Friday, September 07, 2007

1987 Game 2 - Notre Dame 31, MSU 8


As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Michigan State's 1987 Big Ten and Rose Bowl championship season, we will look back at the games of that magical season week by week. This week, we'll take a look at the second game as the Spartans took on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.


After taking the season opener against USC in East Lansing, the game on September 19 in South Bend started off on the wrong "foot" and didn't get any better.


As MSU running back Blake Ezor fielded the opening kickoff, his foot hit the back line of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Irish lead. The Irish never looked back. After two punt returns for touchdowns by the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Brown, Notre Dame had a 19-0 first quarter lead. Following another safety and field goal, the Irish took a 24-0 halftime lead.


The Irish barely had the advantage in total yards for the game (252-229) but MSU (1-1) could only gain 21 yards on the ground. Lorenzo White gained a season-low 51 rushing yards, but MSU lost 59 yards on eight Notre Dame sacks.



No comments: