The pass protection struggled as senior quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked twice — once in the first quarter and again in the third. During the first sack, MSU was on third down, and as Cousins came crashing to the field, he fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by the Fighting Irish at the MSU 49-yard line.

Cousins — who was 34-for-53 passes for 329 yards Saturday — also was frequently forced to throw the ball away because of weak protection, and one pass on Notre Dame’s six-yard line resulted in Cousins’ single interception.

Although head coach Mark Dantonio said MSU’s difficulty on offense was everyone’s responsibility, he recognized the problems with the offensive line.

“Obviously our offensive line is a bit of a concern because we’re relatively young there,” he said.
Notre Dame’s experienced defense blitzed multiple times, and because the Spartans haven’t seen much of that this season, they were rattled and left holes for linebackers.

Dantonio said there’s a big learning curve for the young linemen, but he predicts they’ll improve with more quality game experience. But three games into the season — with the weekend’s eye-opening game — senior wide receiver B.J. Cunningham said the problem can’t simply be about youth anymore.

“Honestly, you can’t call these guys young anymore,” Cunningham said. “We’ve been playing two weeks and all through camp, so it’s their first road test, but … it’s a team game, and they got to the quarterback a few times.”

“We’ve just got to execute. We’ve got calls for that; we’ve got plays for that.”

In addition to having execution problems, the Spartans took a hit when redshirt freshman starting right tackle Skyler Burkland went down in the second quarter and had to be carted off the field. Dantonio said he’ll know more about Burkland’s sustained injuries early this week.

Junior tackle Fou Fonoti — a junior college transfer this season — came in for Burkland, but the line still couldn’t form a groove.

The Spartans finished the game with 12 penalties for 86 yards, and six of them came from the offensive line. However, inexperience can’t be blamed entirely.

Although Fonoti and sophomore tight end Dion Sims each had false starts and sophomore left tackle Dan France had a holding penalty all in the second half, seniors tight end Brian Linthicum and left guard Joel Foreman contributed penalties of their own.

Foreman had two holding calls, combining for 14 yards. France said the three penalties were a result of fatigue and not being able to properly block, but they still shot themselves in the foot.

In the second quarter, Linthicum committed a false start on a second down when the Spartans were on Notre Dame’s eight-yard line, costing them five additional yards.

Given the circumstances, Cousins still credited the linemen and said they showed a lot of character and battled throughout the game.

“They did a great job,” he said. “They played against a great defensive line — a very talented defense — so I was really proud of the way our offensive line played.”

Taking the loss as a learning experience, MSU saw the areas where it needs to improve prior to the Big Ten season — which begins Oct. 1 at Ohio State.

“For the young guys, it definitely was a positive experience to get them ready for the Big Ten because it’s a tough league,” Cunningham said. “We’ve got a lot more tough road games coming up, so (if) they come ready to play, (we’re) going to be good.”