After Loss to Notre Dame: Down but Not Out...

This is the First loss, when the Spartans have traveled to South Bend since the Mid-90's.....

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Michigan State......  3 14  6  7  - 30
Notre Dame.......... 13  3 10  7  - 33

Damn close game in South Bend. Spartans lost it on an interception in the last few. Seconds… just seconds form a win or tie..  I was on the edge of my seat the entire game..  No finger nails left...

Hate to say it, sounds like sour grapes, but… Notre Dame isn’t that good of a team.. They are not Top 10 or Top 15 material… yes, they won, but they didn’t show flashes of brilliance..  That being said, the Spartans were not as good as the Irish on this particular day.. So, I don't think the Spartans are a Top 25 team either at this point.

It looked like a very physical game, very intense game.  I can’t fault the Spartans. If I were to do the Arm chair quarterback thing, the last play call, the pass probably should have been a run....  So close the goal line at their 18, you’re guaranteed a tie. 



I’m still Bullish on the Spartans.. They have the talent.. They lost this one by mere inches and seconds..   They Spartans I think are a strong Buy..

What did I see. I saw the Spartans working the Pass, and not relying solely on the Run. I saw a tough O Line protect Kirk Cousins..  I was surprised to see DNBTU’s (Brett Swenson) doink one off the goal post…

Saw some mistakes on the field, saw the secondary play harder and more focused than they did against CMU and it showed how they limited the Jimmy Long Ball.

The D Line improved…  Spartans Lost but they played a good game, yes that hurts to say, but it’s the truth.  They lost….  I could even hear the G. Family next door screaming with the plays….

Five Receivers had over 30 yrds, Mark Dell had an astonishing 121. Blair White 75yrds and 2 TDs. and B.J. Cunningham 74. Blair with 2 TDS.  354 yrds passing is a game record since Dantonio’s been Head Coaching at State.

109 yrds rushing spread between 5 guys, Larry Caper had 52.

First 2 sacks of the year were laid on Jimmy Clausen. Jerel Worthy and Eric Gordon and PIckelman combo got to him…

 Greg Jones had 9 tackles; Trenton Robinson nabbed the first interception of the year on Jimmy.

                                     MSU       ND

FIRST DOWNS...................       27       25
  Rushing.....................        5       13
  Passing.....................       18       11
  Penalty.....................        4        1
NET YARDS RUSHING.............      105      133
  Rushing Attempts............       25       37
  Average Per Rush............      4.2      3.6
  Rushing Touchdowns..........        2        1
  Yards Gained Rushing........      109      163
  Yards Lost Rushing..........        4       30
NET YARDS PASSING.............      354      304
  Completions-Attempts-Int....  26-40-1  24-34-1
  Average Per Attempt.........      8.9      8.9
  Average Per Completion......     13.6     12.7
  Passing Touchdowns..........        2        3
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      459      437
  Total offense plays.........       65       71
  Average Gain Per Play.......      7.1      6.2
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      1-1      1-0
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     6-40    11-99
PUNTS-YARDS...................    3-135    3-124
  Average Yards Per Punt......     45.0     41.3
  Net Yards Per Punt..........     37.3     41.3
  Inside 20...................        2        1
  50+ Yards...................        1        0
  Touchbacks..................        0        0
  Fair catch..................        1        2
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    5-322    7-444
  Average Yards Per Kickoff...     64.4     63.4
  Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     39.4     41.4
  Touchbacks..................        0        0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    0-0-0   2-23-0
  Average Per Return..........      0.0     11.5
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  7-154-0  5-125-0
  Average Per Return..........     22.0     25.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    1-0-0   1-20-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    1-5-0
Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0
Possession Time...............    25:30    34:30
  1st Quarter.................     9:21     5:39
  2nd Quarter.................     4:57    10:03
  3rd Quarter.................     6:14     8:46
  4th Quarter.................     4:58    10:02
Third-Down Conversions........  5 of 10  5 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-4      3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-16      0-0
PAT Kicks.....................      3-4      3-4
Field Goals...................      1-2      2-2

Big Ten Season now Starts…  On to Wisconsin..
Onwards and Upwards... We haven't lost faith, nor feel its time to panic.

Sparty On !!!