Saturday’s trip to Notre Dame is the kind of game that tells you a lot about where Michigan State really stands.
The Spartans are heading into what looks like the toughest assignment on their schedule, a road date with the No. 3 team in the country and the first “Battle for the Megaphone” since 2017. It’s also the 80th football meeting between the programs, and the history attached to this rivalry still looms over it.
The most iconic chapter came in 1966, when No. 2 Michigan State and No.
1 Notre Dame played to a 10-10 tie in what became known as “The Game of the Century.” The Spartans had built a 10-0 lead in the first half before Notre Dame rallied.
With the ball last, the Fighting Irish could have chased the win, but Ara Parseghian chose to play for the tie instead, and both teams ended up sharing the national championship that season.
“Obviously, this is a storied rivalry and one that in the future I wish we could do yearly,” head coach Pat Fitzgerald said Monday. “Scheduling is a pain in the neck for everybody, but it's always great to have your rivalry games on the schedule.
Then obviously it's the 60th anniversary of the '66 team. Those two great '65 and '66 teams, but the '66 team played in 'The Game of the Century.'
So great rivalry, great tradition, and I'm just honored to be a part of it.”
Notre Dame has looked every bit the national contender it was projected to be entering the season. The Irish opened by beating Wisconsin 41-13 at Lambeau Field, then followed that with a 52-0 win over Rice. That’s the standard Michigan State is chasing this week, and it makes for a brutal measuring stick.
Still, Fitzgerald made it clear why this kind of matchup matters. “It's why you want to come and play in the Big Ten,” he said.
“You want to play in big games... I want to go see really good games, and as a coach, I want to go compete in those games.
I do appreciate the effort level in our games against Toledo and Eastern Michigan. I thought they were really tough tests for us in Year 1, but we're not playing Indiana this year.
That would be a huge challenge.”
“We're not playing Ohio State this year. That would be a huge challenge -- or Iowa or other teams...
I want to play Big Ten-level games, and Notre Dame is obviously a Big Ten-level and beyond game. It's a national power.
I like that, and as a fan, I would love that.”
Notre Dame enters as the overwhelming favorite, and there isn’t much belief outside the Michigan State football building that the Spartans can pull this off. But college football has a way of turning September into a surprise party, and Notre Dame has already shown it can trip over an early-season landmine.
The Irish lost to Northern Illinois in 2024 while ranked fifth and still reached the national title game. Two years earlier, they fell to Marshall while ranked eighth.
That’s the opening Michigan State is hoping to exploit, even if the odds are steep. A close game deep into the afternoon would already say something about the Spartans, especially with nobody currently ranked higher than 19th, Michigan, left on the schedule after this. If they can keep it tight into halftime or the third quarter, that would be a meaningful sign.
There’s also a little history on Michigan State’s side. Northwestern’s 1995 team, with Fitzgerald at linebacker, launched its run to the Rose Bowl with a road win at then-No.
9 Notre Dame. That kind of result is exactly why this game matters so much: it’s a chance for a long shot to become something more.
For Michigan State, this feels like the first true litmus test of the Fitzgerald era. Wins over Toledo and Eastern Michigan count, but they don’t carry the same weight as what awaits in South Bend. Saturday will show whether the Spartans are ready for the jump.
In Other News...
Tom Izzo May Have Just Moved Ahead For A Huge 2027 Target
Michigan State used a recent recruiting weekend to put two of its top 2027 targets in front of Tom Izzo and his staff, welcoming five-star point guard Antonio Pemberton and four-star center Jaydn Jenkins to campus. The timing mattered, too, with the Spartans continuing to lean into early evaluation and relationship-building as they try to position themselves well for a class that is still taking shape.
Now there is real momentum to monitor with Pemberton, the No. 23 overall prospect in the 2027 class. A report from Joe Tipton suggests Michigan State has emerged as the favorite for the top-25 recruit, a sign that the Spartans may have moved ahead in a recruitment that still has room to evolve. For a program that has long sold player development and trust, landing in front this early is the kind of progress Izzo wants to see. [Read more 🡒]
Brady Pretzlaff Just Took On A Bigger Michigan State Role
Michigan State is off to a 2-0 start in its first season under Pat Fitzgerald, and the latest win came with a familiar test for a defense trying to establish its identity early. In a 35-7 victory over Eastern Michigan at Spartan Stadium, the Spartans got another strong team showing, but the day also created room for a different voice to emerge when the defense needed one.
With Jordan Hall unavailable, redshirt sophomore Brady Pretzlaff handled a larger responsibility and spoke afterward about stepping into the moment, the standards Michigan State expects on defense and how much it means just to be back on the field. For a program still settling in under a new coach, that kind of growth matters almost as much as the scoreboard, especially when the next stretch will ask even more from the players now carrying the load. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Is Counting On Anton Bonke To Silence One Doubt
Michigan States interior picture is taking shape around Anton Bonke, the 7-foot-2 transfer from Charlotte who is expected to step in as the starting center after Carson Cooper. Tom Izzo has shown plenty of confidence in Bonke, and the Spartans are banking on the blend of size, development and continuity that has long been part of the programs identity. Bonke is also expected to help ease the transition for incoming freshman Ethan Taylor, which adds another layer to why his role matters so much early.
Still, there is a bit of outside skepticism attached to the assignment. College Basketball Report left Bonke off its Top 30 centers in college basketball, even as several Big Ten big men earned spots on the list, underscoring how much Michigan State is asking him to prove right away. For a program that tends to trust its own developmental track, Bonkes season will be about more than simply filling minutes in the middle. [Read more 🡒]