Notre Dame 20, Michigan State 3
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 15, 2012
Where: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
Temperature:
68°
Head Official:
Dennis Hennigan
Attendance:
79219
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 19 Notre Dame 20, No. 10 Michigan State 3: Everett Golson passed for one touchdown and rushed for another and No. 19 Notre Dame stuffed the offense of No. 10 Michigan State in a showdown at East Lansing, Mich.
John Goodman made a spectacular one-handed 36-yard touchdown pass to help the Fighting Irish to their first 3-0 start since 2002 and snap the Spartans’ 15-game home winning streak.
Notre Dame frustrated the offense of Michigan State (2-1) throughout the contest and limited Spartans’ star Le’Veon Bell to 77 yards on 19 carries.
The Fighting Irish added a 29-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza to cap a fourth-quarter drive and take a 14-point lead with 6:21 left. Notre Dame took possession on its own 4-yard line and traveled 84 yards over 6 1/2 minutes.
All-American linebacker Manti Te’o, who had 12 tackles for his 20th career double-digit tackle game, recovered Bell’s fumble on Michigan State’s ensuing drive with 4:19 remaining and Brindza added a 47-yard field goal 61 seconds later.
Golson and Goodman got Notre Dame on the board with 10:34 left in the first quarter. Golson scrambled toward the right sideline and threw deep to the left before Goodman made a superb left-handed grab of the ball while being interfered with in the end zone by Michigan State safety Isaiah Lewis.
The Fighting Irish tacked on another touchdown with 10:50 left in the first half when Golson scored from 6 yards out to cap a five-play, 51-yard drive.
Michigan State tallied with 3:43 left in the half when Dan Conroy boomed a 50-yard field goal.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Te’o played despite double tragedies during the week. His grandmother passed away Tuesday because of an illness and his girlfriend died the following day due to leukemia. … Michigan State offensive tackle Fou Fonoti missed the contest after injuring a foot in Wednesday’s practice. … Notre Dame is 3-11 on the road against Top 10 programs over the past 16 seasons.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Notre Dame |
|
Michigan State |
Cierre Wood
|
Player |
Le'Veon Bell
|
10 |
Attempts |
19 |
56 |
Yards |
77 |
5.6 |
Avg Yards |
4.0 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Receiving
Notre Dame |
|
Michigan State |
T.J. Jones
| Player |
Keith Mumhpery
|
4 |
Receptions |
6 |
59 |
Yards |
71 |
14.8 |
Avg Yards |
11.8 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Notre Dame
|
300 |
122 |
178 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4.0 |
1 |
Michigan State
|
237 |
50 |
187 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |