Battle for the Megaphone: Michigan State vs Notre Dame Preview
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are sitting at 2-0 and ranked third in the country. Everything is going well (and as expected) early in this season.
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The Irish face a once-familiar foe this week in the Michigan State Spartans. For the first time since 2017, the two teams will face off in The Battle for the Megaphone. Notre Dame has won four of the past five matchups (including wins in 2012 and 2013 that were vacated) and leads the series 47-29-1.
The Spartans are a team in transition. This past offseason, they hired former Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald to get a football program that hasn’t been to a Bowl Game since 2022 back on track. To do so, Fitzgerald is bringing his long-standing team identity of toughness on both sides of the ball. This includes trying to establish a running game for a team that only averaged 122 yards per game, which was one of the worst in the Big 10.
To address that need, Michigan State brought in UConn transfer running back Cam Edwards, who rushed for 1,240 yards and 15 touchdowns. In the first two games, Edwards has done his part by carrying the ball 48 times for 250 yards. Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic steers the Spartan offense after four starts last season. He has thrown for 417 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.
Manage your emotions and the Spartans
This is a major key in any game, but even more so in a rivalry game. Notre Dame did an exceptional job of this at Lambeau Field against Wisconsin in the first game this season. They will need to duplicate that at home against the Spartans. I expect this veteran Irish team to be able to do that.
One thing Notre Dame has done exceptionally well in the early going is taking away what offenses do best. Once they had a read on Wisconsin offensively, they took away the intermediate passing routes and rollout passes. Against Rice, they stifled the triple option attack. Against Sparty, the Irish will need to force Michigan State to rely on Milivojevic. Edwards has been the spark for this offense; Notre Dame should be able to dominate the trenches and keep him in check, forcing a team that doesn’t want to rely on passing to do just that.
Continue the balance
Despite some complaints about the run game production, Notre Dame has been a balanced team. That balance will serve them well this week. Michigan State has only allowed 13.5 points per game this season (20 of the total 27 points allowed were against Toledo). CJ Carr should be able to navigate this offense against this defense. Look for Carr and Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock to have a very balanced offensive game plan and to take advantage of opportunities to get Aneyas Williams involved to jumpstart his season.
Defensively, the Irish front seven should be able to slow down Edwards. Linebackers Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa will be key in stopping him at the point of attack, with Defensive Lineman Francis Brewu able to clog up any holes on the line.
Take care of business
Early season games for top ten teams are about taking care of business and staying healthy. This is an improved Michigan State team from the past few seasons and will have the aforementioned toughness and physicality Fitzgerald demands of his teams. Also of note, Fitzgerald has won in South Bend (2014 while at Northwestern). I do not see a repeat performance here, however.
The Irish are simply too good and too focused on being the best team they can be week in and week out. That focus, coupled with this being a rivalry game under the lights in South Bend, is too steep a hill for the Spartans to climb.
This game could play out very much like the Wisconsin game. But I see Notre Dame coming out and setting the tone early to prove they are not ripe for an upset.
Notre Dame wins this game 38-10 and continues to march on undefeated.
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