Tag: East Lansing

Notre Dame to renew rivalry with Michigan State in 2026, 2027

Mark your calendars!

Notre Dame and Michigan State used to battle each other nearly every year. However, the rivalry has been put on in part so that the Irish can fulfill their obligations to schedule enough ACC opponents in exchange for retaining their independence. Fortunately, it only will be on hold for a couple more years.

The Irish have announced they will play a home-and-home with the Spartans in 2026 and 2027 with the first game being played in South Bend. It will be the first time the programs have met since the Irish won a 38-18 decision in East Lansing in 2017. The Irish have won three of the past four meetings in the rivalry.

It’s worth noting that the Irish also will renew their rivalry with Michigan, but that won’t come until 2033 and 2034. This should tide us over a little bit until then. Also, while we wait for 2026, let’s look a few photos featuring the Irish and Spartans together over the years:

Watch: 2004 highlights of Notre Dame win at Michigan State

Remember this game?

One week after Notre Dame won its 2004 home opener over Michigan, it was time to head to East Lansing and take on Michigan State. With an opportunity to go over .500 for the first time that season, the Irish didn’t have the cleanest game as the special teams allowed two touchdowns. But the Spartans turned the ball over six times, one of which led to a [autotag]Tom Zbikowski[/autotag] 75-yard fumble return for a touchdown, in a 31-24 Irish victory.

Here’s how ESPN covered the highlights of that game:

[autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag], completed less than half of his throws, but he threw for 215 yards. [autotag]Matt Shelton[/autotag] received 123 of those and caught Quinn’s lone touchdown pass. Quinn also ran for a touchdown himself and handed off to [autotag]Ryan Grant[/autotag] for another score. [autotag]Darius Walker[/autotag] ran for a game-high 98 yards on 26 carries.

While the season ultimately ended in disappointment, on one night in East Lansing, all was right for the 2004 Irish.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame fans replying to Jenkins’ MSU tweet should be ashamed

Is football all some people think about?

Once again, the nation finds itself in mourning over a school shooting, this one at Michigan State.

As of this writing, three students are dead and five are in critical condition after being wounded. In an act of solidarity, the Grotto on Notre Dame’s campus has candles spelling out Michigan State’s initials. The university’s president, the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag], tweeted a photo of the arrangement at the Grotto along with a message for those in East Lansing:

Unfortunately, too many Irish football fans took the tweet as an opportunity to bash Jenkins, athletic director [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] and the university as a whole for not paying up to get Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. With Ludwig staying where he is, Irish fans were infuriated, and they decided to vent.

We will not post any of the replies here, but let’s just say a lot of them don’t know how to read a room.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups announced

Besides the one involving the Irish, which game most interests you?

Few things draw more excitement during the early part of the college basketball season than the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Every team from one power conference matches up against one from the other. Whether the opponent is good or bad, it also is nice for these teams to see how well they do against a similar level of competition. It definitely is one of the major tuneups for when the conference schedule begins.

The 2022 matchups have been announced, and the ACC would like to change its luck. The conference won this series, which began in 1999, in each of its first 10 seasons. Since then, its only wins have come in 2016 and 2017, the latter of which saw it post a series-best 11-3 record. The Big Ten has had the upper hand in each of the past three years, so a changing of the guard is overdue.

Here are the matchups for this year’s edition:

Big 12 Commissioner: ‘I’m not sure playing in East Lansing on Jan. 7 is a really good idea’

Bob Bowlsby used East Lansing as his punching bag when shooting down the idea of playing CFP games at home sites.

[mm-video type=video id=01f3c17j9wh5xdpb0j6x playlist_id=01eqbz825g32p3akwt player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f3c17j9wh5xdpb0j6x/01f3c17j9wh5xdpb0j6x-94bc96c0600b72bfde06a5e50385bb0f.jpg]

With a lot of changes on the horizon regarding the college football postseason, the NCAA will need to figure out a plan to make a 12-team playoff work.

The early plan is to have the first slate of those games, between the 5-12 seeds, take place on the campus of the higher-seeded team. After that though? All playoff games will take place at a neutral site in a bowl game.

When asked about this plan, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who was part of the committee recommending this plan, gave a lousy excuse that targeted the Spartans for whatever reason:

“I’m not sure playing in East Lansing, Michigan on Jan. 7 is a really good idea.” — Bob Bowlsby said in response to a question from Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports.

Great. Well, if and when Michigan State gets back to the playoff, I guess we can all travel to some vacant NFL stadium in the middle of nowhere to watch the Burger King Bowl or whatever instead of tailgating and enjoying the game in our home stadium. It’s not like the NFL hasn’t done this for, well, the entirety of the sport’s history. This is yet another ridiculous decision from a ridiculous organization. End of rant.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Davenport wide receiver and East Lansing local Jack Morse transfers to Michigan State

East Lansing High School grad Jack Morse announced Friday he will be transferring to Michigan State.

[jwplayer W4ONB6vg]

It’s always cool to see a local kid get a chance to come home and play under the bright lights, and that’s what wide receive Jack Morse will be able to do. Wide receiver Jack Morse, who played for East Lansing High School, announced on Friday that he would be transferring to Michigan State Football.

Morse took a redshirt last year in Grand Rapid, Michigan’s Davenport University, which is an NCAA Division II school. In high school, he was named Detroit News First Team All-State and was CAAC All-Conference as both a wide receiver and a kicker.

It looks like he will still play as a wide receiver, as that was his listed position, but with his kicking ability he might be able to carve out a niche there as well.

[vertical-gallery id=29281]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

2021 3-star WR Andrel Anthony Jr. out of East Lansing puts MSU Football in Top-10 for recruiting

One of MSU’s top targets for 2021, Andrel Anthony Jr. out of East Lansing, has placed Michigan State in his top-10 for recruiting.

[jwplayer PPs4Ox8k]

Michigan State Football and head coach Mel Tucker have made another significant step forward in the recruiting process for one of their top 2021 targets as Andrel Anthony Jr., 3-star wide receiver out of East Lansing High School, has placed the Spartans in his top-10 choices for his commitment.

While Anthony has identified his top-10 options, it looks like it is developing into a four way race between Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Penn State as 247sports has all four listed as ‘Warm’ in the hunt for Anthony’s commitment.

Anthony is the top wide-out in the state of Michigan and 247sports has him as the No. 12 recruit in the state overall. He is also ranked as the No. 82 receiver in the 2021 class according to their composite rankings. They currently have him at a 67% chance to attend U of M and a 33% chance to attend MSU so this could develop into a major in-state recruiting battle.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]