By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- Oh boy, I can barely catch my breath. It was a game for the ages, and if you went to bed at halftime like most of the country, then you are going to be sadly dissapointed. Notre Dame trailed 31-14 at the half before rallying to take the game.
The game started ugly for the Irish, and looked extremely similar to last week's game with Michigan. Every time Notre Dame touched the ball it was 3 and out, and Michigan State was pounding ND's defense. Michigan State scored with ease on their first possession, going 73 yards in just 3 plays to grab a 7-0 lead. After Tom Zbikowski fumbled a Spartan punt, Michigan State punched it in again. This time it was the wide receiver, Matt Trannon, who threw a touchdown pass. Trannon connected with running back Javon Ringer on a 26 yard touchdown to put the Spartans up 14-0 with 6:49 to go in the first quarter. The quarter ended with Michigan State adding a field goal to take a 17-0 lead. The Irish recorded only 20 yards in the first quarter, Quinn was just 2-8 for 6 yards.
The Irish offense finally woke up at the start of the second quarter when they went 60 yards on 5 plays to cut the lead to 17-7. The scoring play was a 32 yard pass from Brady Quinn to Rhema McKnight to get the ND QB back on track. Then after a short scuffle on the Notre Dame sideline, the Irish defense stepped it up and forced MSU into a 3 and out. Everything looked good, and it looked like the tide was turning, but not so fast my friend. Brady Quinn threw a pass right into the hands of Ervin Baldwin, and he took it back 19 yards to put the Spartans back up by 17. Quinn came right back on the next drive though, and led his team to a 7 play, 72 yard drive including a 17 yard pass to Jeff Samardzija for a touchdown. Just when everything was looking good again, Michigan State added another touchdown before the break, and went into the locker room up 17.
"I think at halftime our guys started to realize that the season was falling away from us," said ND coach Charlie Weis.
If you remember from last year, Notre Dame gave up a ton of points to the Spartans in the first half but then shut them down in the second half. That is exactly what happened here. Notre Dame was the first to strike in the second half on a 62 yard TD pass from Brady Quinn to TE John Carlson. The Spartans would answer again though, but miss the extra point the keep it as a two score game. It started pouring down rain in East Lansing, and nobody else was able to score in the third quarter.
Michigan State held the ball for the first 5:30 minutes of the fourth quarter, and it looked as if the Irish were done. When Notre Dame finally got the ball back they made it count on a 43 yard 4th down pass from Brady Quinn the Jeff Samardzija. After Notre Dame failed to convert the 2 point try, the score was 37-27. Chinedum Ndukwe had to make a big play in this game, and boy did he. Ndukwe pulled the ball out of QB Drew Stanton's arm, and Notre Dame recovered it. That led to a 14 yard pass from Brady Quinn to Rhema McKnight, and after the missed extra point, the Irish trailed 37-33.
Notre Dame had all 3 timouts left on the next Michigan State series, but Charlie Weis chose not to use any on the first set of down. The Irish forced the Spartans into a 3rd down situation in which MSU opted to pass for it. Notre Dame blitzed from the middle, and forced Stanton to throw a bad pass. Terrail Lambert made a great interception and returned it 27 yards for a Notre Dame touchdown. For the first time in the game Notre Dame had a lead, and all they needed was a stop for the win. Michigan State was driving on their next drive, making it all the way to the Irish 40 yard line. Stanton thought he had found his man down the sideline, and then he thought it was incomplete. He was wrong about both. Terrail Lambert had made another huge interception, and Notre Dame had the thrilling win. The faces on the Michigan State crowd described it all "stunned".
"I think right before halftime when we had our 2 minute drive that I found my game", said QB Brady Quinn. "I was able to keep my rhythm in the 'no huddle' offense and the defense did their job."
J's Grades
Passing Offense.......................... B+
Brady Quinn threw 5 touchdown passes, and for over 300
yards. The reason why it is not an "A" is because of the
interception returned for a touchdown. Those kinds of
things just can't happen if they want to keep winning.
Rusing Offense............................D
This is the aspect of the game that really worries me
about Notre Dame. They have to be able to rush the ball
for more than 47 yards, especially against a weak defense
like that of Michigan State. It's back to the drawing board
for the big "O" line.
Overall Ofense..............................B
The offense kept them in it when they fell way behind, and
overall it was a pretty good performance. The offense
scored 33 points which is pretty impressive.
Pass Defense.................................B
The pass defense wasn't really the problem for Notre Dame
because of the fact that Michigan State hardly passed the
ball. The "D" got burnt on a couple of plays early, but after
that they were superb.
Rush Defense.................................D-
Even though it was a little bit better in the second half, MSU
ran the ball right down the Irish throat the entire game.
When a team rushes for over 200 yards against you, there is
something wrong with the boys up front.
Overall Defense..............................B-
The reason why the grade is so high is because the Notre Dame
defense won the game for them. They came up with 2 huge
interceptions and a fumble recovery that helped the Irish to
get the win. They played with a lot of passion.
Key Performers:
ND MSU
Brady Quinn 20/36 319 yards 5 TD 1 INT Drew Stanton 10/22 114 yards 2 TD 2 INT
Jeff Samardzija 7 rec 113 yards 2 TD 19 rush 53 yards
John Carlson 4 rec 121 yards TD Jehuu Caulcrick 8 rushes 111 yards TD
Rhema McKnight 4 rec 70 yards 2 TD Javon Ringer 14 rushes 76 yards
Terrial Lambert 2 INT, TD
Looking Ahead......
Notre Dame will be playing rival (4-0) Purdue next weekend.
The rest of the top 25..........
#1 Ohio State 28 #24 Penn State 6 #14 Iowa 24 Illinois 7
#2 Auburn 38 Buffalo 7 #15 Tennesee 33 Marshall 7
#3 USC 20 Arizona 3 #17 Oklahoma 59 MTSU 0
#4 WVU 27 East Carolina 10 #18 Florida St. 55 Rice 7
#5 Florida 26 Kentucky 7 #19 Clemson 52 UNC 7
#6 Michigan 27 Wisconsin 13 #20 BC 15 NC State 17
#7 Texas 37 Iowa State 14 #21 California 49 #22 ASU 21
#8 Louisville 24 Kansas St. 6 #23 Nebraska 56 Troy 0
#9 Georgia 14 Colorado 13 #25 Boise State 41 Hawaii 34
#10 LSU 49 Tulane 7
#11 VT 29 Cincinnatti 13
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