The Spartans officially have their first loss of the season.
Michigan State kicked off to Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish started with a 61-yard bomb from CJ Carr on their first play of the game. It was their longest play of the season so far, but MSU was able to stop ND in the red zone to hold them to a field goal attempt where the Irish took a 3-0 lead. The Spartans’ first possession was a three-and-out that resulted in a partially blocked punt to keep the ball on the Michigan State side of the field for ND. After converting two fourth down conversions on the next drive, Notre Dame’s Nolan James Jr. scored on a rushing touchdown from two yards out to make it a 10-0 game.
Things got worse as Alessio Milivojevic threw his first pick of the season on a deep ball to Rodney Bullard Jr., but Luke Talich was able to intercept the pass. After a Michigan State stop, Notre Dame tried a fake punt on 4th-and-14 on their side of midfield where MSU stopped it and took over at the 50. As they got into the red zone, Kenneth Williams dropped a wide-open catch in the endzone on a pass from Cam Fancher that absolutely should’ve been caught for seven points. The Spartans would have to settle for three and Liam Boyd connected on the 32-yard field goal.
On the subsequent drive, Kenny Soares Jr. made a great attempt at sacking Carr, but Carr was able to stay up by using his hand to stay off the ground and convert a third-down. Notre Dame was able to take advantage with a 1-yard rushing TD from Aneyas Williams to make it a 17-3 game.
Michigan State responded with Milivojevic’s best throw of the season – a 53-yard bomb to Bullard that hit him perfectly in stride to put MSU back in the red zone.
They brought Fancher back out, and he was able to run it in out of his RPO package from 15 yards out to make it a one-score game again. The Fighting Irish went into halftime with a 17-10 lead over the Spartans.
MSU opened as the receiving team, but couldn’t get anything going on their first drive of the second half. Even though Rhys Dakin was able to pin Notre Dame inside their own five-yard line, a couple of nice runs by ND got them back into the red zone, but another defensive stand by the Spartans forced another ND field goal to make it 20-10 with a minute left in the third quarter.
A couple plays from Michigan State got them across midfield, but two Fighting Irish sacks within the next three possessions forced another Dakin punt. Two deep balls from Carr to Micah Gilbert put them inside the five-yard line, and a designed QB-run gave Carr his first rushing TD of the day to give Notre Dame a 27-10 lead.
The Notre Dame pass rush was beginning to find opportunities against Michigan State’s offensive line, and another pressure from Boubacar Traore led to Milivojevic’s second interception of the day on the first play of the next MSU possession. After a three-and-out by Notre Dame, they’d miss their third field goal attempt of the game.
Milivojevic did his best to keep Michigan State in it, both with his feet and his arm, but too many Notre Dame blitzes were able to collapse the pocket, and a fourth-and-long led to another punt from the Spartans. The Fighting Irish were able to run the clock out the rest of the way on their way to a 27-10 Notre Dame victory.
If there’s a positive takeaway to have from this game, it’s that this team is ahead of schedule. In a game they were expected to lose by 30, they were able to keep it within a touchdown at halftime. Pat Fitzgerald has this team competing for all 60 minutes regardless of the caliber of their opponent. They put up a strong performance in the first half against the #3 team in the country, but the talent difference between the two teams was noticeable.
It’s clear this team is on the right path, and it’s because of the culture Coach Fitz and his staff are building. I can’t wait to keep watching this team grow without the season.
Michigan State will host Nebraska next Saturday as the Spartans look for their third win of the season in their first matchup with a B1G foe.
Go Green!
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