Notre Dame came to play on Saturday night and actually put away a rival early while playing on the road. It happened and it was glorious to watch. Well, except for the long TV timeouts, excessive replay reviews, and Michigan State dragging the game out for a prettier 7 additional points. Other than that, it was a lot of fun.
Let’s review the 38-18 win and 3-1 start to the season.
PASSING OFFENSE
Steady. Calm. Accurate? Yes, it was! Wimbush put his early season struggles behind with a veteran-like even performance spiked with a handful of solid if not spectacular moments. Perhaps most importantly for the Irish, he dropped back to pass on 3rd down 7 times on the night and moved the chains 5 different times.
One of those 3rd down conversion was a touchdown pass to Dexter Williams.
In total, Wimbush finished 14 of 20 for 173 yards through the air. Nothing too crazy but just the right amount of productivity given the situation of the game. Most importantly, he looked like a quarterback with zero accuracy issues and he didn’t turn the ball over, either. Out of his 14 completions we saw 10 of them go for a first down. That’s efficiency that will keep the offense humming.
The receivers finally helped themselves as Chase Claypool picked up a career-high 4 catches for 56 yards, featuring often in the early gameplan. He also had the best catch of the night down the sideline for 27 yards.
A hat tip to the offensive line which provided excellent protection. Michigan State was limited to one sack and 3 hurries which is pretty poor for the Spartan’s defensive standards.
RUSHING OFFENSE
There won’t be much to remember from this game but it was a workman-like effort with just enough productivity to never allow Michigan State back into the game.
In the big picture this was no “normal” game, either. Backup tailback Tony Jones, Jr. did not dress and fourth-string running back Deon McIntosh received his first carry of the game on Notre Dame’s first series of the third quarter and would go on to be the the primary runner for the remainder of the contest.
| Player | 1st/2nd Yes | 1st/2nd No | 3rd/4th Yes | 3rd/4th No | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 44.4% |
| Wimbush | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 57.1% |
| Dexter | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 62.5% |
| McIntosh | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 33.3% |
| Book | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Sanders | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Claypool | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
It was a sneaky tough game for Josh Adams who fell below 50% in success rate, gained 30 of his 56 yards on a single carry, and then was banged up and played sparingly after the Irish built a big lead.
Wimbush didn’t sniff his school-record in yards from a week ago but there was a lot to like from his legs on Saturday. He ripped off a long run again, scored another touchdown, and maybe best of all converted both of his 3rd down carries. Our pre-season prediction over/under was 400 yards on the season and Wimbush is just 35 yards away from hitting the over. By the way, he’s on pace for 1,189 yards which would shatter Tony Rice’s school-record 884 yards back in 1989. Would you still take Wimbush to set the season record?
McIntosh featured late in the BC game last week in garbage time and even though he played the majority of the second half against Michigan State virtually all of his carries were technically in garbage time, as well. Mike will have more on this soon!
Be that as it may, McIntosh scored a touchdown on his first carry and then struggled a bit as the Irish offense went fairly conservative during the second half. He’d finish with just 35 yards on a game-high 12 carries and a poor overall success rate.
No doubt, this was Dexter Williams’ best all-around game of his career. He scored a pair of touchdowns, one each on the ground and through the air, and he even pass blocked! He also continues to have a healthy success rate.
I wouldn’t take too much away from the rush offense either way as they were successful on 9 out of their first 15 carries (60%) when the score reached 28-7. By the final whistle Notre Dame was at 43.5% success rate which included unsuccessful carries on the last 6 attempts of the game (5 from McIntosh, 1 from Book) when bleeding clock was a wise tactic.
PASSING DEFENSE
Michigan State fans may be heartened to see quarterback Brian Lewerke throw for 340 yards but it was one of the more unimpressive stat-padding performances in recent memory. Lewerke actually played okay in the pass game but he picked up 207 of his passing yards (60.8%) over the last 3 drives of the game when the game was well in hand and numerous backups (and third-teamers) were playing for the Irish.
Overall, the Spartans rarely threatened down field and and made a living off a bunch of quick, short throws. Out of Lewerke’s 31 completions a full 19 of them were for gains of less than 10 yards. There were far too many quick throws only to see a receiver tackled immediately. It was nice practice for the Irish defensive backs!
Julian Love’s pick six started the game off right for the defense, one of 3 back-breaking turnovers for Michigan State.
