Victory 4 MSU

Is it Saturday yet? This is one of those games that defines college football. It will be the 72nd meeting between Michigan State and Notre Dame, and the Irish have the lead in the series 44 – 26 – 1. The Spartans first played the Fighting Irish in 1897 in South Bend and lost that game 34-6. In fact, the Spartans lost the first eight games of the series before getting their first win in 1910 in East Lansing. (The first eight were all played at Notre Dame) However, Michigan State fans should not be upset by this because it was this rivalry that put MSU on the map in the national college football scene. This rivalry also aided the entrance of Michigan State into the Big 10 conference. So, thank you Notre Dame; and as a sign of our appreciation, please visit us in East Lansing Saturday for a good, old-fashioned beat down.

MSU has owned the Irish this decade, going 8-3 in the last 11 matchups; and the visiting team has won each of the last six years. 2005 in South Bend was the thrilling 44-41 Spartan victory in overtime and 2006 was the colossal 40-37 meltdown in East Lansing which single-handedly got John L. Smith fired. In 2007 the Spartans defeated the Fighting Irish 31 – 14 in South Bend under the watch of new head coach Mark Dantonio, giving the Irish their first ever 0 – 4 start in school history. They went on to a horrific 3 – 9 record; also the worst in school history. Have they improved enough this year to make a game of it?

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