The highlight of the evening became an interview with Parseghian led by 1967 Notre Dame graduate Mike Collins (the former WNDU and WSBT news anchor and now the public address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium) and ’66 grad George Blaha (he’s been the radio voice of Michigan State football for 39 years). Sparty looked sluggish in its opener against Furman before taking an early, Week 2 bye.
Advertisement
It was the third weekend of September, three years ago exactly, that the Spartans employed their stickiest man-to-man coverage on Notre Dame’s wideouts.
What it’ll come down to, most people believe, is quarterback play.
Notre Dame’s quarterback drama has overshadowed the Fighting Irish’s relative inexperience, as well as their trouble covering on the road. I thought it really all started from our serve – we were aggressive and served well, and that led to a lot of opportunities for us throughout the match. That won’t matter in this game. The Irish rallied back from a ten-point deficit against Bubba Smith and the Spartans then controversially ran out the clock while on offense.
DeShone Kizer responded on the drive after a 73-yard touchdown run by Gerald Holmes with a touchdown pass to Equanimeous St. The Irish are 18-14 against MSU in Notre Dame Stadium, and 23-14-1 versus the Trojans.
After Saturday night, the season takes a turn for the easy for the Irish. Jeff BartlI’ve been beating myself up over this one.
Michigan State linebacker Ed Davis is expected to play after being granted a sixth year of eligibility because he missed last season with a knee injury. “So I gotta do a better job”.
At the end of the interview segment, Collins asked: “Everybody stand for one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football”. The last time MSU went to South Bend, the Fighting Irish used an all-pass-interference offense and took advantage of multiple frightful calls to win in 2013. Those back-to-back plays sparked the 36-0 avalanche by the Spartans over the next 21 minutes of action.
Yet Kelly doesn’t want to underestimate how the prospects of a smash mouth game could have an effect on his team.
“We had a couple turnovers in the second quarter”, Kizer said. Actually, you know what? “So there’s still growth that’s going to happen with this football team as we evolve”. Maybe I’m just being irrational, but who cares! Following a start against two unranked opponents the coach is expecting his team’s intensity to pick up with the successful Spartans in town.
“I remember the controversy over the 10-10 tie with Notre Dame and Michigan State, and the idea of one coach or the other settling for a tie, I don’t think I would have voted for a coach who had a chance to win and settle for a tie”, he said.
On the offense, Michigan State averages 190.0 yards in passing and 171.0 yards in rushing.
The ball fell into Cole Luke’s hands in front of Corley, but the rookie receiver ripped it away from the veteran cornerback for his first college touchdown.
Advertisement
Head coach Brian Kelly said if things back then were the way they are now, the record books would look a bit different.
