I don't really know anything about Mich State, they opened unimpressively with Furman, beat them 28-13. But I don't put a lot of stock in that, they had a lot of players to replace so it's tough to take much away from that game. Then they had an off week to prepare for the Irish. So I expect that we will see the usual Mich State team that Dantonio puts out year after year. Tough, Physical, smart. This is however a must win game for the Irish. 2 losses is a death blow to our playoff hopes. Mich State does have a new starter at QB, but he's not a freshman in fact I think he's the guy who was the QB in the Ohio State game last year. I expect them to have a very good defense, I expect them to run the ball well and have a good play action passing game off the run.
An aside: While watching the game on TV, I noticed that the new adjoining building on the south end of the stadium has a huge blank wall facing the stadium, no windows. Gee. I wonder what they're thinking of putting on that wall? :wink:
I'm for the Jumbotron if it's used well, not like it's used at Texas or most other places. Where it's used mostly for advertisements, entertaining fans with the Flex Cam, the Kiss Cam, or silly contests to win silly prizes. Show replays, show in game stats, and stuff like that. BTW It looking more and more like Nick Watkins won't play this year. Kelly was a little evasive when asked, said that they have a scan scheduled for him soon to check the bone healing. Sounds like he could be headed towards a Medical redshirt year. Kelly said they wouldn't bring him back later in the season, if he can't go soon then he's done for he year.
Terry & Sid, Rest assured you will have your hands full with the Spartans. Last I checked ND was favored by 6 points, which surprised me. Should be a good game.
I'm absolutely shocked the Irish are favored at all, Sparty is the #12 ranked team and the Irish the #18. I know home field is worth 3 points in a lot of contests but not 6 points. I guess a medicore performance by MSU vs Furman has Vegas not believing the ranking. I don't put any stock in the Furman game.
ND <t>Well now that we have a starting QB named we need to get Kelly to name the starting RB. This one is obvious to, Josh Adams. <br/> <br/> 6pts sounds right to me. Big must have game for the Irish, at home, at night. Yep sounds right to me.</t>
State has had a number of losses on the D line. They might be less deep there than we are at D back. I think that having played 2 games against solid opponents gives us an edge over their one game against Furman. The only negative was the loss of Crawford. Add to it the home field advantage and 6 pts is not a stretch to me. So far we've been pretty good in the turnover department.
Salvon Ahmed from Washington will be on his official visit for this game. He's a big time recruit a 4* who is listed as an "athlete" in Rivals Recruiting. We're in his top 5.
Recent history says this will be a close game. State has a big back in LJ Scott and a top DL in Malik McDowell ...so I hope the Irish OL and DL are in good form this week. It will probably be a typical Dantonio smash mouth game.
NBC Contract has funded over 100M in academic scholarships for Notre Dame. I don't know if the NBC deal has kept up with the money that all these conference teams get from the combination of their networks and other TV appearances on ABC/ESPN/CBS/etc but it's done good things for the University. http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091316aab.html
ND <t>Depth chart is out. Looks like Adams is starting RB. Hunter is back at WR. Coney will start at WILL. Go Irish!</t>
Michigan State no doubt will come in with a lot of confidence given how well they have played over the last few years. Irish on the other hand have not played as well consistently as MSU, and have not done well in some of their biggest games...Clemson, Stanford, Ohio State and Texas all got out early on us and we couldn't over come it. I think everybody mainly worries about our defense and the number of freshmen we are playing at DB, and the lack of sacks by our DL. The MSU QB might be a new starter, but he's not new and I don't want to see him get comfortable back there and pick us apart. You can bet that they will target Nick Coleman early and often. I hope Nick isn't the next Cliff Jefferson.
Good story up on ISD (free) about Jame Onawalu. He was a WR the last time we played MSU. He's really having a good start to his Sr. year. http://www.irishsportsdaily.com/2016/09/15/james-onwualu-trademark-transition/
ND expected to host 40+ recruits this weekend. The most current list: 5-Star FL CB Shaun Wade - Ohio State commit 4-star WA DB Salvon Ahmed 4-star TN LB Jacob Phillips 4-star CA CB Thomas Graham 4-star CA OL Aaron Banks 4-star PA DT Donovan Jeter 4-star TX WR Hezekiah Jones - Texas A&M commit 4-star MI DB Ambry Thomas - (Unofficial) 3-star GA WR Jeremiah Holloman - (Don't let the 3-star grade fool you, this kid is a stud) 3-star LA DB Jaiden Cole 3-star FL LB Drew White - Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 4-star TX TE Brock Wright - Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 4-star IL TE Cole Kmet - Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 4-star PA LB David Adams - Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 3-star FL OL Dillan Gibbons -Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 4-star PA OL Josh Lugg - Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 4-star IN LB Pete Werner - Notre Dame commit (Unofficial) 3-star OH DT Jerron Cage 2-star IN DE Esezi Otomewo IN LB Alexander Horvath MI RB Brendann Brown 4-star PA QB Phil Jurkovec (2018) - Notre Dame commit 4-star PA LB Matthew 'Bo' Bauer (2018) - Notre Dame commit 4-star IN RB Markese Stepp (2018) - Notre Dame commit 4-star OH OL Jackson Carman (2018) 4-star OH DE Malik Vann (2018) 4-star GA CB Christian Tutt (2018) 4-star OH LB Dallas Gant (2018) 4-star GA DB Derrik Allen (2018) 4-star IN OL Emil Ekiyor (2018) (No offer) 4-star OH TE Leonard Taylor (2018) 4-star IL OL/DL Verdis Brown (2018) (No offer) 4-star GA TE Tyneil Hopper (2018) (No offer) 3-star MI LB Ovie Oghoufo (2018) - Notre Dame commit 3-star OH LB Cameron Hoelscher (2018) (No offer) 3-star GA LB KJ Phillips (2018) (No offer) IN WR Dashon Bussell (2018) (No offer) OH ATH Tyreke Smith (2018) (No offer) IN DT Lawrence Johnson (2018) (No offer) OH RB Bryce Ray (2018) (No offer) MI OT Ryan Hayes (2018) (No offer) OH OT Colin Woodside (2018) (No offer) OH DB Moses Douglass (2019) (No offer) OH OT Isaiah Gibson (2019) (No offer) MI DT Mazi Smith (2019) (No offer) MI DT Logan Brown (2019) (No offer) KY DE Stephen Herron Jr. (2019) (No offer) MI OT Peyton Young (2019) (No offer) MI DE Dallas Fincher (2019) (No offer) ------------------------------------------------------------------