Michigan State Spartans vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Recap

Michigan State 34, Notre Dame 31 - F/OT

“Little Giants” and perfect timing was all it took for Michigan State (3-0) to pull out an overtime win over Notre Dame (1-2) 34-31. In a game that included over 1,100 yards of offense, it was a 29 yard pass, named “Little Giants,” that took the spotlight.

Former high school quarterback and current Michigan State punter, Aaron Bates, threw the biggest pass of his life Saturday night. In overtime with MSU down 31-28 on fourth down, Bates executed a perfect fake field goal, with a 29 yard pass to Charlie Gantt for the game winning touchdown.

Dayne Crist led Notre Dame with 369 passing yards with four touchdowns while going 32-55. Notre Dame took the lead with 13:20 left in the fourth quarter on a Crist 24 yard pass to Michael Floyd. This touchdown made the score 28-21 and was Floyds second of the day. Soon after, with 7:43 left in the game, MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a 24 yard touchdown pass to B.J. Cunningham to tie the score at 28. Cousins finished the game 23-33 with two touchdowns and 245 yards.

Michigan State used a powerful running game to push Notre Dame around and control the clock. The Spartans held the ball for 34 minutes compared to the 25 minutes by the Fighting Irish. The Spartans finished the game with 203 rushing yards, 114 of that coming from freshman Le’Veon Bell. Sophomore Edwin Baker kept pace with Bell, rushing for 90 yards and one score. With the scored knotted at 7 coming out of halftime, Baker found a whole in the Irish defense and scampered 56 yards for a touchdown. Notre Dame answered quickly with their fast-paced spread offense, capping a six play 74 yard drive with a 10 yard touchdown pass from Crist to Kyle Randolph.

Player of the game: Aaron Bates

Not only did he throw the game winning touchdown pass, he kept the Irish punt returners at bay with 8 punts for 363 yards. Bates also had a season long 62 yard punt to top things off.

Side note: After the game Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio suffered from a mild heart attack. Dantonio has recovered and was released Tuesday afternoon.

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