September 17, 1994

Notre Dame at Michigan State Final Stats

By Brian May, The Scholastic 1994 Football Review

In the first half of the sixtieth meeting between Notre Dame and Michigan State, the Irish did about as much spectating as the 74,183 fans who filled up Spartan Stadium. The Irish watched their passes fall into Spartan hands, they watched Michigan State’s offense control the ball, and they watched the Spartans accumulate an embarrassing 20-7 halftime lead. Perhaps lrish minds were still on the Michigan game of the preceding week, because the motiva­tion for this game seemed as low as hopes of a championship had been a week earlier. The Irish were able to pull out a victory in the end thanks to the Spartans’ inability to put them away. It seemed like neither football team wanted to win this game.

“It’s one thing to be down 13 at the half and another to be down by 13 and completely dominated in every single area of the game,” said Lou Holtz about the first half play by Notre Dame. Michigan State owned Notre Dame on both sides of the ball. The Spartans blasted through the Notre Dame defense for 249 yards. Junior quarterback Tony Banks was having a career day and was probably laughing to himself as flanker Mill Coleman did dances around Irish cornerback Shawn Wooden. Banks looked like as much of a Heisman Trophy candidate as had Powlus just seven days earlier. But while Powlus was throwing one interception after another, Banks completed 12 of 15. Powlus, who probably remained a solid Heisman candidate after the Michigan game, showed his first signs of weakness with a 3-for-15 first-half effort.

When Justin Goheen recovered a fumble on the Notre Dame 32-yard line early in the second quarter, Powlus gave the ball right back to the Spartans with his first interception throw of his young career.

Suddenly, the Irish looked more vulnerable than they had all year and the fans in Spartan Stadium knew it. They cranked up the noise to another level.

While statistics usually do not account for much, Notre Dame’s time of possession in the half was a pathetic eight minutes, while Michigan State held the ball for nearly 22 of the 30 minutes.

Halftime passed slowly for Notre Dame fans, who had a lot to ponder about the season. The Irish were heading downhill faster than they had in years. If they lost this one, it would mean three losses in their last five games. Few were able to realize what would be on the line in the second half –  but Holtz was one who did.

“I thought at the half we would win,” said Holtz after the game. “But I was not very convincing to the players. It was a nightmare of a first half.” Whatever he said in the locker room, the Irish came outplaying inspired football. Michigan State fans, and the players, were in for a show.

After punting on the first possession, it all came together slowly. Sophomore Randy Kinder stepped up with punishing runs. Powlus threw complete to Michael Miller. Enter Lee Becton, in what would be his last glorious moment for a while. The senior captain charged in from 37 yards out, reminding the Notre Dame faithful of the great 1993 season. The drive, 80 yards on 10 plays, put the Irish back in control.

“Offense is about rhythm,” noted Holtz. “All this season, we haven’t been able to put together any rhythm at all. The second half today was the best rhythm we’ve had all season.”  The touchdown run by Becton jump started an offensive flow that the Irish had been craving.

The resurgence of the running game enabled Notre Dame to open up the passing attack. Holtz changed his ap­proach, removing the tight end and us­ ing three wide receivers. The Notre Dame offensive line seized control of the line of scrimmage, and Becton was thriving on the outside run, until some­ thing devastating happened. Becton went down with a groin injury, one of the most frustrating for an athlete because it takes so long to heal. The Irish seemed to lose a step not only on the next play when they failed to convert on fourth down, but for the rest of the year. An integral spark and team leader was gone.

This, however, seemed to anger the Irish defense even more, who hammered the Spartans until they were dizzy. One big difference was that Bobby Taylor moved over to cover the explosive Coleman. In the first half, Coleman caught five passes for 46 yards and had a touchdown on a reverse. In the second, Coleman posted a goose egg for passes caught as well as touchdowns.

The Irish had figured out how to stop the feisty Spartans, but Notre Dame was still down 20-14.

With Becton gone after 90 yards rush­ing, in stepped the sensational sopho­more Randy Kinder. Kinder, who grew up five minutes from the stadium and almost went toMichigan State, had some­thing to prove to his hometown crowd. He rushed for 102 of his 104 total yards in the second half.

Then, finally, thunderstruck as Powlus rolled out and hurled a 15-yard pass to Robert Farmer on the left side of the field. Notre Dame 21, Michigan State 20. Relief overflowed in the hearts of fans and the players. A loss could have done irreparable damage and set the stage for further catastrophe. The Notre Dame comeback was, perhaps, the team’s most important and best game of the year.