Michigan State is heading into the kind of Saturday that tells you a lot about a team in a hurry.
The Spartans are 2-0 after taking care of Toledo, 30-20, and Eastern Michigan, 35-7, but No. 3 Notre Dame is a different kind of problem altogether.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock in South Bend, and this one looks like the biggest challenge on Michigan State’s schedule.
Notre Dame has already handled one Big Ten opponent this season. The Irish opened at Lambeau Field against Wisconsin and finished strong in a 41-13 win after a game that was tight for a half.
Last week was even more one-sided. Against Rice, Notre Dame scored on the second play of the game after a forced fumble returned for a touchdown, then rolled to a 52-0 shutout that never felt remotely close.
That’s the backdrop for Michigan State’s offense, which may have trouble finding room to breathe. Rain is in the forecast, and that could push the Spartans toward the kind of approach they would probably want anyway: run the ball, stay on schedule, and drain clock. Even in perfect weather, that would be the safest path.
The problem is that Notre Dame’s secondary is built to smother passing games. The Irish cornerback group is experienced and led by 2025 unanimous All-American Leonard Moore, which puts pressure on a Michigan State receiving corps that has had a hard time creating separation early on.
That means plenty of work could fall to Cam Edwards again. He enters Week 3 leading the Big Ten with 250 rushing yards, along with 48 carries and 51 total touches. If he’s healthy, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t get at least 20 rushing attempts in this game.
But Notre Dame’s front seven has been sturdy against the run. Through two games, the Irish are allowing just 65.5 rushing yards per contest, good for 14th in the FBS, and they’re giving up only 2.02 yards per carry, which ranks 10th nationally. Wisconsin managed just 67 rushing yards at 2.16 per attempt, so those numbers aren’t just Rice-driven noise.
Two names stand out up front for Notre Dame: defensive lineman Bryce Young and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. Young already has 3.5 tackles for loss, has the look of a breakout player, and came in as a high 4-star recruit. Viliamu-Asa was tabbed as a preseason All-American by some outlets, missed the Wisconsin game, and returned against Rice.
If Michigan State is going to pull something wild here, it likely has to be a low-scoring fight. That’s the shape of recent Notre Dame upsets at home: Northern Illinois won 16-14 in 2024, and Marshall pulled off a 26-21 win in 2022. The Irish defense this season looks closer to the 2024 version than the 2022 group, which makes the path even narrower for the Spartans.
Rain would only strengthen the underdog’s case by shrinking the number of possessions and making the game less predictable. Michigan State would want every bit of chaos it can get.
There is one area where Notre Dame hasn’t looked especially imposing: the run game. The Irish rank 116th in the FBS with 114.5 rushing yards per game, and their 3.58 yards per carry is the seventh-fewest among Power Four teams. That drop-off was expected after losing Jeremiyah Love, the third overall pick, and Jadarian Price, the 32nd overall pick, but it remains the issue drawing the most concern in South Bend.
Aneyas Williams has 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Nolan James Jr. has 114 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns. Williams has been the heavier-volume option, but James looks more dynamic with the ball and offers more as a receiver.
Michigan State’s run defense has been solid on paper, allowing 89.0 rushing yards per game, which ranks 40th nationally. Still, that number comes against two MAC teams, so this is a much stiffer test. Defensive tackles Eli Coenen and Ben Roberts will need to hold their ground.
Even if the weather turns ugly, Notre Dame is still likely to throw. Quarterback CJ Carr has been too sharp, piling up 492 passing yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions. He’s especially good at getting the ball out quickly and taking the easy gains that keep pass rushes from ever really settling in.
The Irish receivers are not a superstar group, but they are still one of the better units Michigan State will see this year. Former walk-on Jordan Faison leads them with 135 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Notre Dame also has some offensive line injuries, though not enough for Michigan State to count on them becoming a game-changing weakness.
Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald has a history in South Bend, going 2-0 there, once as a player and once as a coach at Northwestern. The 1995 Northwestern team that launched its Rose Bowl run started with a 17-15 upset over then-No. 8 Notre Dame on the road.
A repeat of that kind of script would be a great story, but this matchup doesn’t point that way. Michigan State looks capable of hanging around for a while, but Notre Dame has the deeper, stronger roster and should separate as the game goes on. A third-quarter push feels like the most likely turning point, and from there the Irish should be able to keep control.
In Other News...
Michigan State's Offensive Issues Felt Even Bigger In This Loss
Michigan State walked into a tough early-season measuring stick against No. 3 Notre Dame and came away with a 27-10 loss that underscored how much work still remains on offense. Notre Dame got the kind of balanced performance that has become hard to withstand, with CJ Carr throwing for 234 yards and adding a rushing touchdown while Nolan James Jr. powered the ground game with 121 yards and a score.
For the Spartans, the larger concern was not just the final margin but how difficult it was to sustain anything offensively. Alessio Milivojevic threw two interceptions, Cam Fancher accounted for the teams only touchdown, and Michigan State spent too much of the afternoon chasing the game instead of forcing Notre Dame to react. The result left the Spartans with more questions than answers about how quickly they can turn flashes into a functioning attack. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Showed Fight But One Problem Still Looms
Michigan State had enough sparks to make the trip against Notre Dame feel competitive for stretches, with both sides of the ball showing moments that suggest there is something to build on. The Spartans hit a long touchdown pass and found the end zone on the ground, and their defense had enough stand-up sequences to keep the game from getting away completely.
Still, the larger picture for Michigan State was less about the highlights than the lapses around them. Notre Dame kept control with steady scoring and good clock management, and the Spartans were left sorting through the kind of mistakes that can change a game before it ever really turns. Pat Fitzgerald and Alessio Milivojevic both pointed back to the finer points of execution afterward, and the frustrating part for Michigan State is that the next step may be as much about cleaning up what it did to itself as it is about creating more big plays. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Hall Gave Michigan State One Bright Spot In A Brutal Loss
Jordan Hall was back on the field for Michigan State against Notre Dame after sitting out the previous game with an injury, and his return offered a rare lift in an otherwise rough afternoon. Playing with a bulky black brace on his right arm, the veteran linebacker was around the ball from the start and gave the Spartans the kind of physical, steady presence they needed.
Hall finished with 13 tackles and was piling them up early, including six before Notre Dames seventh offensive snap. Pat Fitzgerald praised both the production and the leadership, and in a game where little went right, Halls effort stood out as one of the few reasons Michigan State could point to and say it had something to build on. [Read more 🡒]