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✦ NEWS & NOTES Ron Powlus in 1994. Powlus threw four interceptions, but the Irish still eked out a 21-20 victory. Four years earlier in his first road start, sophomore Irish quarterback Rick Mirer benefited from Adrian Jarrell's "Immacu- late Deflection" in the closing minute for a 21-20 Notre Dame win. ONE CHUNK AT A TIME Last year Michigan State finished in the top 10 in three different defensive cat- egories, including No. 6 in total defense (277.43 yards allowed per game). Even in the 31-13 loss at Notre Dame, the Spartans held the Irish to 275 yards of total offense, the second-lowest output of the year for the Irish (behind the 267 in the 31-17 setback versus USC). So far this year with the return of eight and a half starters on defense, Michigan State ranks in the top 10 in all four major defensive categories — rushing, pass ef- ficiency, total and scoring — and is most notably No. 4 against the run (54.50 yards allowed per game). Last week Notre Dame gained only 52 hauled in a 30-yard completion after Gol- son scrambled away from a rush. • On the game-winning series at the end, senior slot Robby Toma snatched a 21- yard pass from junior quarterback Tommy Rees on third-and-10. The return of senior running back Cierre Wood from a two-game suspension won't automatically make the Irish a better run- ning team, according to Kelly, but his versatility might allow them to do more overall. INJURY UPDATE According to head coach Brian Kelly, Fifth-year senior defensive end and cap- tain Kapron Lewis-Moore and fifth-year safety Jamoris Slaughter should be good to go against Michigan State after first- quarter injuries sidelined them against Purdue. The medical staff this Sunday cleared another captain, senior tight end Tyler Eif- ert, who missed the fourth quarter against Purdue after a hit to the head. Kelly did say sophomore wideout Da- yards rushing against Purdue, which Blue & Gold Illustrated had rated No. 2 in its 2012 Football Preview for best defensive line the Irish will confront this year. No. 1 was Michigan State, led by end William Gholston. BGI also rated the Spartans' lineback- ing corps, featuring juniors Max Bullough and Denicos Allen, No. 2 on the schedule (behind Stanford). Consequently, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said this can't just be a slug- it-out showdown. "They are so stingy on defense, you have to find some ways to get some big chunk plays," Kelly said. "Because you're not going to go three yards and four yards — you're just not going build a consis- Junior Denicos Allen is part of a potent linebacking corps that has helped Michigan State to a No. 4 national ranking in rushing defense (54.5 yards allowed per game) through two weeks. PHTO COURTESY MICHIGAN STATE tency on offense doing that against this kind of defense. … "Both of these defenses are very stingy, and trying to find those big chunk plays, I think, is going to be really important in this game." Last week against Purdue, the longest Irish running play was only 11 yards, by senior Theo Riddick, who finished with 53 yards on 15 carries (3.5 yards per at- tempt). However, the passing game pro- duced seven 20-yard plays: • Senior tight end/receiver Tyler Eifert nabbed passes that gained 29, 25, 22 and 22 yards. • Sophomore wide receiver DaVaris Daniels caught a 41-yard strike from Ev- erett Golson on a pass that was slightly underthrown. • Sophomore tight end Troy Niklas ✦ PAGE 13 Varis Daniels was in a walking boot for his sprained ankle Sunday, and the team will proceed cautiously with his workload this week. Kelly said there's a protocol in place that takes it away from the coaches on decisions about who can or can't play. "I certainly don't want to be in a po- sition where I have to evaluate whether somebody's healthy enough to go on the field," Kelly said. "So we leave that to a very good medical staff." The prime addition this week is junior drop end (Dog linebacker) Danny Spond, who had been sidelined for a month with what had been described as a migraine condition. "We can go back to our original plan of [Ben] Councell and Spond at the drop end position," Kelly said. ✦