Before tonight’s contest kicked off, we had the chance to say to this Michigan State football team: “Congratulations on completing your preseason. Welcome to the regular season now Michigan State!” It’s extremely rare for a team to get a bye in week two, especially when that off week comes after facing a lowly FCS foe.
Thus it’s not until week three that Michigan State football played a real team in a real game. What an oddity.
However, what a performance it truly was.
Prior to tonight, Michigan State football hadn’t won at Notre Dame since 2007; and they dropped three of their last four versus the Fighting Irish. The last two times that the Spartans were more than than a touchdown underdog, they won outright. Now make it three straight.
Indeed, it’s the identity of the Michigan State football program, a proverbial green and white chip, on each shoulder. That’s the identity in a brand, big picture sense. In a granular, on the field sense, Michigan State football Coach Mark Dantonio says he’s still trying to figure that out.
Or at least, it’s a topic that he covered in detail in his postgame press conference.
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This was a proverbial “game of runs” like a basketball contest. Notre Dame started 7-0, then MSU railed off 36 straight unanswered (you got to love Coach D showing the stones to go for two after the first touchdown, instead of kicking the extra point, a la Oakland Raiders Coach Jack Del Rio).
“That wave starts to roll on you and then it’s tough to stop,” Dantonio said.
“Then in the third quarter it started rolling for them.”
Indeed it did as Notre Dame then scored 21 straight of their own. Michigan State got a huge lead, and then just coasted towards the finish. They took their foot off the gas pedal, and the competition got tight. Just like Hillary Clinton in the Presidential race.
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In the end, though MSU got it done, and quarterback Tyler O’Connor had his biggest and best game yet. O’Connor finished 19-26 passing for 241 yards and two TDs. He also ran for 43 yards on 10 carries.
Said Kelly of O’Connor: “I think he manages what he’s asked to do. He threw the ball down the field. I think he’ll do fine. He’s a smart kid, got a couple of games under his belt, obviously the competition was ratcheted up a lot for him.”
Dantonio, who started 3-1 against Notre Dame, but dropped the last three, before tonight’s victory.
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Here’s what Dantonio had to say about forging an identity, and on what this win means going forward
“We were able to run the ball, we’ve had big plays. I thought we played well defensively. We certainly took a step from our first game, and we came down and we played a good football team away from home in a great environment, and on a national TV, national stage, and you gotta be able to measure up in those times.
“Lights come on, you gotta be able to make big plays when the lights come on, big time. And I think most of our players, whether it’s this game or other games in our schedule, they sit here and they dream about these opportunities.”
“These are life moments for our players, so they will remember this when we came to Notre Dame and we did this, and we won. This is a life moment for them, and this will be a great experience that they will draw on I think for the rest of their lives. That’s the way these big games are.
“Whether they’re at our place or whether they’re away or a Big Ten Championship game or a bowl game. So we can build on those things.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.