Spartan Sundays: Encouraging Signs From MSU's Loss at Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Saturday would have been a lot uglier if it had happened a year ago.

The early signs for Michigan State were absolutely not encouraging at No. 3 Notre Dame. MSU's defense allowed a 61-yard play on the game's first play, had a punt partially blocked, and the Spartans were down 10-0 with 4:31 left in the opening quarter.

What stood out about Notre Dame in its first two games of the season was that it never let its opponent gain momentum once the Fighting Irish had it. Well, the No. 3 team in the country had all the momentum early, and it seemed like this one was headed for blowout territory.

Michigan State never allowed this one to get out of hand, though. Sure, this could be pure "moral victory" talk, but you'd be hard-pressed to find many predictions out there that had the Spartans losing by 17 points or fewer. The 27-10 final score goes down as an "L" all the same, but this program showed some much-needed grit and toughness that it's missed recently.

Resilience Shown, Especially on Defense

Notre Dame running back Nolan James Jr., center, gets wrapped up with the ball during a NCAA football game against Michigan State at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in South Bend. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The media is allowed to award Michigan State some "moral victories" in this one, but new head coach Pat Fitzgerald had none of it during his postgame press conference. He and his staff made it clear in the week leading up to Saturday that they came in with the attitude that they would win, and their actions on the field and words afterward backed that up.

"Yeah, there's no such thing as a moral victory," Fitzgerald said during his postgame press conference. "You guys [in the media] are going to get to know me, but I'm a competitive S.O.B., so I'm not very happy right now. You fix it by getting back to work. I don't know; I probably won't sleep tonight and will be in the office first thing in the morning and be hypercritical of myself."

MSU played like a team that truly believed it had a path to victory nearly the entire game, and its resilience was also on display.

A lot of that was particularly evident on defense. Notre Dame had the ball for 37:04 of this game and ran 22 more offensive plays than the Spartans did. Keeping the Irish to 27 points at their own place while also being minus-2 in the turnover department is a pretty good accomplishment. Michigan State had allowed more points than that in its last 11 games against AP Top 25 opponents.

Looking Forward

Sep 19, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Alessio Milivojevic (11) passes against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

MSU looked like a mid-tier Big Ten team on Saturday. Sure, that's not where Michigan State wants to be now or in the future, but that's a better classification than what it's deserved over the last four seasons.

Can the Spartans finally reach bowl eligibility this year? It feels more likely on Sunday than it did on Friday, despite the record going from 2-0 to 2-1. The Spartans measured up against a foe that is better than anyone else they'll face the rest of the season and held their own. It only makes the coming stretch of five straight unranked opponents (at least right now) even more interesting.

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