Junior quarterback Brian Hoyer and head coach Mark Dantonio celebrate with a hug after defeating Notre Dame on Saturday. Hoyer threw four touchdown passes against the Fighting Irish.
The Spartans won an emotional 31-14 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday, vindicating last year’s heartbreaking loss and sending the Fighting Irish to their first 0-4 start in school history. Almost one year ago, MSU football took a shot to the heart when Notre Dame came back from a 16-point fourth quarter deficit to win in Spartan Stadium on a cold, wet, windy night.
The Spartans have suffered from that loss ever since, head coach Mark Dantonio said at a post-game press conference on Saturday.
“We’ve spent a year dealing with this, and our guys have been mocked, and our guys have been made fun of, and we lost coaches,” Dantonio said.
“So we internalized this and turned it to our favor today, and we came in here prepared to play and we were very, very emotional.”
Last year’s loss was especially painful for senior linebacker Kaleb Thornhill.
“It put a hole in my heart that needed to be closed up,” Thornhill said Saturday.
“We wanted to come out here and give our all today, play hard and kind of redeem ourselves for that.”
The MSU victory in South Bend, Ind. makes them the first team to ever win six consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis said the historical loss will hit his players harder than it will hit him because he has a “no screens policy.”
“No screens means no computer, no TV,” Weis said at the post-game press conference. “And when there’s no screens, you usually don’t have too many problems because you usually are kind of oblivious to the rest of the free world.”
The excitement leading into the game may have gotten the best of junior quarterback Brian Hoyer, who fumbled a snap on MSU’s first possession of the game.
Notre Dame recovered the ball on the Spartan 9-yard line, and two plays later, running back Travis Thomas would score the first offensive touchdown of the season for the Fighting Irish.
Hoyer bounced back from the botched play and finished with a career-high four touchdown passes, completing 11 of 24 throws for 135 yards. He also threw one interception.
One of his touchdowns in the third quarter came on fourth down with two yards to go, but the play initially seemed bound for disaster.
Hoyer caught what looked liked a low snap and appeared to fumble the ball, only to regain composure and throw a 30-yard touchdown strike to senior tight end Kellen Davis.
After the game, MSU offensive coordinator Don Treadwell explained it was actually a kind of “fumblerooski” play the team has been practicing.
“It’s designed to bring (defenders) up tight and we got just enough behind them, and Kellen got behind them, and of course Hoyer threw a tremendous pass,” Treadwell said.
“It couldn’t have been any more on the money than he threw it.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, Notre Dame had 14 total rushing yards for the season, but running back James Aldridge ran for 104 yards — including a 43 yarder in the second quarter that set up the team’s second touchdown.
That would be the last score for the Fighting Irish, as they were shut out for zero points in the second half.
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“Our kids right now have the attitude that they can stop anybody, that they’re invincible, and that’s the way it should be,” MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said.
“You better have confidence in what you’re doing.”
MSU’s defense once again showed its pass-rushing clout, sacking Notre Dame quarterbacks four times.
Notre Dame’s freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who is expected to be the future of the Fighting Irish, completed 7 of 13 passes for 53 yards.
In the second quarter, senior defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic sacked Clausen for 17 yards, and ripped the football from his hands giving MSU possession on Notre Dame’s 14-yard line — setting up a 27-yard field goal for sophomore kicker Brett Swenson.
While all of MSU’s touchdowns came by air, the Spartans did damage on the ground as well. Running back junior Javon Ringer rushed for 144 yards on 26 carries, and senior Jehuu Caulcrick gained 83 yards on 20 attempts.
After the final seconds ticked off the clock and the game was put into the history books, a solemn Notre Dame team walked slowly off the field, eyes glazed over and staring at the ground.
Many Fighting Irish fans remained in the stadium, applauding their team despite witnessing the worst start in 119 seasons of Notre Dame football.
The Spartans exited the field with emotions running high, chanting “Go green! Go white!”
Last year’s loss feels a little less painful now, Thornhill said.
“It doesn’t erase it, but it makes you feel a lot better,” he said.
“You like to forget things, but sometimes things need to be brought back up to give you a little motivation. I think that’s what we did today.”
