Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

In 1993 Notre Dame stood at 2-0 and was entering the third week of the
season, preparing for its annual game against Michigan State. The
Irish that year were a rag-tag group, a team that few people expected
to compete seriously on the national stage. The Irish had lost the
nucleus of the 1992 team that had finished with a 10-1-1 record, a
nucleus that included QB Rick Mirer, as well as RBs Reggie Brooks and
Jerome Bettis.

Still, the squad, led by senior QB Kevin McDougal, starting for the
first time in his career at N.D., opened with a 2-0 record after wins
against Northwestern and at #3 Michigan. The win at Michigan had
grabbed everyone's attention, and served as notice that the Irish would
be a formidable team that year. Into town came the unranked 1-0
Michigan State Spartans. Then as now, the Spartans were an erratic
team, dangerous against the Irish, but frequently inept against lesser
competition. Coming off a disappointing 5-6 finish in 1992, they were
looking to gain respectability by upending an Irish squad that was
flying high after their big win at Michigan. That was not to be the
case, however, as a formidable Irish offense and smothering defense led
Notre Dame to its sixth straight win over Michigan State.

By winning a convincing 36-14 victory over Michigan State, the Irish
continued their march toward a late-season match-up against #1 Florida
State, a game that second-ranked Notre Dame would win. Unbelievably,
that 1993 victory by Notre Dame over Michigan State marked the most
recent time the Irish won at home against Michigan State, a streak of
five straight home losses to the Spartans. No school has ever won six
straight games at Notre Dame.

In many ways, the Notre Dame-Michigan State series provides a barometer
on the Notre Dame football program in general. When things are going
well for the Irish, they tend to fare well against the Spartans. When
the Irish are down, however, they struggle against MSU. An example:
from 1954-63, Notre Dame experienced one of its lowest periods ever,
going 51-48 (.515). During that period, the Spartans dominated the
Irish, compiling a record of 8-1 in the series. On the other side of
the coin, from 1987 to 1993, when the Irish compiled a 72-12-1 (.853)
record, they were 6-0 against the Spartans. Since those days, the
Irish program again has stumbled into more trying times, and the
Michigan State series bears that out. Since the series was renewed in
1997 after a two-year break, the Spartans are 7-3 against the Irish,
including 5-0 in games played at Notre Dame during that period.

This series dates back to 1897, when the Michigan Aggies, as the
Spartans were called back then, fell to Notre Dame, 34-6, in a
rain-soaked game in South Bend. Since those days, the schools have
been frequent opponents, playing each other every season since 1959,
for example, with the exception of a two-year break in 1995-96.

During the 1940s, Michigan State was struggling as a football
independent. Still several years away from admittance into the Big Ten
Conference, Michigan State sought help from Notre Dame athletic
director Edward "Moose" Krause. By agreeing to a long-running series
against the Spartans, Krause helped steady the struggling program
during its difficult years. After joining the Big Ten in 1950,
Michigan State refused to go along with Michigan coach Fritz Crisler's
calls to other Big Ten schools to boycott the Irish.

No discussion of the Notre Dame-Michigan State series would be complete
without mention of the titanic battle between the schools in 1966.
That year, undefeated and untied Notre Dame, ranked #1, traveled to
East Lansing to play undefeated and untied Michigan State, ranked #2.
In a game that featured numerous Hall of Fame players, as well as two
coaching luminaries, the Irish and Spartans dueled to a 10-10 tie in
one of the most famous games in college football history. The game
continues to stand the test of time as one of the most memorable ever
played.

This weekend's game will be the 71st between the schools. Overall, the
Irish hold a 44-25-1 record against the Spartans, but, as previously
mentioned, the Spartans have won seven of the last 10 played in the
series. Michigan State is among the most frequent opponents to appear
on Notre Dame's schedules through the years. The only teams to play
the Irish more frequently are Navy (80), Purdue (78), and Southern Cal
(78).

In recent years, the schools have played some memorable games not
decided until the fourth quarter. Between 1999 and 2003, the schools
played six consecutive games determined in the closing minutes. The
2002 game, played at Spartan Stadium, featured a game-winning 60-yard
TD scamper by Irish WR Arnaz Battle in the last minute, Notre Dame's
first win over MSU since 1993. Since then, the schools have traded
wins on each other's home field. In 2005, the Spartans won a memorable
and heartbreaking victory over the Irish in overtime, 44-41. The sting
of defeat was accentuated for Irish fans by the sight of Spartans
players planting a Michigan State flag at the fifty yard-line of Notre
Dame Stadium. Last year, the Irish exacted a measure of revenge, as
Terrail Lambert returned an interception in the closing minute to
complete an improbable comeback from 16 points down to win at rainy
Spartan Stadium, 40-37.

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Other notes:

-Two of Notre Dame's greatest coaches served as assistants at Michigan
State. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) was an assistant in the 1930s
for Jim Crowley, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the famed "Four
Horsemen" backfield. Dan Devine (1975-80) served on MSU's staff in the
1950s.

-Navy (70), Purdue (51), and Pittsburgh (44) are the only opponents
that N.D. has beaten more frequently than MSU. Only Southern Cal (31)
has beaten N.D. more frequently than MSU.

-Notre Dame is 15-11 versus Michigan State at Notre Dame Stadium.

-The Irish are 10-4 (.714) at home under Charlie Weis.

-The Irish have never started a season 0-4.

-Notre Dame has only lost six straight games once. That streak came
during a string of eight straight losses in 1960.

-Since 1949, the winner of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game has
received the Megaphone Trophy, sponsored by the Notre Dame and Michigan
State clubs of Detroit.

-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through the 2011
season. At that point, they are expected to take a two-year hiatus to
make room on Notre Dame's schedule for a home-and-home series against
either Arizona State or Oklahoma. The schools are expected to resume
the series in 2014.

-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college
football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand
after last week:

Unranked Michigan walloped the hapless Irish, 38-0, moving their record
to 861-284-36 for a winning percentage of .7443. This week, the
unranked Wolverines host #10 Penn State.

Unranked Notre Dame was woefully bad in losing at unranked Michigan,
38-0. Their record drops to 821-272-42 for a winning percentage of
.7419. This stands as the program's lowest winning percentage since
November 1910. This week, the unranked Irish host unranked Michigan
State.

Michigan's lead expands to 24/10,000ths of a point, its largest lead
over Notre Dame since 1920.

Another sobering note as the Irish continue to freefall: Texas is
creeping up behind Notre Dame on the all-time wins list, and at this
point are just seven wins behind the Irish with 814. The #7 Longhorns
host Rice this week.

Notre Dame's game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC.

Go Irish! Beat Spartans!
Big Mike

copyright Michael D. McAllister 2007