this afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish have better athletes at nearly every position and they are better on the lines of scrimmage. To borrow a phrase, the talent gap is pretty significant.

And yet.

Notre Dame has not separated from the Broncos. Despite gaining 251 yards to just 125 for the visitors from the Mountain West, the No. 21 Irish lead just 14-7 at halftime, almost entirely because they have beaten themselves.

Marcus Freeman talked during the week about being able to handle success and while Notre Dame clearly had a good plan to face the Broncos today, it has not executed in the way a totally focused team would. The result has been a slew of missed opportunities

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