Notre Dame and Michigan State used to play annually in football in a series that featured one of the most famous games in the history of college football, the 10-10 tie in the 1966 battle.
With Notre Dame’s “friends with benefits” deal with the ACC the meetings between the Irish and Spartans have become a lot more rare as the two haven’t met since 2017 and won’t again until 2026 and 2027.
Just because the teams haven’t met on the field for a while doesn’t mean the battles in recruiting have gone away as new Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker recently offered prized 2021 cornerback and Notre Dame commitment Philip Riley, Jr. a scholarship.
Extremely excited to announce I have received an offer from Michigan State University #GoGreen đź’š pic.twitter.com/76E6cC18wX
— PhilipRileyJr (@Riley18Philip) July 24, 2020
Riley committed to Notre Dame on May 5 in what was a huge win for new cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and the Fighting Irish.
Riley had some big time offers before choosing Notre Dame as the likes of Clemson, Oregon, Penn State and Texas were just a few of the several.
It seems like it’d still be a major upset to see Riley not ultimately wearing blue and gold but it’s worth noting and worth following a bit how hard Tucker and Michigan State go here as that will tell us what we need to know about how open, or not open Riley may be to potentially even looking elsewhere.