:: Notre Dame Football ::
Fighting Irish prevail over Spartans, 33-30
Clausen and Allen throw touchdowns, McCarthy continues string of interceptions, Tate leads receivers, Floyd lost with apparent broken collarbone ...
In a spirited, hard-hitting game featuring four lead changes and both teams combining for nearly 900 yards of offense, Notre Dame beat Michigan State 33-30 on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen, playing much of the game with a painful toe injury, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Golden Tate with 5:18 to go in the game to put Notre Dame ahead 33-30.
Fifth-year senior free safety Kyle McCarthy later intercepted Spartan sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins near the goal line with a minute to go to prevent Michigan State attempting even a tying field goal and seal the win for the Irish. McCarthy has snagged an interception in every game thus far.
Notre Dame lost sophomore wide-receiver Michael Floyd, essentially the top receiver in the country, with an apparent broken collarbone. Floyd already had grabbed two catches for 38 yards including a 22-yard touchdown catch. Floyd had another touchdown that, for the second week in a row, was denied by Big Ten/11 officials despite clear video evidence that Floyd made the catch in the end zone, maintained possession, and got at least one foot down inbounds.
Clausen also was injured, when he inexplicably went down on a knee and, when the whistle failed to blow, was mowed down while in a crouching position. He apparently suffered a toe injury, but soldiered on and went 22 of 31 for 300 yards, a 71% completion rate, for two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Including last year's Hawai'i Bowl, Clausen now has had four 300-yard passing games in a row, the first time ever for a Notre Dame quarterback.
Clausen's leading receiver was Tate, who had 7 catches for 129 yards and a touchdown, including the above-mentioned 33-yard touchdown catch and another catch that went for 54 yards.
Sophomore tight end Kyle Rudolph had 95 yards receiving on six catches, and junior wide receivers Robbie Parris and Duval Kamara each added three catches. Parris caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from junior halfback Armando Allen out of the Wildcat formation (on a play where Clausen was wide open in the endzone, but Parris was closer and right in Allen's forward line of sight).
Notre Dame continues to put out a total offensive package, in this case 304 yards passing and 133 yards net rushing, for 437 yards of total offense. Clausen now has gone three games with no interceptions, and Notre Dame was once again turnover-free overall.
While Michigan State had been stingy against the run in its previous game, Allen rushed for 5 yards per carry, totaling 123 yards on 23 carries, and an 11-yard touchdown to put Notre Dame on the board 7-0 to cap their first drive. Sophomore halfback Jonas Gray added 24 yards on four carries, and the gutsy Clausen scrambled through his injury for 19 timely yards, but lost 20, taking two sacks.
Notre Dame continues to make use of the Wildcat Formation with creativity and pizazz, in which Allen lines up in the shotgun to receive a direct snap while Clausen lines up as a wide-out. An added feature to the formation is a wide-out in motion, who can take a hand-off for an end-around. Thus far, out of the formation Allen has run the ball, mainly around an end, handed off to the receiver in motion, and thrown for a touchdown.
The Irish scored two touchdowns out of the Wildcat Formation running and passing, accounting for more than a third of their points. Allen's 11-yard touchdown run early on to open up the scoring came out of the Wildcat, following a long Clausen pass to Rudolph out of a more conventional formation, and run after catch. And as mentioned above, Allen later threw a pass himself out of the Wildcat.
Freshman kicker Nick Tausch hit field goals of 22 and 46 yards in a game where every point counted, although he also missed an early extra point.
The Irish defense often came through when it counted, but did give up 459 yards, 354 through the air and 105 on the ground.
McCarthy, in addition to making the game-ending interception, paced tacklers with 9, followed by fellow safety Harrison Smith with 7. Junior linebacker Brian Smith and sophomore cornerback Robert Blanton had 5 tackles each.
Check back for expanded additional coverage ...
Leprechaun Express Site Map Main Divisions
Home | Newswire | Game Day | Depth Chart | Schedule | Irish Lore | Recruiting |
© 2007-2011 All Rights Reserved
While founded and directed by a Notre Dame alumnus, this site itself has no official affiliation with, or licensure from, the University of Notre Dame du Lac. It does recommend you also visit the official Notre Dame Athletics site at www.und.com. Go Irish!
Steven C. Welsh, Editor and Contributor
Steven C. Welsh, Web Design and Graphic Design
