It’s a good day to be Irish. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish won their first game of the season against the #15 Michigan State Spartans. It should not have taken three weeks to write “first win of the season”, but better now than later. The Fighting Irish didn’t play clean, but they played hard on both sides of the ball and won 31-13.
-The score was 28-13 with three minutes left. If Notre Dame’s David Ruffer hadn’t made a field goal I would’ve been spot on with my predicted score of 28-14.
3 Things I liked
Defensive Front- I swear I need to be getting paid to do this. In my preview of this game I noted that one of the keys to an Irish victory would be stop the run. Guess how many rushing yards the Spartans had? 29! 29 yards on 23 rushing attempts (Compared to Notre Dame’s 114 yards on 32 attempts). The Spartans had absolutely no success running the ball, which led them to rely on their quarterback, Kirk Cousins. Cousins had a decent game, but the pressure by Notre Dame’s defensive line got to the QB the entire game, due to the lack of a serious running threat. Cousins threw an interception, fumbled the ball, got sacked twice, and got knocked down after he passed probably a dozen times.
Freshman Aaron Lynch, who I highlighted after the Spring Game, put pressure on Cousins during the 4th quarter and was nearly impossible to stop. He is going to be a monster in a few years.
UPDATED 9/19/2011- I just read that Lynch finished the game with five tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack. I'm not sure how I missed all that.
Defensive Secondary- This unit finally proved itself. Although they gave up 320 passing yards, they were able to get an interception and a couple of near interceptions. They knocked the ball out of receivers’ hands and made solid one-on-one tackles. Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton had tremendous days. Blanton was the guy that got the one interception late in the game to seal the win. Smith made a couple of tackles in the backfield and was flying around the field throughout the day.
Defensive Secondary- This unit finally proved itself. Although they gave up 320 passing yards, they were able to get an interception and a couple of near interceptions. They knocked the ball out of receivers’ hands and made solid one-on-one tackles. Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton had tremendous days. Blanton was the guy that got the one interception late in the game to seal the win. Smith made a couple of tackles in the backfield and was flying around the field throughout the day.
Running game- Everybody knows about the passing game that involves Michael Floyd, T.J. Jones, and Theo Riddick. Running backs Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray go their time in the spotlight on Saturday. Wood ran for 61 yards and two touchdowns and Gray ran for 65 yards and no touchdowns. Wood also had six receptions. With these two playing solid it will be nearly impossible to stop the Fighting Irish offense. It’s a good time to be Blue and Gold.
3(2 this week) Thing I didn’t like
Turnovers- This was again a slight problem for Notre Dame. They committed three turnovers in the game, which now makes 13 in just three games. I’m hoping they break the all-time interceptions in a season record of 61. There are 9 games left, so all they need is six a game to break the record! Rees had one interception that was clearly his fault. Then later in the game he got sacked from behind and fumbled. There’s not much you can do to prevent a play like that from happening. Fortunately the Irish defense forced two turnovers against the Spartans offense.
Michigan State Trickery- Do the Spartans think they’re playing idiots? In the second quarter of the game, the Spartans had 4th & goal on Notre Dame’s 10 yd line. They lined up for what appeared to be a field goal. When the ball was snapped the place holder picked the ball up and went to pass but was immediately tackled by Irish defenders. The Spartans tried to pull off the same play that beat the Irish last season in overtime. It didn’t work this time Sparty.
With this first win Notre Dame is now 1-2. The schedule for about the next month doesn’t get much easier for the Fighting Irish. The next two games are on the road against Pittsburgh (2-1) and Purdue (2-1). The three after that are at home against Air Force (1-1), #23 USC (3-0), and Navy (2-1). USC has a lot of talent but they definitely aren’t the team they were a few years ago. Navy looked great against South Carolina and has beaten the Irish the past two seasons. If the Irish can win those games they’ll be at 6-2 and be in good position to make a final run for a BCS Bowl.
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