The Notre Dame-Michigan State rivalry is back on the schedule, and the Megaphone Trophy is back in play.
After nine years without meeting on the field, the Fighting Irish and Spartans will square off Saturday night on NBC in the 80th meeting between the programs. Their first game came in 1897, and they’ve now played 79 times before this one. What used to be a regular part of the college football calendar got pushed aside by conference expansion and realignment, but the schools agreed to a two-game, home-and-home series on June 27, 2024.
There’s plenty of history wrapped into this one, but the game should also carry the kind of edge that has always defined this matchup. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman wants his team playing with “violence,” while Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald leans on a “blue-collar” approach.
That shared mindset starts with the sideline. Both men were All-Big Ten linebackers in their playing days, and both preach energy, physicality, and winning the battles that happen all over the defense.
That tone fits a trophy game. The Megaphone Trophy, introduced in 1949 by the Detroit-based alumni clubs of both schools, goes to the winner.
It’s the kind of prize players want to grab hold of, especially when chances to play for it have been so rare. Michigan State has a chance to take a piece of rivalry history back to East Lansing.
Notre Dame gets the chance to keep the Megaphone in South Bend.
Even with all that nostalgia in the air, this doesn’t look like a night that will call to mind the 1966 “Game of the Century,” when No. 1 Notre Dame and No.
2 Michigan State played to a 10-10 tie. This meeting figures to tilt much more heavily toward the Irish.
Both teams are 2-0, but Notre Dame is No. 3 in the AP Poll and carrying national championship hopes. Michigan State is unranked and still early in the Fitzgerald era. The betting line tells the same story, with BetMGM listing Notre Dame as a 29.5-point favorite.
So the pageantry will be there, and the trophy will be on the line. But when the night is over, Notre Dame is expected to send Michigan State home without the Megaphone.
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For a defense that has already had to absorb early-season attrition, Johnson and Onye staying out changes the weekly calculus in a hurry, especially against an opponent coming in with another game to prepare for. Marcus Freeman said both players are expected back later in the season, which offers some relief long term, but for now Notre Dame is left sorting out how to hold things together without two pieces it was counting on. [Read more 🡒]
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Notre Dame Looks Like A CFP Contender With One Clear Concern
Notre Dame opened its home slate with a 52-0 rout of Rice, a result that pushed the Irish to 2-0 and reinforced the idea that this team can handle business on both sides of the ball. The offense moved with ease, and the depth at wide receiver was one of the most encouraging signs from a day when the defense also looked plenty ready for a bigger stage.
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asas return from injury gave the linebacking group another important piece, and his presence showed up in a defense that never let Rice find much rhythm. Even with all that working in Notre Dames favor, the run game remains the one area that still feels unsettled, a concern that stands out more now because everything else is starting to look like a playoff-caliber profile. [Read more 🡒]