Here are a few FACTS for you:
Tech had 337 yards of Total Offense (Notre Dame had 457 so our Defense didn't help out our Offense); we had 21 First Downs to their 17; and we won the Time of Possession with 32:52 to their 27:08. We had the one fumble lost and we recovered one fumble and intercepted one pass.
We missed two FG's that should have been made and had a TD run by Justin Thomas called back on a phantom holding call on Errin Joe. The refs also allowed the Notre Dame WR to push off on their 1st TD & ignored it. This game should have/could have been won with a bit of luck like we had the end of last season once we got rolling. Great learning experience for the young guys.
And for the record, Ohio State lost a game early to a NON-RANKED Virginia Tech and went on to win the National Championship.
Ohio State barely won their game against a horrible opponent (Northern Illinois); Alabama lost to Ole Miss, Southern Cal lost to Stanford who lost to Northwestern, Missouri barely beat UCONN, UCLA lost to BYU, and Clemson barely beat Louisville which lost to Houston.
Add all of that together and I suggest the SKY WASN'T FALLING.
Now I can't speak towards injuries. If, indeed, we suffered key injuries, then it could affect our prospects going forward. But before anyone starts to panic, I suggest catching your breath and appreciate the fact the team didn't quit even though they were so far behind a Top 10 Team at their house. Not only did they score points, they scored them quickly and put themselves into position they actually had a chance to tie the game had they recoved an onside kick. Kind of sounds like the ACC Championship game against FSU when they came back, scored to bring the game within 3 points and tried to recover an onside kick, doesn't it? These guys WON'T quit, so we shouldn't quit on them.