The Irish come back after their tough loss to the Wolverines to trounce the Michigan State Spartans 49-10 in Notre Dame Stadium.
By J. Bradley Keck
1991 Scholastic Football Review
1991 NDFB Michigan State Final Stats
Michigan State came into this season with hope of great things. In 1990, the Spartans ended their season tied for the Big 10 championship with a record of 8-3-1. If Michigan State could have squeezed out only eight more points in their three losses of the season they would have secured-an undefeated season. On January 1, 1991, State was victorious in the John Hancock Bowl over Southern California, 17-16. Among their goals for this season was to better their record and avenge their close losses.
Tops on the Spartans’ list, in this category, was the University of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame defeated State last year by only one point. The Irish scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to hand the Spartans a 20-19 loss. With time running out in the fourth quarter Irish quarterback Rick Mirer threw a desperation pass that looked to be a sure Michigan State interception. That pass, however, bounced off cornerback Todd Murray’s chest and into the hands of Irish receiver Adrian Jarrell, standing on the 2-yard line. Then, with only 34 seconds on the clock, Rodney Culver rambled in for the winning score.
The Spartans hoped that in ’91 this heartbreaking loss could be avenged. They came into the 1992 game with two big advantages-running back Tico Duckett and wide receiver Courtney Hawkins. These players were two of the big pre-season media sensations: many thought that one or the other would play their way to the Heisman Trophy.
The Spartans were also an angry team. In the first week of the season, State suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in its history – a 20-3 loss to the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Spartans were also battling history as they had struggled to beat the Irish at Notre Dame Stadium, losing on 24 of 31 occasions.
Michigan State was ready to play, “They practiced with emotion, emotion was not a problem for this,” said State coach George Perles.
Emotion would be a problem after the game, though. By the time the battered Spartans left South Bend, they had suffered the 13th worst defeat in the history of their football program, a 49-10 debacle. The Irish trounced the over-matched Spartans in the most lopsided match up between the two teams since Notre Dame smashed Michigan State 48-0 in 1921.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Irish entered their name in the Spartan record books in four categories. The Irish had 34 first downs, 24 of them rushing; they attempted 76 rushes and they totaled 650 yards. Up until this point in Spartan history only one team had moved the ball for more than 600 yards against Michigan State.
“We played awful well, but it took a great effort on our part,” said coach Lou Holtz. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the last two weeks.”
In their first series from scrimmage the Irish came out flat. They began moving the ball well but on a third down, Mirer threw an interception. As he dropped back at mid-field he looked to connect with fullback Jerome Bettis coming out of the backfield, but the pass was low and short. Michigan State linebacker Chuck Bullough was there to pick-off the pass.
Many Irish fans hoped that this early interception was not foreshadowing the same fate that the team had suffered against Michigan the week before. In that contest, another early interception thrown by Mirer changed the momentum and led to the Irish loss. Notre Dame could not afford lapses of execution that would give State a window of opportunity.
The teams traded punts, and once again, the Notre Dame defense had to keep the Spartans from gaining momentum. After a effective drive Michigan State moved within field goal range to the 35-yard line. Then they were stopped. Duckett got the call on three consecutive plays only to be stuffed by Bryant and then twice by linebacker Jim Flanigan. Pushed just out of field goal range, State again had to punt.
With 6:22 on the clock in the first quarter, the Irish offense was determined to end the punting duel. In just over four minutes the Irish land/air assault chewed up 80 yards and landed in the end zone.
Notre Dame mixed up the plays well on this drive and controlled the line of scrimmage; Bettis carried the ball five times, moving powerfully in the north-south direction. He ran over tacklers on a 12-yard scamper and powered through the middle on a key fourth-and-one play. Along with the powerful rushing, Notre Dame used the pass well. Mirer hit Lake Dawson for 32 yards off a play-action pass. The score came from Reggie Brooks, who scored on a pitch.
After the Spartan’s Josh Butland hit a 35-yard field goal, the Irish offense had the pigskin again. In another patented Holtz drive, Notre Dame went 68 yards in 13 plays for the score. The Irish passed on two crucial plays in order to keep the drive alive. On a third-and-six, Mirer dropped back and found Tony Smith for a 23-yard gain. Then, on third-and-27 on State’s 29 yard line, Mirer again hit Smith in the end zone for six points. Notre Dame was in control, 21-3.
From this point on, the men of the Blue and Gold seemed to glide towards victory. In State’s first possession after the Irish touchdown they were stuffed in just three plays. On Notre Dame’s
first play, they showed play-action and Mirer found tight end Derek Brown streaking down the left sideline. The pass traveled 30 yards in the air and hit Brown in mid-stride. Brown coasted the final twenty yards into the end zone carrying a state would-be tackler.
“Rick Mirer has become a complete quarterback,” said Holtz. “He played well all day and is playing better every week.” But could the Irish ·play a complete game? Going into the locker room at the end of the half that question was still in doubt. At the very end of the first half, the Spartans put together a drive of their own. On the fifth play, State quarterback Bret Johnson hit Hawkins over the middle and after a good run the receiver picked up 48 yards for the touchdown.
“During half time I was really concerned – it was 21-10, but they [MSU] were moving the ball well,” said Holtz.
These fears were put to rest early in the second half. The Irish came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Notre Dame safety Greg Davis intercepted Johnson’s first pass of the half and Notre Dame ran the ball right up the middle all the way down the field. From the MSU two-yard line, Mirer fired another touchdown pass to tight end Irv Smith. This brought the score to 28-10.
Michigan State was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on the ensuing extra point. This led to an string of events that turned the game into a rout. Because Craig Hentrich would be kicking from the 50-yard line, Holtz called an onside kick. Hentrich, a right-footed kicker, hit the ball with his left foot The ball took an Irish bounce and the unsuspecting Spartans watched as Rod Smith pounced on the ball at the 23-yard line. Four plays later, the Irish struck again on a Tony Brooks nine-yard run. With the score now 35-10, the game was all but over.
In the remainder of the game, Notre Dame scored two more unanswered touchdowns.
One by Mirer and one by Willie Clark. Throughout the fourth quarter, Notre Dame had a chance to play a lot of reserves and untested freshmen. An amazing 13 different players rushed for the Irish, tallying 448 yards.
Holtz said he expected such an effort after a tough week of practice. Holtz purposely made the drills in the week before this game really taxing.
“If I were murdered on Tuesday night the police would not even be able to investigate there would have been too many suspects,” deadpanned Holtz. “Practice was that rough.”
This rough and tough attitude really showed in the game. Michigan State coach Perles could only wish that it had not, but he was thankful that Holtz called off the dogs in the fourth quarter.
“This is my worst defeat in nine years,” said Perles. ”The scoreboard says it all 49-10. It could have been a lot more, but Notre Dame sat on it and let us off the hook.”
Too bad that it took a week for the Irish to learn how to hook a team from Michigan. If Notre Dame would have shown the same offensive fireworks in the previous week, they might have been able to fry a much bigger fish-the Rose Bowl-bound University of Michigan Wolverines.