Notre Dame-Michigan State Football Game Is Bar Fight Entertainment

Last Saturday, Notre Dame's football team suffered defeat at the hands of Michigan's highly skilled pigskin ninja, Denard Robinson, who stuck with deadly precision before vanishing into thin air. This week the Irish face a much different brand of football in Michigan State, a team known more for its blue collar, bare-knuckle-brawl toughness than deft execution.

Spartan coach Mark Dantonio relies on a traditional power running game and hard-hitting defense to control time of possession and wear down opponents. This style is in stark contrast to Brian Kelly's no-huddle spread offense; Kelly has said repeatedly that he is not concerned with time of possession so much as the number of points his teams can put on the scoreboard.

The game will be a battle for which team can dictate the pace of play and dish out more big hits than it takes. For the Irish to win, this type of game requires no less discipline than they needed against Michigan, but it must take the alternative form of outlasting a bar room brawl.

On the offensive side of the ball, Notre Dame must connect on big swings when early opportunities are available (paging Michael Floyd...). Michigan State's style and personnel are not suited to large scale comebacks so a fast start out of the gate will be critical for Notre Dame. The Irish assembled a great opening drive against the Wolverines but had trouble converting red zone touchdowns the rest of the day. That trend will need to change against the Spartans.

Misdirection running plays will be one of the things to look for in the Irish offense. Notre Dame ran several of these in the opener against Purdue, though less so against Michigan.

Running straight at the Spartan defense and star linebacker Greg Jones will be playing into their strength since big ugly bouncers generally don't lose in squared-up fisticuffs. Like the boxing scene in "Sherlock Holmes," the Irish will need to be tough and then use leverage and confusion to keep the Spartan defense on its heels.

Defensively, Notre Dame must be able to take a punch and get back up without being crushed by a chair. Michigan State loves to pound the ground game and then, once the defense over-commits, let fly a hay maker of play action passing.

The Irish must keep the Spartans predictable in third-and-long situations and limit their effectiveness on third-and-short. A high percentage of Spartan third down conversions will mean Michigan State is controlling the clock and the Irish are in trouble.

In the past decade, this series has seen more drama than Lindsay Lohan, and it's surprising that special teams have not played a bigger role for either side. Those units have quietly done their job and let the rest of the team throw gut punch after gut punch. The law of averages dictates that at some point this will change, but lately this rivalry has been complete anarchy.

All the drama has rendered predictions for this game to be a meaningless exercise with no rules and no reason. Like the bartender watching his rowdy patrons turn his establishment inside out, all one can do is sit back, pour a drink and enjoy the chaos.