Game Thread: Michigan State @ Notre Dame

[7Samurai13]

If anything I think sneaking by Purdue is a good thing for ND. It's not like they beat a powerhouse team. It's only a letdown when they beat somebody of significance(see BYU and Pitt games from last year), Purdue just isn't that this year.

MSU hasn't played ANYBODY yet, they've played an FCS team, and two teams in the FBS ranked 139 and 152 in the computers respectively, out of the undefeated teams in the country, they've played THE worst schedule. It appears they have a good defense, but who knows, they've literally played 2 of the worst 5 teams in the country, and both of those 2 have lost to FCS teams themselves.

Pretty sure I agreed with you that MSU hasn't played anyone and stated that they haven't shown that they can score yet, because I was not counting the Penguins. I was just stating that Purdue is a rivalry game for them (which Notre Dame has a lot of) and some teams can lose focus and be patting themselves on the back. Other teams use that as a focusing tool. We will see how the BK Lounge has this team lined up.

 

[ericd7633]

Pretty sure I agreed with you that MSU hasn't played anyone and stated that they haven't shown that they can score yet, because I was not counting the Penguins. I was just stating that Purdue is a rivalry game for them (which Notre Dame has a lot of) and some teams can lose focus and be patting themselves on the back. Other teams use that as a focusing tool. We will see how the BK Lounge has this team lined up.

Why would they be patting themselves on the back when they barely beat them though? Purdue is awful, if they are patting themselves on the back after that game, ND may not win another game this year. There is nothing to be proud of after that. I agree there is clearly a let down factor in college football, and it happened to ND twice last year, fortunately they were able to hold on and beat Pitt and BYU. Also for some reason Purdue seems to play ND tough, even last year when Purdue was terrible.

 

[7Samurai13]

Why would they be patting themselves on the back when they barely beat them though? Purdue is awful, if they are patting themselves on the back after that game, ND may not win another game this year. There is nothing to be proud of after that. I agree there is clearly a let down factor in college football, and it happened to ND twice last year, fortunately they were able to hold on and beat Pitt and BYU. Also for some reason Purdue seems to play ND tough, even last year when Purdue was terrible.

Purdue does that to teams though. Look at what Purdue does to Ohio State while playing in IN.

 

[H2S]

vegas is jittery...line now @ -4½...espin calling for a Spartan upset - say that MSU's #1 D is licking chops and will be the difference this year...(guess they don't care how the 'suspect stats' came about.)

getting pumped...s'been years since we've been to S. Bend (it's not Spartan Stadium-South, like in Ann Arbor, but it's a great venue to see Sparty cop a W.)

 

[NDHoosier101]

Yes, it is hard to predict because State hasn't played anyone...and Notre Dame lost the only game of consequence it's played so far (to the team who barely missed experiencing "APP State²" last week.)

It might crack you up, but MSU's 'finding an offense' of ANY sort was a real concern until the YSU game. At least MSU thinks it's found an offense now...I've noted no such confidence in South Bend that ND has found a defense yet.

And, fer sure, MSU's Defensive stats are against cupcakes...but you can bet your sweet bippy that they're hungry to prove another top-5 ranking and revenge themselves (for last year) on ND's vaunted offense (that stumbled all over the field in Lafayette last Saturday.)

Should be another fun-filled good old fashioned smashmouth football game.

ND was in the game til the end away, facing the largest crowd in NCAA history, it sucks we lost, but not sure it means we're a bad team.

ND's offense stumbled all over the field while scoring more points than msu has against an FBS team this season.

Also, in terms of confidence over Irish D: http://m.goshennews.com/goshennews/pm_113085/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=1RZBUXto

NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: Kelly not concerned about the Irish ‘D’

 

[Red_Alert]

I like Sparty here.

 

[NDHoosier101]

You sometimes see when a team sneaks away with a win one week, they have a let down game the next. See Alabama last year after LSU. Notre Dame may have a hard time getting up for this game. But who knows, Michigan State hasn't shown that they can have a real offense yet so take it with a grain of salt (no I don't count games against college teams who's mascot is the penguin.)

Not sure how ND barely beating Purdue is going to make them play poorly against msu. It certainly didn't last year in this exact same situation.

 

[jalopy]

If ND's offense can somehow outscore MSU's defense they should win this game.

 

[romeo212000]

Will be watching this with interest to see how the domers handle themselves.

 

[H2S]

ND was in the game til the end away, facing the largest crowd in NCAA history, it sucks we lost, but not sure it means we're a bad team¹.

ND's offense stumbled all over the field while scoring more points than msu has against an FBS team² this season.

¹ who said ND's a bad team? yall played well in Spartan Stadium, South. nifty about that big crowd, though - 5k more than watched the Big Chill MSU/UM Hockey Game in 2010.



² can't deny that...but, isn't it 2 FBS teams?

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Wolverine fan here predicting a Sparty win.

 

[H2S]

headed north shortly...look for us in the stands...we'll be wearing Green.