Road Doesn’t Get Any Easier for the 1-2 Irish

Michigan State keeps rolling along. Notre Dame keeps falling behind.

Marc Renaud rushed for 112 yards and Sedrick Irvin for 106, and the two combined for 381 all-purpose yards Saturday as No. 17 Michigan State beat Notre Dame, 23-7.

It was Notre Dame’s second loss in as many weeks, dropping the Irish to 1-2. They haven’t been under .500 since 1986, when Lou Holtz’s first team went 1-4 on the way to a 5-6 finish. That was also the last time Michigan State (3-0) beat Notre Dame.

The Irish now have road games at No. 8 Michigan and No. 21 Stanford.

As time ran out, the Spartans gathered on the field with their helmets raised, celebrating their first 3-0 start since 1979. The Notre Dame players straggled off, their heads bowed.

Another ugly game was just too much for fans, who booed the Notre Dame offense as it walked off the field midway through the fourth quarter. There were more boos after Ron Powlus’ pass was intercepted with two minutes to play.

“Sure, it bothered me,” he said. “Here we are on our own field getting booed, but Michigan State is a good team and we have to score more than seven points.”

Fans who usually stay until the end of the game were leaving with 10 minutes to play. The only sign of cheer came from the Michigan State band, which cranked up the volume as the game went on.

“I’m very proud for Spartans everywhere that they can relish the fact this football team made them proud today,” Michigan State Coach Nick Saban said.

“Good players and great players play good and play great in big games,” he added. “I think we had a lot of guys who played very well today.”

Renaud returned the opening kickoff 51 yards to set up a touchdown, and the Spartans were never in trouble again. Their massive offensive line opened huge holes for Irvin and Renaud, who ran wherever they wanted all day long. Up the middle, to the side, it didn’t matter--the inexperienced Irish defense was completely picked apart.

Defensive end Melvin Dansby led the Irish with 11 tackles, including one for a loss. But six of the top 10 in tackles for Notre Dame were from the secondary. Michigan State finished with 353 yards total offense, including 222 yards rushing. Todd Schultz was 12 of 18 for 107 yards.

“You have to give us credit now. We beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame,” Irvin said. “Coach Saban is going to tell me to shut up, because I’m going to be the loudest one on the bus.”

Notre Dame’s offense didn’t fare any better than the defense, but its problems were mostly of its own doing. Aside from a few long runs by Autry Denson and a handful of hard passes by Powlus, the Irish looked as dazed and confused as they had in their first two games.

Their only score was set up by Kory Minor’s interception that gave them the ball at the Michigan State 29.

“I don’t think there was ever a point in the game that they honestly felt threatened,” Coach Bob Davie said. “They really just challenged us to make plays. We have got to have guys make plays.”

The Irish gained only 61 yards rushing in 23 carries, and Denson had 59 of those yards. Powlus was 23 of 37 for 181 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Notre Dame lost 60 yards on four penalties.

“We expected them to play like Purdue played against them last week, kind of like men possessed,” Saban said. “I think they were fired up and they wanted to play like that. But physically, we controlled the game, especially our offensive line, and I think that was the difference.”