The No. 15 MSU football team flunked its first test of the season as Notre Dame dominated on Saturday through all four quarters.
The Spartans usually high-powered offense was shut down and their rushing attack was non-existent. The Fighting Irish cruised to their first victory of the season 31-13, holding the Spartans to only 29 rushing yards on the day.
Senior quarterback Kirk Cousins finished 34-for-53 with 329 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver B.J. Cunningham had 12 of those catches for 158 yards, both career-highs.
The Spartans defense managed to hold Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd to just 84 yards and no scores, but gave up 122 yards on the ground.
MSU also had a costly breakdown on special teams. Freshman George Atkinson returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to give Notre Dame an early 14-3 lead.
The Spartans tried to battle back late, but the nail-in-the-coffin came when Cousins threw an interception on the 3-yard line. It was the second time that Spartans had the ball on the goal line and came away with zero points.
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