Notre Dame Football: Report Card Grades for Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

Notre Dame finally tacked a "W" on the board after defeating 15th ranked Michigan State on Saturday.

Despite the win, there were still a fair amount of mistakes made by the Irish that reminded fans of the first two games of the season, both losses.

Regardless of how sloppy the game may have been, a win is a win.

What units performed well?

Which did not?

Find out as we hand out weekly report card grades.

Quarterbacks

Grade: C+

Irish quarterback Tommy Rees completed 18 of his 26 pass attempts for 161 yards on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium. He also threw for one score and had one pass intercepted.

While it wasn't a pretty day for Rees, he did a great job at playing within himself and managing the game.

The most promising aspect of Rees' performance was that he got better in the second half. If Rees can continue to improve his game, the Irish offense will steadily improve game by game.

Rees will be facing a porous Pittsburgh defense next week, which he should have his way with.

Running Backs

Grade: B+

After two straight 100-yard rushing days for Cierre Wood, the junior running back finished with only 61 yards on 14 carries.

The minimal number of carries was by design, as Michigan State's defense is one of the most physical the Irish will see all season.

The coaching staff opted to split the carries between both backs, resulting in Jonas Gray also carrying the ball 12 times for 65 yards.

Neither turned the ball over, and each ran with a purpose.

Receivers

Grade: B

Michael Floyd had another outstanding performance, totaling six receptions for 84 yards.

Also getting in the mix was T.J. Jones, who had a spectacular over-the-shoulder touchdown catch in the back corner of the north endzone.

As a unit, the receivers played well. The minimal number of receptions was due to a very conservative gameplan drawn up by Brian Kelly.

The spotlight should be on this unit next week against a vulnerable Pittsburgh secondary.

Offensive Line

Grade: A

I might sound like a broken record when it comes to this group, but the line had another tremendous game on Saturday.

The unit gave Tommy Rees all the time in the world to get ride of the football and controlled the line of scrimmage for a majority of the contest.

Michigan State's front four is the most stout the Irish offensive line will go up against all season, so things will only get easier from here on out.

Defensive Line

Grade: A

Notre Dame finally has a legitimate defensive line. It's been a long time coming.

The Irish line was in the Spartan backfield all day, particularly freshman phenom Aaron Lynch, who had a sack, forced fumble and six quarterback hurries.

Another freshman who saw significant action was Notre Dame's most physically intimidating player in Stephon Tuitt.

If this unit continues to play like it did Saturday, it'll be a long season for opposing quarterbacks.

Linebackers

Grade: B+

The Irish linebackers played a large role in holding Michigan State to only 29 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Freshman Troy Niklas had an excellent game in an unexpected starting role at drop linebacker, with Danny Spond and Prince Shembo unavailable.

Manti Te'o had another excellent day, with 12 tackles.

The only area of concern for this unit is its ability to defend the pass, as the Irish gave up 329 passing yards. However, that was largely due to the fact that the Spartans were playing catch up most of the day.

Secondary

Grade: C

Robert Blanton's interception in the fourth quarter that altogether saved the day for the Irish is nearly the one positive thing to come from the secondary on Saturday.

Gary Gray had another poor performance, but not nearly as bad as the way he played against Michigan.

This unit is the biggest question mark of the team through three games and must improve for the Irish defense to be effective as a whole.

Special Teams

Grade: F

Notre Dame's special teams have been terrible through the first three games of the season. It's really that simple.

Ben Turk struggled with his punts again, resulting in poor field position on more than a few occasions for the Irish.

John Goodman muffed a punt that Michigan State recovered near the Notre Dame 20-yard line, nearly spelling disaster for the Irish. 

Despite all the ugliness, there were two bright spots in kickers David Ruffer and Kyle Brindza.

Ruffer converted his lone field goal attempt, and all four of his extra point attempts while Brindza had success on kickoffs.

Coaching

Grade: B-

While the Irish did claim their first victory of the season, there were still too many mistakes to be content.

It's up to the players to execute, but it's the job of the coaching staff to prepare the players to execute.

The main message in practices this week must be avoiding turnovers and protecting the football.

Do that, and the Irish will be on their way to more wins.

Intangibles

Grade: B

After last week's debacle against Michigan in the Big House, Irish players could have hung their heads and given up on the season.

They didn't.

This team knew it had the ability to win football games, and that confidence was on display against Michigan State.

They went blow for blow with a notoriously physical Spartan squad and thoroughly outplayed Mark Dantonio's boys.

This team is resilient. There's no question about that.