Instant Reaction: Notre Dame 38 - Michigan State 18

It’s been awhile since Notre Dame was in a game that they were in no danger of losing by the time it was halfway through the 3rd quarter. I think you could tell from the look on Brian Kelly’s face, it had to feel pretty good.

The Irish were in control from the start. They might have given up some yards, a good chunk in garbage time, but once again they were outstanding in the red zone and created turnovers. Three of those, to be exact.

Notre Dame turned those into 21 points. Kelly and his staff needed a statement game and they got one from his team. They were balanced, efficient, and played really hard on both sides of the football.

This was a total team win and it certainly gives fans hope that there are some really good things to come this season.

- Let’s start with that opening drive. The script by Chip Long and the offensive staff was executed brilliantly and it all started with Brandon Wimbush.

He was on point on that drive and for most of the night as a passer. It was smart to call a bunch of quick game and allow him some easy completions to get his confidence up. Without that, maybe he doesn’t make that rain drop pass to Equanimeous St. Brown on that drive.

The confidence went both ways too. Easy catches helped the receivers too. They all stepped up and caught the ball well with Chase Claypool’s big play on his back shoulder standing out. I could certainly throw in Dexter Williams’ touchdown or Durham Smythe’s diving grab too. A bunch of guys made plays and they broke tackles after the catch too.

I’m not surprised Wimbush bounced back. We’ve seen him make throws in practice and I saw him shine in the pocket in high school too.. He has always been capable.

Hopefully this a turning point for him. It could be for the receivers as well with Claypool emerging with his best game opposite EQ. (And potentially some help on the way?)

- This was the best I’ve seen the receivers block down field since 2015. A lot of guys would be divas about not getting enough targets if they had a year like EQ did last season. He’s just put his head down and is still contributing even when the ball isn’t coming his way. He made the key block on Deon McIntosh’s touchdown run.

- I can’t say that I didn’t miss 500 yards rushing, but 182 against this Michigan State defense is pretty dang good. And when you look at the fact that Josh Adams (6.2 yards per carry), Dexter Williams (5.0) and Wimbush (6.5) all had success shows that the Irish offensive line got the job done up front.

There weren’t a bunch of big runs padding the stats either. A lot of them were tough yards and Notre Dame had to sustain blocks to get it done. With Tony Jones Jr. out with an ankle injury, I think it is a bit concerning that they took Adams and Williams out of the game so early when they got banged up.

It didn’t look like either experienced anything that will keep them out in the long term, but Notre Dame could have probably dropped 50 on Sparty if they kept Adams and Williams in the game down the stretch.

In the end, it’s good to have those guys not force the issue. It’s also good for McIntosh to gain some experience.

- 181 on the ground and 173 through the air. Love the balance.

- On defense, I would have liked to see more penetration by the Irish defensive line versus the run at times, but giving up only 151 on the ground was a really good response after last week’s performance versus Boston College. The defense tackled so much better and were way more sound with run fits.

Other than the one bust on the Brian Lewerke quarterback sneak, it was pretty outstanding across the board.

- Okay, some may call them mistakes made by Sparty with the turnovers. I think that’s garbage to say it’s as simple as that, though.

That takes away from a bunch of guys on the defense making plays. Julian Love read that out, sat on it, and had to do the work to take it back for a pick six. Shaun Crawford not only did not give up on what was a sure touchdown play for LJ Scott, he punched violently at the football to get the ball out. Then he hustled to get back and recover it.

Greer Martini had to hustle to get back and knock the ball out from Lewerke. Daelin Hayes had to keep hustling to the football to be there to recover it. It all started with the pass rush forcing Lewerke out of the pocket too.

The defense caused those turnovers. Those weren’t just mistakes. They forced MSU to make those errors.

- Julian Okwara didn’t show up huge on the stat sheet, but he is really coming along well with his second straight strong performance He not only had a hard work sack (combined with Jerry Tillery) when getting around the edge. He also had quite a few pressures on Lewerke. Him and Hayes both were able to make Lewerke uncomfortable on some important plays. It was a play in the second half where Okwara ended up driving his man into the backfield and blowing up a jet sweep that impressed me the most, though. Andrew Trumbetti got the TFL, but that was all Okwara who caused that play.

- The linebackers in general are playing really solid football, but Drue Tranquill looks like he is on pace to be the MVP of the defense. He is playing some great football right now.

- Don’t be fooled by Lewerke’s stats in this game. The defense did a tremendous job against him. He put up a lot of yards in garbage time when Notre Dame was content to let them take short throws and eat up the clock. He also had a good amount of yards when it was all backups in the game.

The coverage was really good. It’s easy to say Love’s coverage stood out because he was targeted a bit more, but I think the whole secondary did a nice job. Mike Elko also dialed up plenty of pressure and forced them to play a good amount of man coverage. They handled it well.

Overall I thought they made Lewerke uncomfortable often. That was mostly due to them blitzing quite a bit. They also shut him down as a runner. That sneak he had where Jalen Elliott caught him was for 52 yards. The rest of his rushing day? 8 carries for 4 yards.

Pretty, pretty good by Elko’s defense on a guy who was their leading rusher heading into this game.

- The Notre Dame defense held them to 2 of 5 conversions in the red zone.

Creating turnovers. Strong tackling. Stingy in the red zone. In a big game on the road, that pretty much checks off all the boxes.

- Kelly is now 4-2 versus Mark Dantonio at Michigan State. His only two losses were the BVG debacle of last season and the Little Giants fake field goal in 2010.

His record might not be that great against some other coaches, but it's getting to the point where Dantonio might actually be glad to not play him anymore.