Grinz On Green Blog: Spartans Grind Out Victory Together
9/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist
SOUTH BEND, Ind. â€" There are various ways to look at No. 12 Michigan State's 36-28 victory over No. 18 Notre Dame.
The Spartans ended a three-game losing streak to the Fighting Irish and it was their first win in Notre Dame Stadium since 2007, Mark Dantonio's first season as head coach. MSU prevailed for the 10th time in its last 13 games against ranked opponents, including six out of the last seven.
It was the coming-out party for wide receiver Donnie Corley, the first-year wide receiver insiders and outsiders agree has all the tools to be a freshman phenom. He took the ball away from a Notre Dame defender in the end zone for his first career touchdown that, combined with a tricky two-point conversion, put MSU ahead, 8-7, in the second quarter, and to stay.
For his encore, Corley's last of four catches for 88 yards covered 28 yards to convert on third-and-7 from Michigan State's 17-yard line secured the win in the waning seconds.
And, it was a success from a toughness standpoint â€" both physically and mentally -- that Dantonio made a priority heading into the second game of the season after an oddly schedule bye in Week 2.
After taking a 15-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, Michigan State imposed its will on Notre Dame with a punishing ground game featuring tailbacks Gerald Holmes and LJ Scott, who combined for an almost evenly divided 198 yards and three touchdowns.
The Spartans added to their initial two-touchdown run with 21 more unanswered points on Holmes' 3-yard plunge, Scott's 9-yard burst and Holmes' career-best 73-yard sprint for MSU's longest touchdown rush in two years and what appeared to be an insurmountable 29-point lead, 36-7.
Then, after Notre Dame challenged that supposition by scoring three-straight touchdowns in just under 12 minutes to make it a one-score game with 6:02 remaining, and remind nervous fans of the miraculous Irish comeback of 2006 in Spartan Stadium minus the rain, the Spartans found the resolve to prevent the roof from caving in on them.
However, from the sound of Dantonio's assessment, the win was only the beginning.
"We came down here and felt like we needed to win on toughness, and I thought we did that," Dantonio said. "We had to be able to run the football, and we were able to do that. We came up with some explosive plays.
"So, big win. We take it from here and start to develop an identity."
It was an interesting characterization. Although the Spartans atoned for their less-than-satisfying performance in the 28-13 season-opening win against Furman, they are still in their formative stages, according to their coach, heading into next Saturday's Big Ten opener against Wisconsin.
"That was our first game after having one game in six weeks," Dantonio said. "So, we've been working and we had a little extra time to work, and when you don't play well and people write you off a little bit, you have a tendency to maybe rise up a little bit and I think that's what we did.
"I think we came into this football game with something to prove. We talked all along that we needed to measure up and I thought we did that."
Fifth-year senior quarterback Tyler O'Connor was up to the task by establishing career-high statistics with 26 attempts, 19 completions and 241 yards, along with two touchdowns and one interception. Then again, this could be a frequent occurrence going forward for the first-year starter.
Holmes, a fourth-year junior playing with a heavy heart in the wake of his grandmother's death on Friday, ran with power and speed while gaining 100 yards on 13 carries. To compliment the ground attack, R.J. Shelton, a senior wideout, had a career-high eight catches for 80 yards and one touchdown.
The defense, led by redshirt junior linebacker Jon Reschke, who had a team-high eight tackles after missing Furman game because of injury, limited the Irish rushing attack to 57 yards on 25 carries. The Spartans did give up 344 yards through the air, but Reschke's first career interception, off impressive Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, added to the scoring avalanche by setting up Scott's touchdown.
"I think we took a little bit of a step," said fifth-year senior middle linebacker and co-captain Riley Bullough. "I think each week that's going to grow, but tonight we just showed we're a tough team that played the full 60 minutes."
With the possible exception of Scott, who as a true freshman last season became the closest thing MSU had to a featured back, O'Connor, Holmes, Shelton and Reschke â€" like so many of their teammates who have risen on the depth chart -- largely played complementary roles before this season, which is why Dantonio isn't drawing any conclusions about the character of this team.
Yet.
"We were able to run the ball, we had big plays, I thought we played well defensively," Dantonio said. "We certainly took a step from our first game. We played a good football team away from home in a great environment on a national stage.
"You've got to be able to measure up in those times. We've got good players. They dream of these opportunities; they're not afraid to step out into the light a little bit. That's why they're playing early. We've got good seniors and our seniors have always carried us. You look at Tyler O'Connor â€" it was a big game for him."
Dantonio's confidence may have admittedly flickered slightly as Notre Dame seized the wave of momentum in the second half, but he said the players' never faltered.
"We found a way," Dantonio said. "Again, we've got to form an identity as we move forward."
Holmes, who had no carries against Furman, went in off the bench in relief of Scott to help establish the tone as much as anybody.
"I came out with a little edge on me," said Holmes. "I told the coaches, same as last year, when my name is called I'm going to be ready. So when my name was called I got the job done."
He did so with thoughts of the woman he called "Little Grandma" growing up in Flint foremost in his mind.
"It was difficult," Holmes said. "I was in the middle of meetings (Friday) and I kind of broke out in tears and I ran out, but I knew I had a game today and I kind of steered the motivation from her to come out here and ball.
"It was tough. I thought I had a good year last year, and so coming in and not really playing (in the first game) kind of hit me. It was a tough two weeks but I kept grinding. Being a Spartan, that's what we do â€" we grind until our name's called."
That's a pretty good place to start.
"I feel right now," Holmes said, "we're a grit-kind-of team. We're a team that's not gonna back down. We're a team that won't give up, and going forward we've still got a lot to learn because we're still a young group of people.
"A lot of people are just starting at playing together, but I feel like when the time comes, we're going to all be molded together."
