Notre Dame is 3-1after a physical battle with Michigan State. While I will admit it was stressful to watch, I don't think it was as ugly as Irish faithful are making it out to be. First off, the defense played the best game it played all year. They started to somewhat resemble the dominating defense of a year ago. Particularly Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt started to look like the All-American defensive line that was advertised and got to the quarterback. They did not give up any touchdowns in the second half. That was huge.
Now offensively, it was better than the stats indicate. First off, this is the number one ranked defense in the nation and have thrived on turnovers for touchdowns. The fact that the Fighting Irish did not turn it over once is something to be positive about. 17 points against this defense is pretty good too. The running game was disappointing with the exception of Cam McDaniel who is earning his letter with his toughness.Amir Carlisle has been disappointing these past two weeks after a nice start.
Now for Tommy Rees, anytime a starting quarterback throws under 200 yards, that is disappointing. It is also disappointing to see him miss consistently on the deep ball. Having said that, Rees was better than his stats. A pass interference penalty may not show up on the stat sheet but the result is the same as a long completion. Rees and Irish receivers were able to draw 4 penalties. Both of their touchdown drives had long interference penalties set them up. Those plays alone would have boosted Rees's numbers by at least 100 yards. That is not even including the ones Michigan State got away with which there were a few.
On another positive note, I really liked what I saw from Corey Robinson. So don't be too hard on the Irish offense. This might be the best defense we see all year.
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