Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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michigan state game notes By Dan Murphy and andrew oWens Irish Show Progress On Defense Notre Dame's defense remains under construction four weeks into the regular season, but the 17-13 win over Michigan State untwisted some of the knots the Irish have been trying to straighten out in September. The starting lineup featured three new players against the Spartans. Senior Kona Schwenke started in place of Sheldon Day, who didn't play at all due to a sprained ankle. The other two — sophomore Elijah Shumate at safety and junior Jarrett Grace at inside linebacker — replaced healthy players in hopes they would help solve some of the problems the Irish have had on defense this season. "We had been alluding to the fact that we made some changes. We think it's starting to come together," head coach Brian Kelly said. "You could sense it." A Michigan State offense that has been good medicine for ailing defenses so far this season scored only Junior end Stephon Tuitt, who had a season-high six tackles and a sack, and the Irish defense limited the Spartans to just 254 yards and surrendered only one touchdown in MSU's four trips to the red zone. photo by bill panzica Red Zone EffIciency (Inside 20-Yard Line) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 32 01 Michigan St. 41 21 Notre Dame vs. michigan state Quarter-By-Quarter Comparison Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 10:06 7:53 4:51 6:32 17:59 11:23 29:22 3rd-Down Conversions 2-53-61-20-4 5-11 1-6 6-17 4th-Down Conversions 0-10-00-00-0 0-10-0 0-1 Average Field Position ND-25ND-40ND-36ND-31 ND-30ND-33 ND-31 Michigan State 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 4:54 7:07 10:09 8:28 12:01 18:37 30:38 3rd-Down Conversions 0-33-53-42-6 3-8 5-10 8-18 4th-Down Conversions 0-01-10-00-1 1-10-1 1-2 Average Field Position MSU-35MSU-22MSU-23MSU-29 MSU-28MSU-27 MSU-27