SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Making a highly anticipated trip to Notre Dame, the Boise State football team knew it had to limit mistakes. When the Broncos look back at film of this one, they’ll see plenty of missed opportunities to at least make the game competitive.

Costly penalties, untimely turnovers and missed tackles all compounded on the Broncos on Saturday afternoon, resulting in a 28-7 loss to No. 21 Notre Dame.

“We have a lot to work on,” said Boise State defensive end Jayden Virgin-Morgan. “Being able look back at the film and getting better next week, we’ll continue to grow.”

The Broncos (3-2) took a 7-6 lead late in the second quarter on a Maddux Madsen keeper, but that was one of few things fans who made the trip had to celebrate. The Irish (3-2) scored 22 unanswered points to end the game and gained 389 yards of total offense.

Of course, Boise State did plenty to hurt itself as well.

Madsen turned the ball over four times, including three times in the second half. He was sacked four more times. Boise State committed 13 penalties for 112 yards.

“It’s been the same story every week, even when we win,” said Boise State wide receiver Latrell Caples. “We have penalties, and we try to fix them every week. We have to take a huge step, we got to try harder to fix those things.”

Despite being doubled up in total yardage in the first half, the Broncos went into halftime within striking distance of the Irish, down just 14-7 thanks to some crucial stops in the first half.

Boise State came up with a huge defensive play on the first drive of the game. Notre Dame drove the ball down to the Boise State end zone, but on a fourth-and-goal at the 2, Boise State’s defense stuffed Jeremiyah Love for a loss of one with Zion Washington and Boen Phelps getting credited with the stop.

After the Broncos punted, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr found Will Pauling in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown. Boise State blocked the point-after attempt.

Boise State caught a break in the second quarter, with Carr missing an open Pauling in the end zone on a fourth-down pass attempt, forcing another turnover on downs for the Irish.

“Being able to know we can stop them on fourth down is huge,” Virgin-Morgan said. “It’s counts as a turnover in our book, so being able to get a turnover on that, especially on a fourth down is huge for us.”

On the ensuing drive, Madsen was able to get the ball downfield thanks in part to a 28-yard reception by Chris Marshall and a 13-yard pass to Ben Ford. On third-and-goal from the 1, Madsen faked a handoff and Notre Dame bit. Madsen rolled out to his left and walked into the end zone untouched, giving Boise State a 7-6 lead.

But the Irish answered the Broncos’ go-ahead score with a nine-play, 75-yard drive and Jeremiyah Love ran it in from 4 yards out with less than a minute left in the half. The Irish made a two-point conversion.

Boise State never recovered. After Madsen ended the first half with an interception, the Broncos’ second-half offensive drive chart had three more Madsen interceptions, a turnovers on down and a punt. The Broncos outgained the Irish 190-138 in the second half, but failed to take advantage of four drives they took into Irish territory.

“We put ourselves in tough situations and that’s where a lot of these turnovers came from,” said Boise State coach Spencer Danielson. “We got to find a way to win in man coverage. Teams that have a good secondary like Notre Dame does, we got to find a way to win in man coverage and we got to be consistent with running the football and we didn’t tonight.”

Meanwhile, Notre Dame extended its lead on its first drive of the second half with Carr hitting Malachi Fields in the end zone for a 6-yard score. Jadarian Price closed any hope of a comeback in the fourth quarter with a 49-yard touchdown run on which he broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone.

“That’s just something that we worked through the week,” Virgin-Morgan said of the tackling issues. “Seeing that it didn’t come to the exact thing we wanted is a little frustrating, but knowing that we can fix that and have a chance to fix that is still important.”

Boise State returns to Mountain West play on Saturday with a home game against New Mexico.

“It’s always the next game, no matter if we won this game, our focus would still be on New Mexico, which is a huge opponent and they’ve played really, really well,” Danielson said. “But this one hurts. I don’t run from the fact that we have to find a way to win these football games and I believe we will.”