The pass rush for Notre Dame was okay given the quick decision-making for Lewerke. When he did hang on to the ball he was generally harassed and made to be uncomfortable. We’re beginning to see an emerging star in this facet of the game from Julian Okwara who had half a sack and a QB hurry. When he plays, he seems to make an impact.
RUSHING DEFENSE
I thought Michigan State could be held under 200 rushing yards and that’s exactly what happened–they finished with 151 yards total. To be fair, the Spartans had to give up on the run pretty early (37.6% run plays) and they did okay when they were running the ball, ending the game with a 48.2% success rate.
L.J. Scott played pretty well (7 successful carries from 11) but the rest of the Spartans roster was forgettable. For example, backup running backs Holmes and London were successful on just 2 out of their 9 carries.
The 52-yard “QB sneak” by Lewerke was the worst snap of the night for the Irish defense. However, there was a distinct lack of explosiveness for Michigan State–their longest running back carry of the game topped out at 14 yards.
Notre Dame wasn’t very disruptive, mind you. The Irish finished with just 4 tackles for loss and could have done a better job bringing down the Spartans running backs for shorter gains near the line of scrimmage.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There wasn’t much to talk about here which typically is a good thing. Justin Yoon did kick the ball out of bounds on a kickoff but made his only field goal. The punting of Newsome was top notch again with 3 out of his 4 attempts landing inside the Michigan State 20-yard line.
The Irish did try true freshman Michael Young on kickoff return but switched back to C.J. Sanders after Young’s only attempt went for a disappointing 18 yards.
TURNING POINT
The L.J. Scott fumble at the goal line not only provided a turning point in this game but it could be among the biggest turning points for the Notre Dame season. At this point of the game the score was 21-7 with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter.
This was also one of Michigan State’s two sustained drives before garbage time and it’s a far different game at 21-14 if Scott actually scores here. Instead, the Irish take the ball from their 20-yard line and march down for a touchdown in 5 plays to make it 28-7 before halftime.
3 STARS
- Brandon Wimbush
- Drue Tranquill
- Shaun Crawford
FINAL NOTES
Yet another perfect red zone game for the Irish offense, going 4 for 4 against State. Notre Dame is now first nationally among Power 5 programs in red zone touchdown percentage. It’s tough to beat 1st in the country but perhaps just as impressive is the defense being tied for 6th nationally among P5 teams in red zone TD percentage, allowing just 6 touchdowns on 16 opportunities.
The worst part of this game for the defense was the third down conversion rate for Michigan State. They converted 11 of 17 attempts, with 3 conversions in the first, second, and fourth quarters. This isn’t as big of a deal when Notre Dame only allowed a bend-but-don’t-break 1 touchdown on 5 red zone attempts.
We’d been wondering where C.J. Sanders had been on offense and he got some playing time that didn’t amount to much on Saturday. He took a jet sweep, slipped making a cut, and gained zero yards. He also took a screen pass for just one yard.
Is Michigan State going to be bad again? It’s tough to see them defeating any of the Michigan/Ohio State/Penn State trio with the first two on the road. That’d mean 8-4 at best. The Spartans defense will probably be okay over the long run and Lewerke offers some potential. I think they’re really hurting from a lack of speed and playmaking on offense though. There really isn’t anyone at the skill positions that scares you.
We talked about this being a huge game for the Irish and they passed with flying colors. Coming up are a pair of TCOB games versus Miami
I’m not really surprised by McIntosh’s poor success rate. In Michigan, Honeycrisps are what’s in season right now.
His touchdown was golden and delicious, however.
Looked like a gala in the locker room after the game
I don’t know if their fans were red with embarrassment at how the team did, but I swear I saw a few pink ladies in the stands.
The video color was a bit off if their fans looked pink. Guess they should have been using Fuji film.
Braeburned the whole defense on that run.
On his TD run he made half the D look like pink ladies.
Is this just a pun? i always remember picking McIntosh’s in the fall with all the other apples. Not i live in California where McIntosh apples don’t exist…although Granny Smith’s do make up for the lack of McIntosh.
That’s quality GIF.
Paul Thompkins always good for a gif.
That’s Paul F., sir.
On top of the great game – really liked all the post-game celebration vids. The team really looks like they’re enjoying the moment and playing together.
As an aside, this is Eddie VanderDoes. Just felt the need to share this.
How’s his Grandmother look?
Younger than he does, probably.
NSFW
Walking restraining order.
He’s got a big haul to drive up to Fresno in his rig.
