IBB Report Card: Michigan St.

No need to panic yet Irish Fans. The wheels have not come off and neither has the spirit of the Fighting Irish players. Yes, the 23-7 loss at Michigan State did bring back some memories of the 2007 season. However, there are some positives that should show the Irish faithful, 2008 is not over by a long shot!

First things first, Notre Dame has to find its identity on offense. It shouldn't take very long, because the Irish are a pretty good passing team. Jimmy Clausen led Notre Dame downfield several times. In fact, out of the Irish's five drives that were 20 yards or more, four of them resulted in miscues (interception, fumble, and 2 missed field goals). If the Irish made good on at least half of these, we could possibly talking about Notre Dame being 3-0 for the first time since 2002.

Offense
The Irish had virtually no running game, as they finished with just 16 yards (0.7 ypc) as a team. Plus costly mistakes in scoring situations made it look worse than what it was. While Notre Dame took advantage of six Michigan turnovers in last week's victory, the Irish were victimized by three of their own against Michigan State. Notre Dame threw a pair of interceptions, one in the Spartans' end zone and another inside the Irish 25-yard line, and also fumbled at the MSU 25-yard line after marching down the field. Michigan State turned those three turnovers into 10 points.

QB: C
Clausen's stats were alright (24-of-41 for 242 yards 1 TD 2 Int). At one point in the second half when he was guiding the Irish down the field he was 13-of-16 with one touchdown. Unfortunately, both of his interceptions were costly as they were intended for Duval Kamara. The one in the endzone really shouldn't have been thrown as there were two defenders covering Kamara. The second one was actually a poor route run by Duval.

Jimmy is still having the penchant of locking on to his receivers from the get-go. If he can look them off and connect with secondary receivers more frequently, his average of two interceptions a game should decrease.

Clausen, once again, hung in there and put up a A+ effort. It's just too bad that effort doesn't count in the win column.

RB: INC
The longest run of the day (24 yards) belonged to a wide receiver (Golden Tate). As for the actual running backs, James Alridge had the most success running the ball (4 carries for 13 yards). Robert Hughes and Armando Allen had a difficult time as well. Allen did, however, become a safety valve for Clausen with five receptions for 20 yards.

Notre Dame didn't get a chance to implement some of the running plays they went through in practice earlier in the week, but they did have three plays when Allen lined up in the slot, while Alrdige was the primary running back.

The real reason for the lack of running well be addressed when we hand out the offensive line grade.

FB: C
Just another average day for Asaph Scwapp and Luke Schmidt. When they were in there blocking, both held their defenders in check and didn't let any get a whiff near Clausen.

TE: C- (during the game) F (after the game)
The 3 catches for 31 yards production by Kyle Rudolph (2-29) and Will Yeatman (1-2), are still not anywhere near the standard Anthony Fasano and John Carlson set in Weis' first three seasons. Rudolph did have some nice catches, but his blocking needs to improve dramatically if the Irish want to salvage their running game. He was open on a few occasions, which Clausen will see in game films.

Yeatman was the better of the two in blocking, and in getting in trouble with the South Bend Police. This could possibly be the last time we see the young man in any Irish uniform. It's too bad, because Will is really a good kid that just made dumb college kid mistakes, hence therefore the failing grade.

WR: B-We're witnessing two great Notre Dame receivers in Michael Floyd and Golden Tate. Floyd would have a better performance if it wasn't for his fumble at the MSU 14 yard line. Overall, he led the Irish in both receptions (7) yards (86), and touchdowns (1). What can we say about Golden Tate that hasn't already been said this season? His five receptions for 83 yards looked great and will be counted on to do more as the season goes on.

Robby Parris made his presence felt, while the same could be said of David Grimes' absence. Notre Dame will need to have their whole receiving arsenal healthy and ready against the Boilermakers on Saturday.

