The Notre Dame Fighting Irish got their best win in years on Saturday when they beat the Michigan State Spartans 20-3 in East Lansing, Mich. Over at Notre Dame blog One Foot Down, Eric Murtaugh knows how big this was for the Irish:
Notre Dame did it. They finally won the big game, at night, on the road, in prime time, as the underdog against a highly ranked top 10 opponent. That breaks a streak of 9 straight losses to teams in the AP top 10 and ends Michigan State's long home winning streak.
Murtaugh praised the Irish up and down the roster, focusing most of his praise on the defense, particularly the line:
From start to finish, this was the best performance by an Irish defensive line against a top team in many, many years.
Murtaugh was a little tougher on the offense, and would love if coach Brian Kelly could find a way to get the ball to Davonte Neal:
My only gripe would be to try to get Davonte' Neal the ball more. I believe he only has two touches this season and none in the past two. He's seeing the field a lot but he's so electric I'd hate to waste football games without him doing something on offense.
But a small complaint in an otherwise glowing review of the Notre Dame game. Murtaugh even allows himself to get a bit over-excited in his analysis:
This one just feels different because the offense went 1 for 14 on third down and we were okay with that because the defense was playing like the '66 title team.
Notre Dame will test its defense again when they host Denard Robinson and the Michigan Wolverines on Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
For more on Notre Dame football, check out One Foot Down.