In the spirit of what Rick James gave the titties, had to give this fugly pic one thumb down LOL
Who ended up getting the game ball?
Crawford.
“Would you still take Wimbush to set the season record?”
I’d say no. He’s at 366 yards now, with 8 games remaining needs 64.8 yards per game to get to 885. MSU game he went 8 for 52 yards which is about what he should be at (after a heavy 12,16 and 21 attempts in the first 3 games). Ideally he shouldn’t be carrying the ball 10+ times, and short of breaking off a couple 50+ yard touchdowns (it’s possible!) he’s probably not going to get to 885 rushing yards, especially with sacks factored in. Wouldn’t be shocking for 700+ yards though which shatters the 18S over/under of 400 and still a very good added dimension.
Also glad to see Tranquill get love in the stars of the game feature. After the 14-0 start, MSU scored, forced a punt and were appearing steadied with a first down on the following drive. Then Tranquill got a timely sack to take the air out of that drive and lead to getting the ball back. ND didn’t capitalize, but if MSU marches and ties the game there, they have momentum from erasing the pick-6 and the rest game could have unfolded differently. I thought that was a very big play, if not low-key for what would happen next with the splashy fumbles to follow.
That was great! Can’t stand Michigan State or D’Antonio! My only semi complaint is why wasn’t Claypool used more earlier in the season! Still, love going into East Lansing and putting a whopping on them. I think the team is going to keep improving too!
I think Wimbush breaks the rushing record. I actually think he is going to smash it to be honest. His running is a huge part of who we are and what we do and I don’t see it slowing up. It will be great to get two players over a 1000 yards this year. I don’t know if that’s been done before at ND.
I am really looking forward to Stepherson playing. We miss his ability to take the top off any defense at any point in a game. He needs to use these next two games and the bye to get ready for the second part of the schedule when he will be really needed. I don’t want to look past any team but we should get to U$C with just one lost. After that it’s not Stanford that worries me but NC State. They looked extremely impressive on the road at Florida State. Their pass rush looked explosive very similar to what we saw versus Georgia. #9 for them was a one man wrecking crew on Saturday. He was constantly in the backfield making plays all game.
Is Brian Wimbush any relation to Maurice Stovall?
I’m fine with all the down-votes I’ll get by saying this, but I thought this was just kind of a “meh” game. Yes, the passing game looked better, but we were comparing it to a turd sandwich, so, progress? Running game seemed, again, fine – just not the 400+ yard games we grew up on back in the early days of September. Defense seemed aight – MSU was not expected to come out and score 40 on many teams.
I’m not at all upset with a 20(28) point road-win, it just didn’t seem like a 28 point win to me. 100% will take 10 additional 20+ point victories that just seem “meh” for 2017. I think the jury is still out on MSU (and ND) – get excited about the win and enjoy it – it just doesn’t seem like a “great” victory or “great” execution.
TL;DR – A win’s a win, but keep getting better. I hope this is the worst game ND plays for the rest of the season.
Yeah, but it wasnt just “a win.” It was total domination and that’s what makes it something extra.
Meh. (I am fully aware that I’m probably wrong and, statistically, it was a “domination”. I just didn’t feel like I was watching one team dominate another team. Felt like a fine game that had maybe 2-3 plays that could have changed the entire game)
Well, it was a 3-score game for the last 35 minutes, pretty much a no-contest for being a competitive game right from the very beginning with the early pick-6.
I think I know what you mean as far as it wasn’t a total “domination” per se, but once the score was 35-10 mid-way through the 3rd it looked like ND was content to take the air out of the ball on offense and defense and just get out of there as quickly as possible. Which I also don’t mind. This wasn’t exactly Bama beating Vandy 56-0, but I felt like ND was in fairly solid control the whole game due to the turnovers and shaky play of MSU.
Agree that ND was in control, but they didn’t seem to dominate. That goal line fumble was huge. 21-14 is a much different game, playing a much different team than 28-7. Not to say it was a cake-walk for ND to move the ball 80 yards to make that a 14 point turnover, which Joel Klatt implied it was. That guy was TERRIBLE.
Play a clean game, force turnovers and capitalize on them and you’ll win a lot of football games.
The offense’s ability to capitalize on the turnovers – 21 pts from 3 TOs, including one 80 yard drive – is a huge part of this outcome. Many times in the past we couldn’t take advantage of opportunities
A few statistical thoughts… Wimbush was 14/20 for 174 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. A 70% completion rate with 8.7 yards per attempt is pretty damn good. His QB rating for the game was 159.4, which is right around the season numbers for Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, and JT Barrett. Lies, damn lies, and statistics, and all that, but he played very well.
MSU’s garbage time drives, in which we were perfectly content to let them dink and dunk down the field, color the perception of the defensive performance. Before their last three drives, they had run 51 plays for 260 yards, or 5.1 ypp. Not great, but as we’ve seen over and over this year, solid combined with excellent situational defense. Also, if you take out the 52-yard sneak – which happened, of course, but it was a bust and not indicative of how the defense played in the rest of the game – that average drops down to 4.2 ypp, which is very good.
In the meaningful part of the game, we ran 48 plays for 322 yards, or 6.7 ypp. A +1.6 ypp differential is domination, and if you want to be kind and take out Lewerke’s big run, a +2.5 ypp differential is utter annihilation.
At the same time, I sort of understand what you’re saying. It wasn’t a spectacular demolition, so the eye test might not say it was a dominating win. It was more of a mechanical suffocation. Very different games, but in that sense it reminds me of the 2012 Michigan game, which was 13-0. Someone who didn’t watch the game might not have thought that was a dominating performance just by the score, but if you did you’d know that score might as well have been 200-0, because Michigan never had any chance to win that game.
EDIT: On those last three drives, btw, they ran 35 plays for 234 yards, so almost half their yardage production. The absurdly stupid drive gained 81 yards (and no points) in 19 plays against our starters; the other two, with mostly MSU starters against our second and third string, gained 153 yards in 16 plays.
Tacking on with a non-statistical note… To me, the game had the feel that for the most part we could do what we wanted to them on both sides of the ball. That’s why I’m willing to classify it as a “dominating” performance, but I see your side too.
“At the same time, I sort of understand what you’re saying.” I fully appreciate the 100% agreeance to my point here.
Can’t emphasize enough that their garbage time yards were their starters against our third string D. And it still took them forever.
Doesn’t that minimize the “greatness” of the win, though? Like, if their starters were that terrible, shouldn’t ND’s starters have looked a bit more dominant?
35-10 in “real” time is pretty dominant over a Power 5 school. At no point did they ever seriously challenge us. It wasn’t an epic beatdown, but we should all be thrilled with a “meh” win by 20 points over a P5 school that beat us last year and was in the playoff (such as their appearance was) 2 years ago. The fact that you can go “meh” to a win like this is, in and of itself, something to be happy about.
“The fact that you can go “meh” to a win like this is, in and of itself, something to be happy about.”
100%
I am happy with it. Just surprised with all the “domination” talk and how huge of a win it was. When I hear domination, I’m thinking about 62-14 or 49-3. I acknowledge that I’m in the minority. Just didn’t /feel/ like a dominating performance. It felt fine.
ND had no turnovers – that’s good
ND had more points – that’s good
ND had less penalties (probably, I’m not looking that up) – that’s good
ND won the game – that’s good
Just seems like when my 3 year old does something good/something humans do normally – not lose his shit when we turn off the TV, takes a dump at school, eats food – he expects to be rewarded for it. No way dude, you’re doing things at the very base level of good. Step it up a notch and we’ll get you some frozen custard.
I looked up “domination” in the dictionary, and you’ll never guess the picture they had right next to the definition . . .
#RememberTheSix
P.S. As for “ND had less penalties”
But were they actually fewer penalized? I didn’t look it up.
They were less penalized but had fewer penalties. And the fewer times we need to cover proper grammar, the better off we will all be.
I guess sometime farther down the rode you could go a guest article on hear? No less then 500 words on the subject?
While I get what you’re saying, the turnovers like that work for both teams. Sure, we can say that it would have been a much closer game had we not had the turnovers, and turnovers (especially fumbles) are random. Scott had a chance to recover his own fumble in the endzone, and rolled over it. MSU could have gotten the QB’s fumble. But–they didn’t. And they weren’t simply unforced errors. Those were plays made by our defenders, not random happenstance. A 3-score win without 3 turnovers would be nice, but let’s not ignore that the turnovers were caused, not lucked into. This wasn’t a lucky 20 point win.
If the goal line fumble doesn’t happen, we still probably go into halftime at 28-14. Up 2 TDs at halftime? Pretty good.
It was efficient in all phases. It was a little boring. We got ahead, kept them down. They did not get back in it thanks to Crawford and the rest of the D.
Normally, a Kelly team would ease up, let the opponent back in and we would be nervous to the end.
We got up 28-7, went to half, they scored, we answered and then basically held them off while running clock.
Boring. Know who else plays boring football? Alabama. I am not saying we are there, wish I could. I am saying there is a new attitude.
Yes, the jury is out on MSU and they may turn in another 3-9. They were 3-9 last year and beat us.
I agree a win is a win, and lets keep getting better.
I like boring games we win. I’d rather win every game in a boring manner, with no drama. Exciting games are for when I’m watching two teams I don’t care about. I don’t know if it’s a new attitude, we did it for one game. But yeah, I never watch a Bama game unless they’re playing another top 10 team, because Bama football is incredibly boring for a casual fan. I’m absolutely fine if we’re boring to watch, if it means comfortable wins.
Heh, I just read the next comment down. Word up, brother.
I’M NOT SAYING WE’RE NOW AT THE LEVEL OF ALABAMA. But… This: “It was efficient in all phases. It was a little boring. We got ahead, kept them down.” reminds me of what it’s like to watch an Alabama blowout win. Just methodical dispatching of an inferior opponent.
I can deal with that.
This Michigan State game was just as big as the Georgia game. For a Brian Kelly team to go into Spartan Stadium at night and play like they did was huge for this program. Last night I went and listened to see what the Michigan State players had to say after the game and one thing leaped out and caught my attention. Their starting center talked about how much more physical our defense was compared to last year. We are imposing our will on teams. It’s a very exciting time for this Notre Dame program. If you don’t think this was a big time win. Go and look at how Brian Kelly and this team celebrated in the locker room after the game.
I want to give another gold star to the back judge in this game especially for that Crawford forced fumble. That call takes the biggest of brass balls to make and he absolutely nailed it. Unequivocally nailed that call. I also think that if he had faltered and mistakenly ruled it as a TD instead of fumble, review would have had a hard time overturning it because it was VERY close to the ball breaking the EZ when the movement started.
You are absolutely correct that he nailed it. And the biggest proof that he nailed it is that I haven’t found a single MSU source (fan blog, fan comment or conventional media) that says it was a bad call.
It was kind of weird to hear the announcers calling it a TD, and hear the Spartan band start up, but clearly see that ref was acting like the ball is still live, and then signal touchback.
Great game! There’s still room for improvement, but I was impressed at how ND took care of business. Causing turnovers, converting those into points, and playing steady (mostly) mistake-free football. Two off-season moves that appear to be paying big dividends are the new strength program and BK being able to spend more time with players and helping with more than offense (a lot of people forget that BK was a defensive coach at one point).
Something I’ve been thinking about as well lately is the S&C program. I admittedly don’t know as much about the X’s and O’s as most people here and I definitely don’t know anything about S&C programs, but I’m curious as to others thoughts regarding the strength program. IIRC, there were people on both sides of the fence last year regarding injuries and fatigue related to the old S&C program. Anyone have any input? It looks to me just by the old “eye test” that they seem to be playing stronger and faster and sustaining that late into games this year. Could be lots of factors and again, I most likely have no idea what I’m talking about. Just curious as to what you all think.
I think the reports were that Longo was dealing with something, maybe health related, so really slipped in the past year or so. The returns on Balis is that it is a vast improvement, in particular over last year.
There is the caveat that a new strength program, and often just new coaches in general, can simply bring new fire by simply being different. But even with that caveat, I’ve gotten the impression that those who follow the program closely are quite pleased so far.
Just re-read my comment for some reason. Very poorly written. Ick.
Under Longo, Kendall Moore had a beer gut. Under Balis, Kendall Moore would have a six pack (Abs, not beer).
Hey, @kg, I wanted to go back to something we talked about in the chat pre-game. One of the officiating boards I read posted that TCU/OSU play we were talking about with the holding penalty and the illegal touching. Boy, they messed that up. I actually messed it up earlier this year myself too so I definitely learned my lesson and I can see where they went wrong.
So here’s what happened: https://youtu.be/gSMrg8-dMy8
And what we talked about pre-game was right. Break it down this way: ignore the foul for a moment. The first touching by TCU is illegal touching. OSU saw this and tried to pick the ball up and run with it. Basically he can do this because there is no threat of anything for him. In the worst case, OSU can choose to have the ball at the spot of illegal touching REGARDLESS of what happens on the play. So if they pick it up and run and fumble, and TCU scores, they can still go back to the illegal touch spot. If OSU picks up the ball and scores, the illegal touch spot is wiped away by rule.
So we have that as our base. But we also have the holding foul. Now, again, as we talked pre-game holding on a kick has two enforcement spots. The first one is the previous spot.
This is mentioned in rule 10-2-2:
“d. The following are basic spots for the various categories of plays:
.
.
.
4. Kick plays.
(a) Previous spot, on legal kick plays unless the foul is governed by
postscrimmage kick rules.
(b) Postscrimmage kick spot, if the foul is governed by postscrimmage
kick rules.”
This is where they messed up and here’s why I think they did it. Post Scrimmage Kick rules state that ALL of the following must be true:
1. Foul is by Team B
2. Foul is during a scrimmage kick that is not a successful try, FG, or in OT
3. The ball crosses the NZ
4. The foul occurs during the kick
5. Team B will next put the ball in play
I think the crew decided #5 was not true because TCU recovered the ball. But where they erred was that the illegal touching spot was still there and OSU would have chosen that spot so, in truth, OSU WOULD next put the ball in play. All of the PSK rules were true, so the enforcement spot would have to be PSK. The only way for that holding foul to result in a first down by TCU would be if it was a lineman pulling a TCU lineman down to allow a teammate to shoot the gap and block the kick.
^Beat me to it. I almost hit “Post Comment” with nearly the exact same items addressed.
OK, so talking this out I missed something on this that actually made this the correct call what they did on the field. Rule 6-3-2-b says that if you have an accepted Live-ball foul(eg holding) then that wipes out any illegal touching on the play. Because of this, TCU accepted the hold so the illegal touching is ignored. Therefore, the muff by OSU makes the RECOVERY by TCU legal. TCU will next put the ball in play so #5 above is not true. Therefore, you have to enforce previous spot.
I thought it went without saying…
What did the officials call? The clip doesn’t make it clear.
And let me get this straight. I know that once TCU touches the ball, OSU can always decide to go back to that spot, so you definitely go try to pick it up, basically free play.
Are you saying that if there is holding on the play (or any live ball foul), then OSU no longer has the option to just go with the illegal touching spot, so not a free play?
The officials enforced it previous spot because it was a foul during a kick. Team B was not next to put the ball in play, so PSK cannot be used.
Your second sentence is correct, if you do not have an accepted live ball foul.
Yes, your third sentence is correct. Illegal touching is ignored, by rule if you have an accepted penalty. This is the detail I forgot until I read the discussion about the call. In the end, the correct call was made.
Is Team B TCU? Who ended up with the ball?
Cool, thanks for this.
@FIRE CLEARWALL@
Hey, I made a mistake. First one since coming to the new site.
Unrelated, but ESPN has a great article on Jaylon Smith right here:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20809567/nfl-cowboys-jaylon-smith-remains-upbeat-unfazed-return-scene-severe-knee-injury
That is such an incredible story. Im jealous. I’ve already stated the next jersey I buy is gonna be a 54. Maybe if I wear my ND hat with it, he’ll sign mine too?
I thought you of all people would like it. Imagine that–dude wasn’t even an ND fan, just like Jaylon’s story, is walking to the stadium, and boom–Jaylon Smith in an SUV calls him over. Crazy.
I kind of feel bad. Did Dexter deserve a star for the game?
He played well. The blocking on his rushing touchdown was a thing of beauty. The announcers pointed out how well the OL blocked it, but the TE or WR that set the final block was very key. Dexter bounced outside of the block perfectly and went in for the score.
I’m pretty sure that was Alize, which is a good sign.
@That’s because he didn’t have to block.@
I’d say the turning point was the pick-6. No matter what Joel Klatt said, Lewerke looked hesitant from that point on. And even without the fumble into the endzone, we probably go into halftime up 28-14. That pick-6 just put us in such a good, comfortable place, where we could run, throw medium passes, and never have to be overly aggressive or get out of our comfort zone the rest of the game.
So, the goofballs at ND nation are good for something. Someone there posted something that I was curious about but did not have a chance to look into – the officials who missed the helmet to helmet/ targeting hit on Brandon Wimbush at the MSU game on Saturday is the same crew that missed the targeting hit on Tori Hunter Jr. at the Texas game last year:
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2017-18/box_score/stats_20170924aaa.pdf
http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2016-2017/texas.html
Coincidence??
(Of course, the NDN jamokes blame Brian Kelly and Jack Swarbrick, too, so some things never change.)