Will the 3rd week be a charm?
- The line says so: ND by 5.
- Our #1 fan, Lou Holtz, thinks so: “Notre Dame can still win out. They are 2 plays from being Top Ten.”
- Dicky V agrees: “This week will be the start of an Irish roll – GO ND BABY!”
- What do ND students say? Well, we’re not giving up on our Irish just yet, but if we look to our recent history against the Spartans, this game is unpredictable.
Michigan State has us figured out. They’ve won 10 out of the last 14 times we’ve played. On top of that, 9 of the 14 games have been won by a touchdown or less. Here’s the breakdown since 1997.
- 1997 Michigan State 23, Notre Dame 7
- 1998 Michigan State 45, Notre Dame 23
- 1999 Michigan State 21, Notre Dame 13
- 2000 Michigan State 27, Notre Dame 21
- 2001 Michigan State 17, Notre Dame 10
- 2002 Notre Dame 21, Michigan State 17
- 2003 Michigan State 22, Notre Dame 16
- 2004 Notre Dame 31, Michigan State 24
- 2005 Michigan State 44, Notre Dame 41 (OT)
- 2006 Notre Dame 40, Michigan State 37
- 2007 Michigan State 31, Notre Dame 14
- 2008 Michigan State 23, Notre Dame 7
- 2009 Notre Dame 33, Michigan State 30
- 2010 Michigan State 34, Notre Dame 31 (OT)
Do I really need to remind anyone about last year’s controversial outcome? The Spartans lined up for a 46-yard field goal to tie the game in overtime, but faked and threw a winning touchdown pass. 34-31 Michigan State. After the game, the Spartans said it was their revenge after losing to us 33-30 the year before.
If last year was their revenge, then this year’s ours. If we need any motivation, we can just look to this footage from last year’s heartbreaker.
Not only do we want to avoid that happening this year, but we also would like to walk out of the stadium on Saturday 1-2 instead of 0-3.
Now Michigan State is ranked #15, so we’ll be playing against the best competition we’ve had all year. Even though we lost the first two, we could’ve easily won them both if we had protected the ball a little better. Bottom line, to have a chance in this game, the key will be not to turn the ball over. If we do that, then we’ll have a shot to at least not strike out completely against the entire state of Michigan this season.
Back to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Newsfeed