OL: D
Allen Pinkett's assessment during the postgame show was right on the money. Whoever you put in there at running back, they will not be effective. The Irish offensive line was just not physical to push any of the Michigan State defenders off the line and create any significant holes for their running backs. The only lineman that looked steady and consistent in his blocks was Chris Stewart. Stewart graded out the highest of all the Irish lineman and will only get better as the season goes on.

The Irish did excel in pass blocking for the most part, but did have some mental errors (Sam Young personal foul penalty, fumbled shotgun snap, and some missed blocks that resulted in sacks).

It's back to the drawing board this week for John Latina and his lineman! This unit is better than that, and they will have games where the Irish have success running the ball. Hopefully that game will be this Saturday against Purdue.

Overall Offensive Grade: C-/D+

Defense
Notre Dame gave up over 200 yards rushing and two scores to State's Javon Ringer. With that said, it was 13-7 game with nine minutes remaining. The Irish defense kept Ringer in check, allowing just 124 yards on 32 carries (just 3.9 per rush) before he ripped off a 63-yard burst and capped the long run with a one-yard scoring plunge late in the fourth quarter. On that game-sealing drive, Ringer rushed seven times for 77 yards.

What was also impressive was when the Irish held the Spartans out of the endzone and forced them to kick one of their three field goals.

Overall, the defense didn't have too bad of a game. If it wasn't for defending a short field on one series and being on the field for long periods of time, Notre Dame is improving behind the Corwin Brown-Jon Tenuta project.

DL: C-
Ian Williams led the defensive front with six tackles, while freshman Ian Williams had two pass break ups. Pat Kuntz and Justin Brown had two tackles apiece for the Irish. For the most part, the defensive line held up during goal line situations and kept Ringer in control for three quarters.

Notre Dame will be giving up some rushing yards, but it will not be that drastic like Ringer's totals the rest of the way.

LB: B-
Brian Smith just keeps getting better and better after each game. He tied for the team-high with 10 tackles, forced one fumble, and had a great tackle on Javon Ringer behind the line of scrimmage.

Maurice Crum had eight tackles, while Harrison Smith was all over field for six tackles.

DB: B
The Irish pass defense limited their first two opponents to just over 55% completion percentage entering last Saturday's contest. Notre Dame improved upon that average after holding Michigan State starting quarterback Brian Hoyer to just 46.2% (12-for-26) on the afternoon.

Once again Irish safeties, David Bruton (10) and Kyle McCarthy (9), were leading the way for Notre Dame.

Terrail Lambert had a few breakdowns in coverage, but held his own against a good fast receiver in Mark Dell.

The Irish secondary only gave up two passes over 20 yards on the day.

Overall Defensive Grade: C+

Special Teams: D-
Brandon Walker is still 0-fer on field goals this season. His 51-yarder had the distance, but was way off the mark, and his second miss was due in most part to a horrible snap and hold.

Eric Maust recovered well after his first punt set up Michigan State's first field goal. He got his average back to a respectable 40 + yards and pinned two inside the 20 yard line.

Weis will probably have to spend some more time with the kicking game this week, as Walker's lack of consistency in games will open up a battle between him and Ryan Burkhart for Purdue Week.

Coaching: C-
The game plan was there for the Irish to execute. Costly turnovers and the Irish defense being on the field a lot proved to be the final straw on that one.

From here on out, Weis and Company have to
1.) Stick to finding their identity on offense
2.) Stay positive and upbeat (they fought to the very end on Saturday, which wouldn't have been the case last season)
3.) Be the smarter team and limit their mistakes

Overall Grade: A high C- (1.9)

If Notre Dame can get a handle on those mistakes, there's still no reason the Irish can't go 7-5 or 8-4 on the season. Well see how they adjust against a decent Purdue squad on Saturday.

There are still a lot of arrows pointing up for this team with a emerging receiving corps, an improving Jimmy Clausen, and an opportunistic defense. I really believe games like last Saturday will be few and far between because of this team's heart and determination is so much greater than last season.

Turnovers are costly, and the Irish paid the price for them. Today is the start of a new week and new opportunities. Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, but today is like a gift, because it is the present!

GO IRISH!