There have been few defenses in college football as highly touted as the one residing in East Lansing.
Pat Narduzzi still isn’t convinced.
Pat Narduzzi on MSU defense: 'I would say we're average'
Youngstown State quarterback Kurt Hess steps up in the pocket as sophomore defensive end Shilique Calhoun goes in for the sack Sept. 14, 2013 at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans had a strong showing against Youngstown State in a 55-17 victory. Khoa Nguyen/ The State News
Meeting with the media on Wednesday, the MSU defensive coordinator said although the Spartans currently have the nation’s No. 1 total defense, the unit has plenty of room for improvement, calling them “average.”
“We’ve been average; I would say we’re average,” Narduzzi said. “We’ll find out. It’s hard to tell. Our guys are hopefully going to play even bigger in the game against (Notre Dame) so it happens.”
Despite the Spartans (3-0) coming off a 55-17 victory against Youngstown State and currently being ranked No. 24 in the USA Today poll, the combined record of MSU’s first three opponents against FBS teams is 0-7.
During those first three games, the Spartans led the nation in defensive touchdowns (four), highlighted by a 21-yard interception by junior safety Kurtis Drummond against Western Michigan and a 56-yard interception by sophomore defensive end Shilique Calhoun against South Florida.
Aside from FCS Youngstown State, the Spartans have played teams with offenses ranked No. 98 and No. 120, respectively, and are certain to receive a greater challenge from Notre Dame on Saturday (3:30 p.m., NBC).
The Fighting Irish (2-1) struggled against Purdue last week, rallying for 21 points in the span of 3:29 to best the Boilermakers. Yet, the team still averages close to 30 points per game and are ranked 37 spots higher than the Spartans in total offense this season.
Senior linebacker Max Bullough said the Spartans need to keep up the overall level of intensity while continuing to find ways to get better against the Fighting Irish.
“Speaking defensively, we’re scoring touchdowns, getting turnovers; obviously that’s something we want to continue,” Bullough said on Tuesday. “We just want to keep playing fast, swarm to the football, making plays, getting the turnovers, capitalizing on the opportunities.”
Narduzzi said the Spartans are preparing a different game plan than they did a season ago against Notre Dame duel-threat quarterback Everett Golson to combat the different attack style of Tommy Rees.
He does a lot of checking with one second to go to try to get them in the perfect play, and that’s an advantage if they can do that,” Narduzzi said.
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