Michigan State makes big plays, Notre Dame makes big mistakes
By KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
Michigan State had it. Notre Dame didn't.
Charles Rogers exploded past the Irish defense for a game-winning touchdown. Mike Labinjo exploded through the Irish offense to stop Nick Setta's fake field goal. And Michigan State exploded past Notre Dame for the fifth year in a row, defeating the Irish 17-10.
"When you look at Michigan State ... they're pretty explosive," Irish head coach Bob Davie said after the game. "We're not quite that kind of a team. We have to rely on total execution."
Execution was what the Irish didn't have in the fourth quarter when it counted. A mis-executed fake field goal, a missed interception and a 47-yard Spartan touchdown ended any Irish hopes that this year they would be victorious.
"It hurts bad," said Irish flanker Arnaz Battle, who broke his leg during the second quarter and is expected to miss four to six weeks. "We feel we're better than MSU. They came out and played better today. It came down to executing for us."
Memories of Herb Haygood's game winning touchdown last year flooded back during the fourth quarter on a 47-yard touchdown pass to Rogers. After two near turnovers, Ryan Van Dyke fired the pass to Rogers, who burned the Notre Dame defense to put Michigan State up 17-10 — a touchdown that meant the game.
"I saw him not looking at me. I made a huge mistake and should have tackled him," Irish cornerback Shane Walton said. "But I was trying to make a play and strip him."
If the Irish had capitalized on two near-turnovers, the game-winning play never would have happened. But they didn't execute.
Five minutes into the fourth quarter, with the scored tied at 10, Michigan State receiver Ziehl Kavanaght fumbled Joey Hildbold's punt, but quickly recovered it.
Five plays later, the Irish had a chance to stop the Spartans again. Michigan State quarterback Van Dyke, who was 9-for-15 with 149 yards, launched a pass that bounced off the hands of Spartan tight end Chris Baker and almost found its way into the hands of Irish cornerback Clifford Jefferson. But Jefferson couldn't hang on to it and the catch was ruled incomplete.
"I jumped up, saw the ball and it kind of bounced off my shoulder pads," Jefferson said. "I felt that was my big chance to make a big play."
But the big play didn't happen, and Michigan State capitalized. And that was the game — almost.
The Irish had a final chance to turn the game around, but once again they couldn't execute. Following a 49-yard drive downfield, the Spartans had the Irish at fourth and six inside the 20.
The Irish tried a fake field goal, but failed after Labinjo tackled Setta immediately after the Irish kicker received the handoff from holder Adam Tibble.
"Once again, we thought it was there and we couldn't execute," Davie said. "... It was fourth and six, I felt the way we were executing on offense at that point it really gave us a good opportunity to convert on fourth down. [It was] something we practiced an awful lot on the fake field goal, we just didn't execute it."
The Irish had one more chance to tie the game, but Irish quarterback Matt LoVecchio, who was 12-for-22 with 119 yards, threw an interception with 1:53 left in the game, ending Notre Dame's hopes.
"We had that play called and that was a hard corner out there and I probably shouldn't have thrown that ball," LoVecchio said after the game. "But that's football and [Michigan State] took it. I'll take responsibility for that."
But where Notre Dame fell short, Michigan State followed through. Despite picking up over 100 yards in penalties, the Spartans executed and their execution paid off.
"They played well enough to win," Davie said. "They made a few more plays than we made."
Michigan State started off the scoring early in the first quarter. Starting from the 20-yard line, the Spartans, led by tailback T.J. Duckett, who rushed 11 times for 71 yards, drove down the field to the Notre Dame 7-yard line. On third and goal, Anthony Weaver sacked quarterback Jeff Smoker and forced the Spartans to kick a field goal, giving Michigan State an early 3-0 lead.
Late in the first quarter, the Irish began a drive that took them to the Michigan State 15-yard line. On the next three plays, the Irish lost 11 yards and Setta kicked a 43-yard field goal to tie the score early in the second quarter.
With five minutes left in the first half, Michigan State scored a touchdown on a six-yard pass from Van Dyke to Baker, to take the lead for the second time.
But less than four minutes later, the Irish made their only big play of the game. Julius Jones returned a punt for 53 yards, setting up a six-yard touchdown pass from LoVecchio to Javin Hunter with 38 seconds left in the first half.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 24, 2001
