The most memorable duels between the Michigan State Spartans and Notre Dame

With the announcement that the Michigan State-Notre Dame rivalry is returning with a home-and-away series scheduled for 2026 and 2027, memories of a great conflict in Midwestern college football are flooding back. The rivalry is steeped in history, ranging from the golden days of both programs led by the likes of Frank Leahy, Biggie Munn, Duffy Daugherty and Ara Parseghian to the doldrums of John L. Smith and Charlie Weis.

The battle had been legendary since the Megaphone was introduced in 1949. It helped that there was an imbalance in the 1950s, when Michigan State was peaking with two legendary coaches and Notre Dame was going through a rough patch with the coaching pairing of Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian. That both programs were peaking at a time when another traditional power like Michigan was at its lowest ebb helped fuel the competitive spirit.

The last time the two teams played against each other was in 2017. That time, the Fighting Irish built an early 14-0 lead at Spartan Stadium, but the Spartans’ offense could not take hold and ended in a 38-18 loss.

The megaphone has been in South Bend ever since.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 47-29-1, but Spartan Nation would like to remember (and make an honorable mention) three games in particular that proved memorable for the Green and White. A testament to the quality of these legendary battles is that all three ended in a tie at the end of regulation time.

2013: No. 22 Notre Dame beats Michigan State 17-13

This game will be remembered as the catalyst for a 10-0 run, a Big Ten title against a team with an even longer winning streak, and the first Rose Bowl victory in nearly three decades.

The game helped put eventual starting quarterback Connor Cook ahead, completing 16 of 32 passes for 135 yards and scoring a touchdown. Cook was still in a tough battle with Andrew Maxwell.

The game was a well-documented wake-up call. The next week, the Spartans’ season was potentially on the line as they traveled to Kinnick Stadium. Cook shined, the defense was dominant, and the Spartans began their run to the Rose Bowl.

This game, however, was the wake-up call. Spartans fans may be wondering “what if?” – what if the Spartans won this game and played Florida State in the final BCS National Championship? There’s a good chance the Spartans would have gone undefeated. There’s a good chance they beat Notre Dame and later got caught in a crucial Big Ten matchup. It was a crucial loss for all the right reasons and history is history.

This game has every chance of being No. 1. The next two are either contextually more important for the Spartans or had other factors in their favor to be ranked ahead of this one. Interestingly, next season’s version of this contest might carry more contextual weight, as it is viewed as the game that marked the beginning of the end of John L. Smith’s career in East Lansing.

This Spartans team would finish 5-6 despite averaging 33.8 points per game. A disadvantage because they’re behind? Probably. But the 2023 Spartans couldn’t score as many points. The 2005 Spartans had one of the program’s greatest playmakers in dual-threat quarterback Drew Stanton. Stanton threw for 3,077 yards and 22 touchdowns. Behind him was freshman quarterback Brian Hoyer, who would go on to have a stellar career of his own with the Spartans.

The Spartans had a trio of running backs led by freshmen Javon Ringer, Jehuu Caulcrick and Jason Teague. The Spartans came to South Bend with a 2-0 record thanks to offensive showings against Kent State and Hawaii.

2005 was supposed to be a year of major change for the Irish when newly appointed head coach and former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was hired. Weis won three games as the first-generation playmaker of the Brady-Belichick dynasty.

Stanton had eight passing touchdowns before the game. He continued his hot start against a good Irish defense, completing 16 of 27 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Despite losing the ball three times, allowing 594 yards of offense and controlling the ball for just 15 minutes, the Spartans handed the Irish their first loss of the Weis era when Teague broke free for a 20-yard overtime touchdown. The defense doesn’t get enough credit for holding the Brady Quinn-led Irish from a field goal in overtime.

The Spartans’ 2005 season was largely forgettable. The Irish developed into a formidable team that season and were just one “Bush Push” away from defeating Pete Carroll’s mighty USC Trojans, who had won 27 games in a row at the time.

The game wasn’t exactly exciting at first. Unranked Spartans and Irish. A 2-0 Mark Dantonio team that had yet to make a name for itself against a 1-1 Brian Kelly team. In hindsight, you could say that this game was the turning point for the Dantonio era.

This Spartans squad was one of Dantonio’s best. Quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​led a devastating one-two punch attack with Le’Veon Bell and the criminally underrated Edwin Baker. Two explosive wide receivers were BJ Cunningham and Keyshawn Martin. Martin was the home run playmaker.

