Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Taking A Closer Look What Worked • Staying alive. There were situations where Notre Dame’s offense could’ve just thrown the ball out of bounds and moved on to the next play, but sophomore quarterback Everett Golson kept his composure in the pocket when under fire and exhausted his very last option before doing so. His escapability was an element missing in Notre Dame’s offensive scheme in recent years. • Pocket presence. Notre Dame’s front seven carried the momentum from the first two games of the season to Michigan State and could’ve claimed real estate in the Spartans backfield. The Irish finished with four sacks and tacked on five quarterback hurries, causing MSU’s Andrew Maxwell to be uncomfortable when forced into passing situations. The Spartans hadn’t given up a sack in their first two contests. The deep rotation along the defensive line allows fresh players to come into the game and maintain pressure on the quarterback. • Stopping Bell. Michigan State junior running back Le’Veon Bell isn’t the type of player that a coaching staff makes a game plan to shut down. The realistic goal is to slow him down rather than contain him, but Notre Dame’s touted front seven supported by a fast and sure-tackling, although young, secondary, was able to accomplish that feat. Bell had accumulated 280 yards and four touchdowns through the first two games of the season, but the Irish were able to hold him to 77 yards rushing with no scores. What Didn’t Work • Fast start. Notre Dame’s coaching staff is known for taking the ball first in an effort to strike right away, but it appeared as though the players needed a couple of plays to get to the jitters out of their system. The Irish began the game with a false start and a forced timeout to stop the clock. • Adjusting to surroundings. Spartan Stadium is a tough place to play, and Notre Dame felt the opponents’ fan presence early in the contest, committing multiple false starts. Coaches can fire crowd noise through the speakers at practice in an effort to prepare, but it’s hard to simulate the emotions that come with each game. The Irish had six penalties for a total of 41 yards in the game. • Third-down execution. Notre Dame was able to get pay dirt early twice in the first half, but those plays occurred on early downs. The Irish struggled on third down and only converted 1 of 14 tries, but did go 1 of 2 in four-down situations and scored on two out of three trips to the red zone. — Jason Sapp By The Numbers By Lou Somogyi 2 Consecutive victories by Notre Dame against Michigan State, a first since the 1993 (36-14) and 1994 (21-20) campaigns. The Spartans had a 10-4 advantage in the series from 1997-2010, but the Irish won last year (31-13) and now this season (20-3). 3-0 Notre Dame’s record for the first time since 2002, when it went on to improve to 8-0 and move up to No. 4 in the nation. The only other time in the 21 years from 1991-2011 the Irish were 4-0 was 1993 — when they started 10-0 and reached No. 1. 7 Years since Notre Dame last recorded a victory on the road against a team ranked in the Associated Press top 10, a record drought for the program. The 20-3 win over Michigan State was its first since winning 17-10 at No. 3 Michigan on Sept. 10, 2005. 7-0 Record by Notre Dame under head coach Brian Kelly when it does not commit a turnover, including this Michigan State game. The Irish have only two turnovers through three games after committing 13 last year in the first three contests. The last time Notre Dame lost a game without committing a turnover was a 34-27 loss to USC in 2009. 15 Consecutive victories at home by Michigan State until Notre Dame snapped the string. The Spartans’ streak had been tied for the third longest in the country entering this weekend, behind LSU (19) and Wisconsin (17), and tied with Northern Illinois. 29 Seasons since the Irish registered a triumph against an AP top-10 ranked team on the road and at night. That occurred when head coach Gerry Faust’s third Notre Dame team notched a 30-6 win at No. 7 South Carolina under the lights on Oct. 8, 1983. 30 Points allowed by the Notre Dame during its 3-0 start, the fewest in the first three games since 27 during the 1988 national title season (17 versus Michigan, three at Michigan State and seven against Purdue). 55 Notre Dame players who made an appearance on the field in the first quarter alone. A total of 73 Notre Dame players traveled to the game. Making his first career start was junior Dog linebacker Danny Spond. 1996 The last year Notre Dame held a Big Ten opponent to single digits in points scored, until the 20-3 victory at Michigan State. The most recent had been a 35-0 win versus Purdue in head coach Lou Holtz’s final season with the Irish. Notre Dame had played 47 Big Ten opponents since then, and the closest it had come to holding one to single digits was a 17-10 conquest at Michigan in 2005 and 38-10 at Purdue last season. Michigan State’s three points were the lowest total overall by a top-10 ranked team against Notre Dame since a 28-3 victory versus No. 4 Texas A&M in the Jan. 1, 1993 Cotton Bowl.