Spartans ready to top Irish for fourth-straight time
By KERRY SMITH
Sports Editor
Notre Dame's defense has passed its first three tests of the season with confidence-inspiring performances inside the comfort of Notre Dame Stadium.
But when the No. 16 Irish take to the road to meet the No. 20 Spartans of Michigan State Saturday, two words will determine whether the defense can stop the momentum the Spartans traditionally have on their home turf: T.J. Duckett.
Despite Notre Dame's outranking of Michigan State by four spots, the 2-0 Spartans have a running arsenal few teams can top. Led by the sophomore Duckett, whom Notre Dame recruited as a tight end two years ago, the Spartans can be deadly when the ball is in his hands.
"You have got to stop him before he gets started," Irish head coach Bob Davie said. "When he gets heading north and south, just takes it on a straight line, he is a heck of a player. He is real patient and then when he finds the gap, he just hits it. So you have got to really be patient and be disciplined on defense and not allow seams to occur in your defense."
Though Michigan State's quarterback situation is up in the air, the Spartan offense is grounded in Duckett. The tailback touched the ball in 34 out of 70 offensive plays and scored the Spartans' only touchdown last weekend in Michigan State's 13-10 win against Missouri. In Michigan State's season opener against Marshall, he started the year off on the right foot with 219 rushing yards on 26 carries.
As a freshman, the second-team high school All-American rushed for 606 yards on the season and scored 10 out of the 12 Spartans' rushing touchdowns.
But while Duckett leads the running charge, a talented Spartan corps backs him.
"You look at Michigan State —on offense they are big," Davie said. "Their fullbacks are big. They have two tight ends that I think are really good, [Chris Baker and Ivory McCoy]. Both the receivers played a lot last year. We know how talented they were at receiver last year. [Lavaile Richardson and Herb Haygood] both played a lot of football, talented guys."
The potency of the Spartan running game will temper the uncertainty behind the line of scrimmage at quarterback.
Michigan State's coaches pegged Ryan Van Dyke as the starter at the beginning of the season, but a bruised thumb part way through the Spartans' season opener sidelined the junior and threw true freshman Jeff Smoker into the fray.
"I think they are pretty similar," Davie said. "[Smoker] is pretty far along for a young guy. If he is mobile, he throws the ball well. So does Ryan Van Dyke. So there is not much change with one of the two of them in there. [Our preparation] It is exactly the same."
Smoker has completed 16 of 24 passes for 138 yards with only one interception in his two outings.
While at press time Van Dyke's status for Saturday's game is uncertain, one thing is for sure: The Spartans are bent on making sure the 2-1 Irish even up their record with a loss on their first road trip of the season.
All Sports Stories for Friday, September 22, 2000