On defense, All-American linebacker Greg Jones (dominant, although or because it wasn’t his natural position) and the underrated Eric Gordon secure the second level. Marcus Hyde, Trenton Robinson and Johnny Adams roam the secondary. Defensive tackle Jerel Worthy causes chaos up front.

The game began as a defensive exchange. In the first half, each team only managed one touchdown. Notre Dame scored first. The teams exchanged turnovers. The Spartans held strong defensively and converted their second interception by Dayne Crist into six points. More punts. The score was tied at halftime.

Things really got going in the second half. Baker broke through 50 yards and took the lead. The Irish responded with a methodical six-play run to tie the score. The Spartans regained the lead with a seven-minute run that was capped off with a 16-yard run by Bell, who followed his blockers into the end zone with his patented patience.

The Irish scored another touchdown. And another. Then a four-play offense led by Cousins ​​tied the game with just under eight minutes left. It was tied in the final minutes, but overtime turned the game from an unranked September duel into a turning point for the program.

Simple: The game is tied 31-31 in overtime. 4th and 14. No one in their right mind would try anything other than kicking a 46-yard field goal. Wildcard Aaron Bates takes the snap and throws the ball of his life to a completely free Charlie Gantt. Ball play.

The game was the catalyst for everything that was to come for Dantonio’s program. Dantonio suffered a heart attack and didn’t return to the sidelines until the Michigan game, a commanding 34-17 win at the Big House. The Spartans climbed to No. 5 in the polls, finished 11-2 and earned a share of the Big Ten championship. Everything was set for a memorable 2011 season and plenty of wins from 2013-15.

Arguably the best team in Michigan State history. George Webster, arguably the best player to ever wear the green and white jersey, played a hybrid safety-linebacker. Daugherty called it the “roverback.” Before it was cool in the modern game. Eventual first-rounder and Super Bowl winner Bubba Smith as defensive end. Another All-American as linebacker: Charles Thornhill.

That was just a defense.

Offensively, there are two All-Americans in the backfield in running back Clinton Jones and fullback Bob Apisa. All-American wide receiver Gene Washington proved to be a vertical threat. Quarterback Jimmy Raye was a dual threat before you could even call it that. Raye threw for 1,110 yards and 10 touchdowns while running for 486 yards and five rushing touchdowns.

The team scored more points than its opponents (293:99).

All of that talent was led by the legendary Daugherty. Against the backdrop of Daugherty’s crusade to integrate college football. The Spartans overran their nine opponents on a collision course with the No. 1-ranked Irish in the season finale. No BCS to determine the national champion. No ESPN College Gameday. Two legendary coaches who defined the era, two strong teams.

Remember, the Irish had future Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Hanratty. They had future Steelers legend Rocky Bleier at running back. NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Alan Page was just another All-American for the Irish at that point.

The Irish were missing a star in running back Nick Eddy, who sustained an injury (literally) while getting off the train in East Lansing.

In front of a Spartan crowd with “Kill, Bubba, Kill” buttons, Smith ejected Hanratty early. The Spartans took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. They extended their lead to 10-0 with a field goal. The Irish scored before halftime to increase the lead to 10-7.

In the second half, the teams alternated between turnovers and losses. The Irish tied the game 10-10 in the fourth quarter.

And then Parseghian famously decided to let the clock run out rather than attempt a game-winning field goal.

Many were outraged. Many were confused.

The great Sports Illustrated writer Dan Jenkins accurately predicted the game’s legacy in his cover story for the issue printed a week later.

“Old Notre Dame will even it all up,” Jenkins wrote. “Sing it out, boys. That’s not exactly what the march says, of course, but that’s how the big game ends every time you repeat it. And that’s how millions of sullen college football fans will remember it… For the people who watched it under the cold, gloomy clouds or on national television, all that was suddenly there was this enormous emptiness for which the Irish will forever be blamed.”

In the years that followed, there were games that were dubbed the “Game of the Century.” In fact, the next big game was just three years later between Darryl Royal’s Texas Longhorns and Frank Broyles’ Arkansas Razorbacks. The difference of one point on the scoreboard ensured that there was no controversy.

Part of what makes the Game of the Century ’66 so memorable is the mystique of the final score. The game was ranked the 20th best college football game by ESPN on its list of the 150 greatest games in 2019.

The game is the reason why an older generation of loyal Spartan fans, including this reporter’s grandfather, considered a win over Notre Dame almost as important as a victory over Michigan. Almost.

Fittingly, the meeting between the two teams in 2026 will mark the 60th anniversary of the greatest competition they have ever played.

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