Michigan State vs Notre Dame
Saturday, September 19th, 7:30 PM
The Battle for the Megaphone reignites on Saturday night when Notre Dame plays host to Michigan State in South Bend. The Fighting Irish hold a 49-29-1 all-time advantage in the series, but it is the Spartans that have had the upper hand of late, most notably a 7-3 run in their last ten games at Notre Dame Stadium.
REAL BATTLE BEGINS
Michigan State enters the game sporting a 2-0 record after wins against Toledo and Eastern Michigan to begin their 2026 campaign. They were favored by double-digits in each so victories were expected, but fans of the team will take anything positive they can get from a program that hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2021. Unfortunately, the real part of their schedule begins on Saturday and they have only two more games all season in which they might be favored (home against Northwestern and at Rutgers to end the year).
MILI VONILLI
Leading the way at quarterback for the Spartans is Alessio Milivojevic. The sophomore signal caller has played especially proficient going back to last season, riding a streak of thirteen touchdowns compared to only two interceptions over his last ten games, and will need to keep that going against a Notre Dame defense that’s already caused seven turnovers in their first two games. One big difference compared to the Irish first two opponents is that Milivojevic is the first quarterback that they have faced that was with their team a season ago, and his experience with the Spartans offense along with having a couple familiar faces back should only benefit him that much more against the intimidating Irish defense.
STRONG LIKE BULL
Michigan State lost five of their six top targets through the air from 2025 but thankfully receivers Rodney Bullard and Christian McCray both returned and established themselves as two of the primary targets in the passing game for Milvojevic. The turnaround for Bullard has been especially impressive, leading the team in all receiving categories while coming off a season in which he only posted five receptions through three games. Backup tight end Jayden Savoury has also made a name for himself with eight receptions in the Spartans first two matchups while Charles Taplin and Fredrick Moore join Bullard as the three players to have caught a touchdown pass thus far.
RAM BAM CAM
The biggest transfer for the offense thus far has been running back Cam Edwards, who came over from UConn and has paced the rushing attack with 250 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He is the clear bell cow back for Michigan State but it will be interesting to see how he fares in a large step up in competition against an Irish defense that ranks 12th against the run and hasn’t let up a touchdown since early in the second quarter against Wisconsin in week one. The Spartans will undoubtedly be relying on him to help control the clock as they attempt to slow the game down and not have to try and trade points with a potent Irish offense. Especially with the Spartans lone star on defense questionable to play on Saturday.
HALL AND NOPES
The only player that seemed to make any preseason prognosticators all-conference teams was linebacker Jordan Hall, whose presence was undoubtedly missed a week ago against Eastern Michigan when Sparty only held a 14-7 lead at the half despite being a prohibitive favorite. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald stated after the game made it seem like he expected Hall to be ready to go against Notre Dame, which is a much-needed boost for a defense that hasn’t looked particularly great against a lower level of opposition in the first two weeks.
TWO AND TWO
Starting the season with an expected 2-0 record and sitting a third in the polls, Notre Dame hits a four-game grid against a pair of Big Ten teams (MSU, Purdue) followed by a duo from the ACC (North Carolina and Stanford). All four are obvious landmines for a team that has started slow in recent years, but they are expected to be double-digit favorites in each and should be able to use the foursome as prep work for their mid-October meeting in Provo against BYU which lines up as their most difficult road game and second hardest matchup behind the Miami game three weeks later.
PASSING DOWN
CJ Carr continues to show why he was the preseason Heisman favorite, passing for a mistake-free six touchdowns compared to zero interceptions with just under 500 yards through the air and completing over 70% of his passes. The Notre Dame signal caller has played well no matter the opponent but has definitely had a field day against the lesser ones, passing for 24 touchdowns and just one interception against unranked teams to start his NCAA career. This week he faces a Michigan State secondary consisting of many transfers from the portal still getting used to their new team and should be able to continue to take advantage of the easier early season matchups against the lesser experienced defenses.
CARR PARTS
The Notre Dame passing game has done a good job of spreading the ball around with fifteen different players having caught passes through their first two games. Jordan Faison remains the top target, leading the team in all receiving categories. Micah Gilbert is another starting option for Carr, alongside Jaden Greathouse who coordinator Mike Denbrock put an emphasis on getting involved early last week against Rice.
RUNNING ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price were undoubtedly going to be missed as the best running back duo in Irish history, but even with the expected drop off the fact that they rank just 116th in rushing so far this season and the backs combined have averaged less than four yards per carry is still a concern. Aneyas Williams remains the primary back and Nolan Jones the first off the bench, and both have rushed for a pair touchdowns though it’s the latter who is the better option through the air with five receptions and an additional score. The next month of games should provide the team the opportunity to get the running playing at a more consistent level, and that should start this week against a subpar Spartan defense possibly missing its best player in Jordan Hall.
PICK ME OUT A WINNER
Michigan State has been deceptively good against the non-conference opponents over the past few years, going 16-3 straight up, though when you look at the fact they only had one win in that span as an underdog and have covered in just two of their past nine non-Big Ten matchups the shine starts to come off. They have also been pretty terrible away from East Lansing, posting a 3-19 record in their last 22 road games, and now have to go on the road for a primetime matchup in front of a sellout crowd in South Bend.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman continues to keep his team focused at the task at hand rather than looking forward toward a BCS Playoff berth, which can’t be overly easy considering they are currently sitting as the biggest favorite to make the postseason at odds of -800. I have no doubt that Notre Dame will end up winning on Saturday, but the fact that Michigan State has an offense that has experience playing together in the passing game and a viable weapon in the running game has me leaning toward a Spartan cover.
PICK: MICHIGAN STATE +30
