Post-Game Notes: Notre Dame
9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2009
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• Michigan State fell to Notre Dame, 33-30, snapping MSU's record-setting six-game winning streak in Notre Dame Stadium ... it marks MSU's first loss at Notre Dame Stadium since 1993.
• Kirk Cousins set career highs in yards (302), completions (23) and attempts (35) ... his 302 passing yards are the third best by a Spartan quarterback in the Notre Dame series (Drew Stanton - 327 in 2005; Ed Smith 306 in 1978) ... the 321 yards are also the most by a Spartan since Brian Hoyer threw for 321 at California last season.
• In his first game of the season, Mark Dell had six receptions for 121 yards, marking his second career 100-yard receiving game ... his career high came last season at California with 202 yards on nine catches.
• The Spartans recorded 354 passing yards, their best passing effort in the Mark Dantonio era.
• In his first series of the game, Keith Nichol led the Spartans on a four-play, 80-yard TD drive in the second quarter that cut the Irish lead to 13-10 ... Nichol finished 2-of-4 passing for 22 yards ... he also had 14 rushing yards.
• Larry Caper scored two rushing touchdowns, the first TDs of his career ... his first score was a 1-yard run in the second quarter that gave MSU a 17-16 lead ... his 7-yard TD in the third quarter cut the Irish lead to 26-24 ... Caper finished the game with season highs in carries (12) and yards (51).
• B.J. Cunningham recorded a career-high seven catches for 74 yards.
• Blair White caught six passes for 75 yards and tied his career high with two touchdowns ... White now has 22 receptions for 342 yards and four touchdowns this season ... he is averaging 114.0 receiving yards per game ... he also went over the 1,000-yard receiving mark for his career in the game.
• Michigan State has had a 100-yard receiver in each of the first three games (White vs. Montana State and Central Michigan).
• Greg Jones' streak of games with double-digit tackles came to an end at nine ... Jones recorded nine tackles in the game.
• Keshawn Martin threw his first career TD pass, a 30-yard strike to Blair White in the second quarter that cut the Notre Dame lead to 13-10.
• Brian Linthicum tied his career high with three receptions for 34 yards.
• Brett Swenson hit his first two point-after attempts before his third attempt was blocked ... he tied a school record (along with Dave Rayner) with 76 consecutive PATs ... it was Swenson's first missed PAT since the Northwestern game in 2007 ... Swenson made a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter ... he missed his first field goal of the season on a 51-yard attempt in the first quarter that hit the right upright ... Swenson is now 57-for-75 for his career on field-goal attempts.
• Trenton Robinson recorded his first career interception with a grab on the Spartan 10-yard line on the last play of the first half.
• Kevin Pickelman recorded a career-high six tackles, including one for a loss of 6 yards.
• Three Spartans made their first career starts: D.J. Young (right tackle), Chris Norman (SAM linebacker) and Trenton Robinson (safety).
• Aaron Bates placed two of his three punts inside the 20 ... he now has placed seven of his 10 punts this season inside the 20.
• Glenn Winston's 154 kickoff return yards ranks seventh best in MSU single-game history ... Winston's career high of 173 yards last season at Penn State ranks third best in the MSU record books.
• MSU turned the ball over twice - its first turnovers of the season (Caulton Ray fumble, Kirk Cousins interception).
