Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 SEPT. 26, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Items: Michigan State backup quar- terback Cam Fancher scored a 15-yard rushing touchdown. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 20, MICHIGAN STATE 10 Top Moment: Fifth-year center Ashton Craig showed that the Notre Dame offensive line can open up lanes in the run game. Craig had a textbook pulling block, paving the way for a 17- yard dash by sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. It was the longest rush- ing play of the season and kept alive the lone Irish scoring drive. Feature Performers: Including James' 17-yard run, he helped the Irish bleed the clock by rushing for 46 yards on 9 carries. Sneed had 2 tackles, in- cluding a third-down stop in which he ran Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic out of bounds. Stats: Notre Dame chewed up 9:42 on its lone series and had six first downs. It also had 82 yards compared to Michigan State's 48. Items: Junior kicker Spencer Porath had a 35-yard field goal. FOURTH QUARTER NOTRE DAME 27, MICHIGAN STATE 10 Top Moment: Gilbert kept making plays. Two plays after a 28-yard pickup, the 6-2, 205-pounder ran past the Michi- gan State secondary again, hauling in a 39-yard pass from Carr. Notre Dame's starting quarterback did the rest, running it into the end zone from 3 yards out. Feature Performer: Gilbert's 2 re- ceptions gave him 8 on the day for 170 yards. Also on offense, James gave the Irish their first 100-yard rusher of the season with a 52-yard effort in the last 15 minutes. Stats: Michigan State had -8 yards on offense despite running 14 plays. Carr completed 3 of 4 passes for 74 yards. Items: Senior safety Adon Shuler erased any hope Michigan State had left with his first interception of the season with just under 11 minutes left in the game. ✦ Senior safety Adon Shuler's interception was part of a dominant second half for Notre Dame's defense, which limited Michigan State to 0 points, 0 rushing yards and 40 total yards over the final 30 minutes. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MSU ND FIRST QUARTER ND Porath 25-yard field goal 12:06 0 3 Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 2:54 ND James 2-yard run (Porath kick) 4:31 0 10 Drive: 11 plays, 41 yards, 6:06 SECOND QUARTER MSU Boyd 32-yard field goal 10:05 3 10 Drive: 12 plays, 36 yards, 5:29 ND Williams 1-yard run (Porath kick) 4:46 3 17 Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:19 MSU Fancher 15-yard run (Boyd kick) 3:21 10 17 Drive: 3 plays, 68 yards, 1:17 THIRD QUARTER ND Porath 35-yard field goal 1:00 10 20 Drive: 17 plays, 77 yards, 9:42 FOURTH QUARTER ND Carr 3-yard run (Porath kick) 10:55 10 27 Drive: 4 plays, 68 yards, 2:13 MSU ND Total First Downs 11 20 Rushing 5 9 Passing 6 9 Penalty 0 2 Rushing Attempts 27 43 Yards Gained Rushing 83 169 Yards Lost Rushing 39 8 Net Yards Rushing 44 161 Net Yards Passing 123 234 Passes Attempted 18 24 Passes Completed 9 18 Had Intercepted 2 0 Percent Completion 50.0% 75.0% Yards Per Attempt 6.8 9.8 Yards Per Completion 13.7 13.0 Total Offensive Plays 45 67 Total Net Yards 167 395 Average Gain Per Play 3.7 5.9 Fumbles: No.-Lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 2-30 3-30 Punts: No.-Yards 5-195 1-49 Average Per Punt 39.0 49.0 Average Net Punt 39.0 49.0 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 3-62 0-0 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 2-9 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 22:58 37:02 Third-Down Conversions 4-11 4-12 Percentage 36.4% 33.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 2-3 Percentage 100.0% 66.7% Sacks By: No.-Yards 1-1 4-35 NOTRE DAME 27, MICHIGAN STATE 10 Sept. 19, 2026 ✦ Attendance: 77,622 Notre Dame Stadium ✦ South Bend 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Michigan State 0 10 0 0 10 Notre Dame 10 7 3 7 27