Michigan State’s trip to Notre Dame leaves almost no room for wasted snaps, and the Spartans’ path to staying in it runs through a handful of players who will have to carry a lot of the load.
Start with the uncertainty around Jordan Hall. The star linebacker was in and out of the opener against Toledo with a right arm injury, then sat out the Week 2 game against Eastern Michigan.
That was only the second game he has missed in his Michigan State career. Pat Fitzgerald said Hall nearly played against Eastern Michigan, which suggested he’d likely be available against Notre Dame, but Joe Rossi added a little more doubt on Wednesday.
Hall has played through injury before, including turf toe and a torn oblique last year, so if he doesn’t go, it would come as a surprise and might point to something more serious.
On the defensive front, Eli Coenen has been the brightest spot so far. The 3-tech already has 3.0 sacks through two games, a strong start and more than anybody on the 2025 Michigan State team has had all season.
The bigger test now is whether he can keep bringing that kind of pressure against Notre Dame’s offensive line while also holding up better against the run. That part matters even more with the Fighting Irish sitting 116th in the FBS against the run entering Week 3, and the forecast calling for rain could make that area even more important.
Michigan State also has to sort out the edge on the right side of its offensive line. Rakeem Johnson has started there so far, but he has been the weakest link up front.
He has also slid over to left tackle at times, with Robert Wright Jr. stepping in on the right. Wright has not been a dramatic upgrade, but he has probably been a little better there than Johnson.
That group is going to see plenty of Bryce Young, who has already piled up 3.5 tackles for loss this season and has surpassed both of his totals from his 2024 and 2025 seasons. He’s one of the better run-stopping defensive ends the Spartans will face all year, and those matchups could decide a lot at the line of scrimmage.
The Spartans may lean hard on Cam Edwards again if the game stays close deep into the second half. He already handled 29 carries in his Michigan State debut and 22 against Eastern Michigan, and his 48 carries and 250 rushing yards lead the Big Ten through two weeks.
Against EMU, he ran for 152 yards and scored twice. With Michigan State trying to keep the game as short as possible as an underdog, Edwards will need to keep the offense on schedule with steady gains on first and second down.
That run-first approach can only take MSU so far, though, because there will be moments when the Spartans have to throw. That’s where Notre Dame has the clearest edge. Leonard Moore leads a secondary that is widely viewed as one of the best in the country, and the consensus around him is that he is the best cornerback in college football and a likely first-round pick next April.
If Michigan State is going to find answers in the passing game on third-and-medium or third-and-long, Chrishon McCray looks like the best bet. He works from the slot and has 10 catches, tied with Rodney Bullard Jr. for the team lead. Bullard is more of the deep-shot threat Notre Dame will try to eliminate, which could leave McCray’s underneath work as the more available option.
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 🡒]