Up Next, Michigan State

Third time is a charm?

The good news is the Irish have a chance to pick up a win this Saturday.  The bad news is Michigan State is better in my opinion than Notre Dame’s last two opponents.  While Notre has the talent and ability to beat Michigan State, they unfortunately also have the ability to let poor play to beat themselves again.  The Spartans are good enough to beat the Irish without Notre Dame’s mistakes, so the Irish need to play a better game this Saturday or they will be 0-3 without a doubt.  Keeping things in perspective, Michigan State is 2-0 by beating Florida Atlantic and Youngstown State, but they did what they were supposed to do in those games, win and win big.

Starting on the offensive side of the ball, senior quarterback Kirk Cousins is not a mobile quarterback, not even close to the mobility they saw in Daniels and Robinson.   He is, however, one of the best passers the Irish will see this season and with the pass coverage of Notre Dame’s linebackers and defensive backs it could be ugly early.    Cousins passed for over 2,800 yards and 20 touchdowns last year, completing 67% of his passes.  Cousins is working with two returning senior wide receivers in Cunningham (50 receptions and 9 touchdowns),who is the all time leader in receptions for the Michigan State program, and Martin, who will provide experience and chemistry.

Michigan State also has a solid running game, which forces defenses to stay honest when covering Cousins and the pass.  Junior running back Edwin Baker is a returning starter who rushed for 1,201 yards and had 13 touchdowns last season.  Baker will be supported by Bell and Caper, who both saw game action last year.  The offensive line is in a bit of a rebuilding mode, but the Spartans do have two starters returning in 6’5” 292 lb. junior guard Chris McDonald and 6’4” 305 lb. senior Joel Forman.  Forman is their bread and butter on the O-line for their running game, so plan on seeing runs to the left. 

The defensive line returns three starters, including sophomore Gholston who was near the top of the 2010 recruiting class.  With two fast 6’7” ends, look for good pressure coming from the ends.  With two sophomores at linebacker, a sophomore at cornerback and another at strong safety, none of them are returning starters so the passing game could work well for the Irish.  Rees does, however, need to keep an eye on senior defensive back Trenton Robinson

The Spartans have a returning kicker who went 14 for 15 on field goals last year.  Last year Michigan State had 11 wins and won a share of the Big Ten title before being demolished by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl.

For a Notre Dame win, it’s simple - run the offense, eliminate the mistakes, no turnovers and limit the penalties at inopportune times.  Let the offensive line control the line of scrimmage, let Wood run for 100+ yards and let Floyd do his thing.  The Irish also need to improve on their third and short game. Defensively, they need to perform better in the red zone and defend the deep pass.

For a Notre Dame loss, just keep playing stupid.  Michigan State does not have to do anything special -just play their game and let the Irish blow it.