Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 26, 2026 29 hands and secured it as his momentum carried him to the ground. "Ooo, that was good," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "… That was a heck of a throw and an unbe- lievable catch. It was really good to see." Freeman wasn't sure in the moment if Gilbert had completed the reception and wanted Carr to hurry up and snap the ball for the next play to avoid a re- view. Carr took his time, and it didn't end up mattering. The officials never stopped play because Gilbert clearly made the catch. "I for sure knew I caught the ball," Gilbert said. "I was just excited I was able to make a play. I'm excited CJ trusted me to let that one go, and I was able to go get it." That 39-yard reception came on a route that Carr checked into before the snap. He wanted to give Gilbert a chance to beat his man coverage on the outside once again. "I wanted to give him a shot to go get a ball, and that's exactly what he did," Carr said. "Super exciting to see that. We were juiced after that one." The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Gilbert emerged as Carr's favorite target in Gil- bert's third career start. Gilbert finished with 8 receptions for 170 yards. He en- tered the game with 14 receptions and 174 receiving yards in his entire college career. Gilbert became the first Notre Dame player to reach 170 receiving yards since wide receiver Chase Claypool totaled 180 receiving yards in a win over Wake Forest in 2017. "I didn't realize he hit 170 until after the game," Carr said. "They were inter- viewing him, and that stat popped up. I said, 'Oh, my gosh, that's a good deal we had today.' It felt easy with him." — Tyler James NOTRE DAME VS. MICHIGAN ST. QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 11:28 7:06 9:42 8:46 18:34 18:28 37:02 Third-Down Conversions 0-4 1-2 2-3 1-3 1-6 3-6 4-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-3 0-0 2-3 Average Field Position ND-37 ND-29 ND-6 ND-38 ND-33 ND-30 ND-32 Michigan State 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 3:32 7:54 5:18 6:14 11:26 11:32 22:58 Third-Down Conversions 2-4 0-1 1-3 1-3 2-5 2-6 4-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position MSU-33 MSU-27 MSU-24 MSU-23 MSU-31 MSU-23 MSU-27 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND MSU Nega ve 6 6 0-5 38 28 6-9 15 6 10-19 4 4 20-29 2 0 30-39 1 0 40-49 0 0 50 or more 1 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 5 3 2 0 MSU 2 1 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ND25 Carr pass to Gilbert for 61 yards to MSU14 • 1-10 ND32 Carr pass to Gilbert for 28 yards to MSU40 • 2-12 MSU42 Carr pass to Gilbert for 39 yards to MSU3 Michigan State • 2-10 MSU 32 Milivojevic pass to Bullard for 53 yards to ND15 Gilbert set career highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (170), while racking up the most receiving yards by an Irish player since Chase Claypool amassed 180 in 2017. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Attendance was 77,622, which marked the 22nd consecutive sellout for Notre Dame. • Notre Dame improved to 50-29-1 in the series against Michigan State. The programs first met in 1887, with the Irish posting a 34-6 victory over the Spartans. At Notre Dame Sta- dium, the Irish now have a 30-14 all-time re- cord versus the Spartans. • Senior safety Luke Talich collected his fifth career interception in the first quarter. Fel- low senior safety Adon Shuler picked off a pass in the fourth quarter, his sixth career interception. It was the seventh and eighth total turnovers forced by Notre Dame's defense this season, which came into the day tied for seventh in turnovers forced in the FBS. • Both Talich and junior defensive tackle Tionne Gray registered their first career sacks against the Spartans. • Freshman wide receiver Brayden Robin- son logged his first career touch for Notre Dame, notching a 11-yard run on a fake punt. Unfortunately, he did not gain a first down and the Irish turned the ball over on downs at midfield.