Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from Notre Dame win

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Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) fights his way into the end zone as Michigan State Spartans linebacker Chris Frey (23) defends in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. MSU won 36-28. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Defense must remain aggressive throughout

Again, this might have a little to do with play-calling, such as Harlon Barnett remaining in press coverage instead of soft coverage in the third quarter, but the defense needs to remain aggressive.

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We all know the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Michigan State learned that the hard way against Notre Dame in the second half. The Spartans were getting heavy pressure on Kizer in the second and third quarters, taking a commanding 36-7 lead because the Fighting Irish couldn’t get anything going offensively.

Riley Bullough, Andrew Dowell, Chris Frey and Jon Reschke all made a serious impact in the run game while Malik McDowell, Kevin Williams, Raequan Williams, Evan Jones, Gabe Sherrod and Demetrius Cooper helped plug holes. The defense limited Notre Dame to just over 50 rushing yards and the passing game wasn’t faring much better.

Then the defense backed off, started to play prevent and allowed Kizer all the time in the world to get the ball off and Michigan State’s once-comfortable 29-point lead shrunk all the way down to just eight. Luckily, Michigan State escaped with the eight-point victory even though it looked like Kizer was going to engineer a comeback.

If blitzes and tight coverage are working, don’t change it. That was a major difference-maker in Notre Dame’s 21-point run. That can’t keep happening.

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