Michigan State vs. Notre Dame football preview

Spartans look to bring Fighting Irish back down the Earth

Recent history in the Michigan State-Notre Dame series has been nothing but bad karma for the home team.

The visiting team has won the last six meetings dating back to 2002. And of course, the Spartan faithful would just rather completely forget about the fourth quarter meltdown in 2006 in East Lansing, MI.

But for the sake of accuracy, the Spartans led 37-21 going into the fourth quarter before the Irish came storming back to win, 40-37. Michigan State countered, 31-14, in South Bend last year.

However, as the Irish come to East Lansing on Saturday, it’s hard to make of what either team is feeling. Michigan State (2-1) thought it lost to a good team in California which two weeks later got embarrassed at Maryland. The Spartans then defeated also-rans Eastern Michigan and Florida Atlantic.

The Irish (2-0) should feel a little better after handling sloppy Michigan last week. But this is about as bad as Michigan football has been.

If nothing, the Michigan State-Notre Dame series has been entertaining. Notre Dame leads, 44-26-1 but the Spartans have won eight of the last 11 meetings. And eight of the last nine games have been decided by 10 points or less.

With the high hopes that came into the season about the Spartans challenging for the Big Ten title, one thing that needs to get right is senior quarterback Brian Hoyer. So far, it’s been a mess through the first three games as he has completed only 44 percent of his passes and one touchdown pass.

By far, this is not what coach Mark Dantonio expected. There needs to be more playmaking coming out of that position. Should Hoyer struggle Saturday, it will leave Dantonio with some soul searching when the Spartans open conference play against Indiana.

The logical thinking is that the Notre Dame coaches will load up to stop Spartan all-everything running back Javon Ringer and force Hoyer to get out of his funk and make some plays.

Ringer can’t do everything. He won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week after he ran over Florida Atlantic for 282 yards and two touchdowns. That said, the Spartans should allow him to get his share of carries.

The Spartan defense can feel pleased about its shutout last week and that opposing quarterbacks are completing about 45 percent of their passes. But they know they are going to have to pay attention to Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen who is still gradually coming along in coach Charlie Weis’ offense.

Clausen’s numbers aren’t great – 56 percent, 5TD, 4 int – but the Spartans are going to have be sure to pressure him.

Forcing turnovers would be a start. The Spartans are at 0 in the turnover ratio and will need to create a short field.

Should they take a lead into the fourth quarter, the best thing they need to do is finish it. They’re good enough to beat the Irish. They’re also maddening enough to have another catastrophic ending.

MSU Notable:

• The Spartans’ 26 wins against the Irish are tied for second for opponent wins against Notre Dame. They are tied with Purdue. USC has the most with 32.
• Although it’s not talked about a lot, the teams do play for trophy. The Megaphone Trophy is presented to the winner of the game. The tradition began in 1949. The current contract on this series runs through 2013.

By KEVIN LONNQUIST
BigTen-fans.com Michigan State Correspondent

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