Michigan State Spartans – September 17, 2011 2:30 CT, NBC at Notre Dame Stadium
Head Coach – Mark Dantonio
Career Record: 53-36
- 18-17 in three seasons at Cincinnati (2004-2006)
- 35-19 in five seasons at Michigan State (2007-2011)
2010 Season (11-2)
| Opponent | W/L | U-M | OPP |
| Western Michigan | W | 38 | 14 |
| at Florida Atlantic | W | 30 | 17 |
| Notre Dame | W | 34 | 31 |
| Northern Colorado | W | 45 | 7 |
| Wisconsin | W | 34 | 24 |
| at Michigan | W | 34 | 17 |
| Illinois | W | 26 | 6 |
| at Northwestern | W | 35 | 27 |
| at Iowa | L | 6 | 37 |
| Minnesota | W | 31 | 8 |
| Purdue | W | 35 | 31 |
| at Penn State | W | 28 | 22 |
| CITRUS BOWL | |||
| Alabama | L | 7 | 49 |
SERIES FACTS
The Fighting Irish lead the series 45-28-1.
STRENGTHS
- Quarterback Leadership – Kirk Cousins in two career starts versus Notre Dame, Cousins has completed 68 percent of his passes (46 of 68) for three touchdowns with two interceptions. As a starter, Cousins has a career record of 18-9. He helped lead the Spartans to a record of 11-2 last season.
- Overall Defense – Michigan State leads the Big Ten in total defense (151.0 yards per game), scoring defense (3.0 points per game), passing defense (76.0 yards per game), and pass efficiency defense (77.2 rating). The Spartans have given up only 6 points so far.
- Michigan State has owned Notre Dame of late. The Spartans have won 10 of the last 14 meetings in the series. Including six of the last seven games played in Notre Dame Stadium. In addition, the visiting team has won eight of the last 12 games.
WEAKNESSES
- Kicking – Really hard to judge at this juncture of the season against the quality of the opponents that the Spartans have played against. Field Goals 0-1 in the opening game, yet 3-4 last week. Punting has been anemic, but has not really been important yet.
- Road Woes – The Spartans have done well in Notre Dame Stadium as of late, so this may be a moot issue. The two losses last season were at Iowa and in the bowl game on a neutral field. It is hard to find a whole lot of weaknesses on this Spartan team.
- Offensive Scoring – You really don’t need to score a whole lot of points when the defense is playing great and doing their job. The Spartans score enough points to win. That really is all that an offense needs to do. The Irish defense is capable of shutting down these guys.
GAME ANALYSIS
Michigan State has rolled in their first two games of 2011 – beating Youngstown State 28-6 and Florida Atlantic 44-0. This in addition to their great season of last year going 11-2. Before Irish fans start bemoaning the fact of the first two Spartan opponents, I simply don’t want to hear it anymore. It is time to put up or shut up. State beat up on two opponents that they were expected to. They have owned the Irish of late. The Spartans have a solid football team and program right now. They do what is expect ed of them. Dantonio is a good coach, give credit where due.
For coach Brian Kelly, his team should be 2-0. Cut out the fumbles, interceptions, shanked punts, penalties at critical times and this team would be rolling. Start fielding and returning punts the way that you are supposed to do. Coach Kelly, you had no problem replacing your QB for his poor play, now do so with other players that are simply not executing their roles. Hard to believe, but Notre Dame is in a must win situation right now. Going 0-3 to start the season will just dig a hole that suggests that Notre Dame is no longer viable in college football. This will hurt recruiting.
PREDICTION
This may be a defining moment for head coach Brian Kelly. After losing two heart breaking games to open the 2011 season, it is time for Kelly’s players to accept responsibility for their mistakes and show the fans what they are really made of. This is a must game if the Irish are to have a credible season for 2011.
NOTRE DAME 31
MICHIGAN STATE 28
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