Notre Dame football vs. Michigan State: Preview, predictions, live stream
Two undefeated teams enter, one team will exit still unbeaten. Here’s all you need to know as Notre Dame football travels to face Michigan State.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Michigan State Spartans are both off to 3-0 starts entering their Week 4 contest.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a game where the offense ran for 515 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns behind the legs of running back Josh Adams and quarterback Brandon Wimbush. Adams ran for 229 rushing yards and Wimbush ran for 207 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. They’ll look to do it again against a tough Michigan State defense.
The Spartans enter the game with a defense that has allowed 91.5 rushing yards per game through their first three games. They didn’t allow an offensive touchdown last week.
It was cornerback Darius Phillips who scored for the Western Michigan Broncos in Week 3. He scored on a 67-yard fumble return and a 100-yard kickoff return to put the only points on the board for Western Michigan. The Michigan State defense ranks 12th in the FBS in scoring defense (12.0 ppg). They’ll look to limit another solid offense once again to stay undefeated on the season.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 23
Time: 8:00pm ET
Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Venue: Spartan Stadium
TV: FOX
Live Stream: FoxSportsGo
Keys to victory
The Notre Dame offense is firing on all cylinders on the ground. They are averaging 330.7 rushing yards per game entering their meeting against Michigan State. However, quarterback Brandon Wimbush has zero passing touchdowns in their last two games.
The Spartans run defense should be game for a struggle. They beat Notre Dame last season 36-28 in their first meeting since 2013. In their first back-to-back meeting since then, whoever controls the line of scrimmage will have the advantage here.
The Fighting Irish have already lost once to a formidable rushing attack and it was a 20-19 loss. Michigan State is averaging 255.5 rushing yards per game.
The Michigan State Spartans haven’t gotten much out of running back L.J. Scott. Scott is averaging 62.5 rushing yards per game this season. He averaged 82.8 rushing yards per game in 2016. If the Spartans can get him going, look out.
Prediction
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish need Brandon Wimbush to find his arm and accuracy in this one if they want to escape with a victory. Michigan State will give them everything they can handle as they did in last season’s meeting.
Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft entering Week 4
Notre Dame should get a win this week, but the Spartans won’t make it easy for them. Josh Adams should have a big game on the ground to offset a poor quarterback performance.
Final Score: Notre Dame 28, Michigan State 24