Notre Dame takes high hopes to Michigan State
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent
Notre Dame is riding high after its 2-0 start, thanks to its thrilling last-minute victory over Purdue.
The Irish know that feeling could come crashing down Saturday night after a visit to No. 10 Michigan State at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Michigan State, 2-0 after wins over nationally ranked Boise State and Central Michigan, will present the Irish with their toughest challenge to date and so will sold out Spartan Stadium.
The 20th-ranked Irish have been preparing all week for what they expect will be a raucous Spartan Stadium by piping in loud crowd noise into their practices.
We really tried to work on crowd control, the noise, communication and two-minute drill, said Irish coach Brian Kelly following Notre Dame’s practice on Thursday. We got a lot of that work done today.
Our guys our confident, they’ve prepared well. They’re looking forward to the challenge of playing at Michigan State. It’ll be a great atmosphere.
Notre Dame has also been preparing for one of the nation’s best running backs in Le’Veon Bell and perhaps the best defense they’ll face all season.
Bell, a Heisman Trophy candidate, is the nation’s sixth-leading rusher, averaging 140 yards per game and has four rushing touchdowns to his credit this season.
Bell is the headliner on an offense that lost plenty of star power from last season’s 11-3 team that won the Big Ten Legends Division and beat Georgia in the Outback Bowl. Gone is record-setting quarterback Kirk Cousins and two of the finest receivers the school has ever seen in Keshawn Martin and B.J. Cunningham.
None of us can be complacent, MSU coach Mark Dantonio said. Last year is in the past. We need to move forward.
The Spartans are moving forward with quarterback Andrew Maxwell, a two-year backup, who has a very good knowledge of the game as you would expect.
Through the first two games Maxwell has completed 42-of-69 passes for 523 yards with a pair of touchdowns, but has been picked off three times.
Maxwell and his Spartan teammates rely heavily on Bell and why not. This season the junior has gained 280 yards rushing, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Bell has shown he’s a workhorse. He had 50 touches in the 17-13 win over Boise State (44 carries for 210 yards and six catches for 55 yards).
The challenge is that he plays and he plays every down, said Kelly about Bell. He’s just a throwback. He keeps going. He’s the complete back.
In last year’s 31-13 Irish win over the Spartans in Notre Dame Stadium, Bell was held to just 27 yards on seven carries.
Notre Dame defensive tackle Louis Nix III knows Bell’s success revolves around how his offensive line plays.
They have some big guys that want to push me around, Nix said. I’ve just got to push back.
Trying to slow down Bell will also be Irish middle linebacker Manti Te’o. The All-American will play against the Spartans even though his grandmother and a close friend passed away earlier this week. Te’o leads the Irish with 18 tackles.
Spelling Bell in the backfield will be senior Larry Caper. He averages 6.4 yards per carry.
Defensively the Spartans are one of the best in the Big Ten and should be since they returned eight starters from a year ago.
Michigan State has held its two opponents this season without an offensive touchdown.
All-American hopeful William Gholston, a defensive end, is the Spartans’ marquee player on the line. He has NFL written all over him with his talent, speed and 6-foot-7, 278-pound frame.
The Spartans also have a talented linebacker corps led by junior Max Bullough, who is on the Bednarik, Butkus and Lombardi awards watch lists. He’s also up for the Nagurski Trophy. He leads MSU with 11 tackles on the season.
Making Michigan State’s team even more dangerous is the leg of fifth-year senior kicker Dan Conroy. He’s 3-for-5 in the field goal department this season with a long of 50 yards.
Like the Spartans, expect the Irish to rely on their running game to set the tone in this one. This game has all the makings of a low-scoring, defensive struggle with both teams trying to flex their muscle and impose their will on the other.
I just think it’s a good, healthy Midwestern rivalry between two teams that know what to expect on Saturday, Kelly said. They know what they’re going to get from us, and we know what we’re going to get from them.
My Take
These two teams always seem to provide some classics when they get together and this year has all the makings of another good one.
Although both teams are expected to try and establish their running game early and often, the Irish did show last week against Purdue, they’ll go to the air if forced (i.e. if the Spartans overload the box with defenders).
I’m thinking Notre Dame is going to pull off the upset because I like what I’ve seen from quarterback Everett Golson more than Maxwell and I believe the Irish defense as a whole, especially the front seven is better than State’s.
It should be a dandy.
Notre Dame 24, Michigan State 21
ND Nuggets
– The Irish and Spartans have met 75 times prior to Saturday and the two have a schedule agreement through 2031 where the schools will meet for four straight years and then take two years off.
The Irish lead the series 46-28-1, including 18-15-1 in East Lansing.
– Following Thursday’s practice, Kelly joked that he and his staff have gone over every trick play Michigan State could possibly run against us.
Of course he was referring to Notre Dame’s last trip to East Lansing when the Spartans successfully pulled off a fake field goal, which resulted in a game-winning 29-yard touchdown catch for a 34-31 overtime victory.
The play was called Little Giants. Holder Aaron Bates took the snap, stood up and waited for Charlie Gantt to come open downfield. He was wide open and the play worked to perfection.
– On Saturday night, Notre Dame and Michigan State will meet for the fifth time under the lights in East Lansing. The two teams have split the previous four night games.
Overall, Dantonio is 5-1 in night games played in Spartan Stadium.
– The Irish are looking to start a season 3-0 for the first time in 10 years.
– Notre Dame has lost six straight road games against ranked teams by an average of 16.7 points. Its last road win over a top-25 team came Oct. 1, 2005 at then-No. 22 Purdue.
Meanwhile, Michigan State has won four in a row against top-25 competition at home.
