SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Unbeaten and No. 23-ranked Notre Dame had to come from behind in the second half here Saturday to put down upset-minded West Liberty, 55-21, at sun-splashed Mueller Field.
    Coach Roger Waialae's scrappy Hilltoppers (2-3, 2-3) jumped out to a 14-0 lead and carried a 14-13 advantage into the third quarter but that's when the Falcons (5-0, 5-0), led by electrifying freshman RB Jaleel McLaughlin, were able to get their high-powered offense hitting on all cylinders.
    McLaughlin – who entered the game as the leading NCAA Division II rusher in the nation at better than 180 yards a game – gave Notre Dame its first lead of the day with a 69-yard touchdown sprint just 20 seconds into the second half but he was just getting started.
    With a huge second half, the freshman phenom blew past the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season and finished with an NCAA Division II season-high 340 rushing yards on 26 carries. He is the only NCAA running back at any level with multiple 300-yard rushing games this year.
    West Liberty struck back quickly as QB Brenton Colabella marched the Hilltoppers 99 yards in just 5 snaps to go back in front. Colabella capped the drive with a 17-yard fade route to WR Isaiah Robinson for a touchdown and a 21-20 WLU lead.
    In the end, however, the hosts just had too many weapons once the game turned into a shootout.
    Notre Dame QB Chris Brimm got into the act with a 47-yard touchdown pass to WR Conner Henry to put NDC back up, 27-21, and the Falcon defense forced West Liberty into a 3-and-out.
    Marvelle Ross's 43-yard punt return put Notre Dame back in Hilltopper territory at the 43. Four straight carries by McLaughlin put the ball at the 3 and fellow RB Brian Walker slammed into the end zone on the next play for a 34-21 Falcon lead.
    A 55-yard Christian Morris punt pinned Notre Dame back at its own 11 after another WLU possession failed to produce points but it was to no avail.
    McLaughlin took the first-down handoff from Brimm, burst through a hole on the right side and outraced everyone down the sideline for an 89-yard touchdown that all but put the game out of reach, 41-21, at 4:23 of the third quarter.
    Notre Dame head coach Mike Jacobs gave McLaughlin the rest of the day off but the damage had already been done. The hosts tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pad the final margin.
    It had been a very different story in the opening half as it was the West Liberty defense that put the first points on the board.
    Junior DB Josh Ojo picked off a Brimm pass at the Notre Dame 25 and darted untouched into the end zone at 11:09 of the first quarter. It was the sixth interception of the year for Ojo - tops in the nation - and his second "pick-6" of the season.
    The Hilltopper offense got into the act when Colabella orchestrated a 13-play, 73-yard scoring drive. The senior QB - playing in place of injured starter Zach Phillips - drilled Robinson with a strike on a slant route for a 19-yard touchdown.
    That made it 14-0 West Liberty with 12:37 on the second half clock. McLaughlin shook loose for a 36-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession but the WLU defense held the Falcons to just two field goals for the rest of the quarter to preserve the 14-13 halftime lead.
    Colabella completed 32-of-48 passes for a career-high 311 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the WLU attack. Robinson caught both TD passes and finished with 8 catches for a career-high 121 yards while TB Charles Westbrook ran for 50 yards on 16 carries and added 15 more yards on 5 catches.
    Senior LB Cliff Clark had a career-high 16 tackles and Brandon Gaither had a 33-yard interception return to pace the West Liberty defense.
    Brimm completed 13-of-27 passes for 208 yards and 2 TDs with 2 interceptions while Ross had 7 catches for 109 yards for the hosts, who surpassed the 400-yard rushing and 600-yard total offense milestones for the second consecutive week.
  West Liberty                          7    7    7    0 – 21
Notre Dame                          0  13  28  14 – 55      WLU: Ojo 25 interception return (Rozanc kick), 11:09      WLU: Robinson 19 pass from Colabella (Rozanc kick), 12:37
     NDC: McLaughlin 36 run (Harding kick), 11:13
     NDC: FG Harding 28, 6:48
     NDC: FG Harding 23, 1:00      NDC: McLaughlin 69 run (Harding kick), 14:40
     WLU: Robinson 17 pass from Colabella (Rozanc kick), 12:24
     NDC: Henry 47 pass from Brimm (Harding kick), 10:04
     NDC: Walker 3 run (Harding kick), 6:18
     NDC: McLaughlin 89 run (Hardking kick), 4:23      NDC: Henry 16 run (Harding kick), 14:08
     NDC: Mitchell 6 pass from Brimm (Harding kick), 12:46
A: 1,868      RUSHING: West Liberty 28-35, Westbrook 16-50, Frisby 2-2, Colabella 8-(-4), Kargbo 2-(-13). Notre Dame 49-464, McLaughlin 26-340, Davis 15-47, Walker 6-43, Brimm 1-18, Henry 1-16
     PASSING: West Liberty 32-48-311-2td-1x (all by Colabella), Notre Dame 14-28-211-2td-2x (Brimm 13-27-208-2td-2x, Akers 1-1-3-0-0)
     RECEIVING: West Liberty 32-311, Robinson 8-121, S.Phillips 7-77, Mosby 2-41, Westbrook 5-15, McLean 2-15, Durbin 3-13, Swart 1-10, Kargbo 2-9, Frisby 1-6, Mitchell 1-4. Notre Dame 14-211, Ross 7-109, Henry 1-47, McLaughlin 1-21, Hood 1-13, Bisnott 1-9, Mitchell 1-6, Hamilton 1-3, Walker 1-3
     First downs: West Liberty 20, Notre Dame 22
     Fumbles: West Liberty 5-3, Notre Dame 0-0
     Penalties: West Liberty 6-40, Notre Dame 10-180
     Time of Possession: West Liberty 29:05, Notre Dame 30:55