Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 SEPT. 26, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Notre Dame demonstrated it would remain in control of its 27-10 victory over Michigan State on its first drive of the second half. The Irish managed just three points on a 35-yard field goal by junior Spencer Porath, but it came at the end of a 17-play, 77-yard drive that took 9:42 off the game clock. With Porath's field goal, the Irish regained a two-score lead with a 20-10 margin and one minute remaining in the third quarter. The drive might not have produced any points with- out a third-and-4 conversion by sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. He picked up 5 yards to push Notre Dame across midfield. James ran around the right edge of the offensive line and spun away from a pair of de- fenders to make sure he gained the necessary yardage. That seemingly simple run may have been the turn- ing point in the game, the drive and James' push to become Notre Dame's lead back. Prior to that run, James managed just 33 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 13 carries. Including that run, James turned his next 5 carries on that drive into 36 yards, including a season- long 17-yard run. The 5-foot-10, 215-pound James finished the night with career highs in carries (26) and rushing yards (121) when the Irish needed consistency from its backfield to wear down Michigan State's defense. STATS OF THE GAME Notre Dame dominated time of possession against the Spartans by a 37:02-22:58 margin. Four of the Fight- ing Irish's 10 offensive drives lasted at least five minutes each. That allowed the Irish defense to be on the field for just 45 plays. Junior quarterback CJ Carr clearly favored two pass catchers against Michigan State: junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert and senior wide receiver Jordan Faison. Of Carr's 18 completions for 234 yards on 24 attempts, Gilbert and Faison combined for 13 receptions, 208 yards and 16 targets. Gilbert caught 8 of his 9 targets for 170 yards. Faison caught 5 of his 7 targets for 38 yards. NOTRE DAME'S RUN DEFENSE CONTINUES TO DELIVER Michigan State needed an effective rushing attack to threaten Notre Dame's defense. Instead, the Spartans managed just 44 yards and 1 touchdown on 27 carries (1.6 yards per carry). Even after removing the 35 yards lost on Alessio Milivojevic's 4 sacks, which cost the Spartans 35 yards, Michigan State still averaged just 3.4 yards per carry (23 carries for 79 yards). "It's going through the week, mainly trying to focus on that," said Notre Dame senior linebacker Drayk Bowen, who led the Irish with 8 tackles. "We're a de- fense that we want to stop the run. We pride ourselves on that." Michigan State running back Cam Edwards entered the game averaging 5.2 yards per carry in his first two games of the season. Notre Dame limited him to 3.2. Through three games, Notre Dame has limited oppos- ing teams to 1.9 yards per carry. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TYLER JAMES WR MICAH GILBERT When injured boundary receiver Quincy Porter finally makes his debut for Notre Dame, he may face quite a battle to claim the starting role projected for him when the Irish signed the Ohio State transfer in January. Junior Micah Gilbert caught 8 passes for 170 yards — both career highs — against Michigan State, a total that even surprised the man throwing the passes to him, CJ Carr. It was the most receiving yards amassed by an Irish player in a game since 2017, when Chase Claypool had 180 in a win against Wake Forest. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Charlotte, N.C., product had a long reception of 61 yards against the Spartans' defense and accounted for 33 yards after the catch. RB NOLAN JAMES JR. From the outside looking in, it may have felt at times that Nolan James Jr. was more of a rumor than a reliable option in No. 3 Notre Dame's backfield. Until the matchup with Michigan State. The 5-foot-10, 215-pound sophomore, who routinely drew raves from his coaches for what he did in practice, put it on display on the field at Notre Dame Stadium for the college football world to see in a 27-10 victory over Michigan State. James ran for 121 yards and 1 touchdown on 26 carries to boost an Irish running game that had largely scuffled since losing All-Americans Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price to the NFL Draft last spring. Coming into the game, James had amassed a modest 85 yards on 27 carries with two touch- downs in his career. As the Irish (3-0) hit the quarter-pole of the season, he leads the team in rushing (169 yards) and is the third-leading receiver (7 for 73 yards), and is by far the No. 1 pass catcher among the running backs. S LUKE TALICH Notre Dame's safeties continue to set the tone early, and this time it was Luke Talich's turn as the Irish moved to 3-0 with a 27-10 smothering of Michigan State at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish limited the Spartans to just 167 yards of total offense. The former walk-on from Cody, Wyo., making his second straight start in place of injured starter Brauntae Johnson, recorded his fifth career interception late in the first quarter. Talich finished with 3 tackles — including 1 sack and a shared tackle for loss — and had 1 pass broken up. Fel- low safety Adon Shuler got into the act with a fourth-quarter pick of his own as the Irish won the turnover battle, 2-0. GAME BALLS BY ERIC HANSEN Senior safety Luke Talich was all over the field against the Spartans, notching 3 stops, 1.5 tack- les for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception and 1 pass broken up. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER