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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Notre Dame didn't lose this one in the
last minute. The Irish never got the chance.
Bill Burke hit Gari Scott for an 80-yard, fourth-quarter
touchdown as Michigan State beat 24th-ranked Notre Dame 23-13 on
Saturday, dropping the Irish to their second 1-3 start in the last
three seasons.
"It just took the wind out of you right there because you felt
like you have some momentum," Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said.
"You felt like it was going to come down to the last play of the
game."
The Irish lost to Purdue last week after being stopped from
inside the 1-yard line on two straight plays in the final seconds.
Two weeks ago, they lost to Michigan when a last-minute drive ended
on the 10-yard line as time ran out. And they seemed poised for yet
another last-minute finish after entering the final period tied
7-7.
But Burke ended any hope of last-minute heroics.
Following Jim Sanson's field goal that tied the game at 13-13
with 5:44 left, Burke took over at the Michigan State 20. He almost
handed the game to Notre Dame when his first pass was batted into
the air, but Irish linebacker Anthony Denman couldn't hold onto the
ball. Burke hit Scott two plays later for the winning score.
Scott pulled in the pass near the first-down marker on the left
sideline, broke away from free safety Deke Cooper and raced down
the sideline as the crowd fell deafeningly silent.
"They brought a blitz off the slot and Gary ran a corner
route," Burke said. "They kind of forgot about him back there. He
got behind the defense, and I saw him right away, put some air
under the ball and Gary took care of the rest."
Burke finished 21-of-37 for 292 yards with two touchdowns and
one interception as Michigan State beat the Irish for the third
year in a row, its longest winning streak in the series since
winning eight straight from 1955-63.
Jackson tried to rally Notre Dame for one last shot at the end
zone, driving the Irish to midfield. But Amp Campbell broke up
Jackson's third-down pass, and Davie elected to kick with 3:16 left
rather than go for it, under a heavy chorus of boos.
Davie said he figured a punt would give the Irish another shot
to score rather than putting the entire game on one play. But Lloyd
Clemons ripped off a 42-yard run to the Irish 15, setting up Paul
Edinger's third field goal of the quarter.
"There were a lot of things that could happen," Davie said,
struggling to explain the logic behind his call. "I didn't want to
get it all down to making it on fourth down."
Also baffling was Jackson's continued inconsistency running the
Irish offense.
While he was 15-of-26 for 245 yards, he often underthrew
receivers, forcing them to jump over defenders to haul in the ball.
It paid off several times with completions of 45, 42, 39 and 32
yards. But he also threw an interception in the end zone on the
first possession of the second half and fumbled a handoff exchange
inside the Spartans 10.
Notre Dame's lone captain now has six interceptions on the year,
matching his total of last season. For the second week in a row, he
declined to talk after the game.
The loss dropped Notre Dame to 0-3 vs. the Big Ten this season
after the school spurned the conference's offer to join in
February. Davie is 2-7 against the conference in his three seasons.
"This is probably one of the hardest experiences that not only
myself but my teammates have experienced," Notre Dame defensive
end Grant Irons said. "The only thing we can do is just fight
through it.
"We didn't expect this at all."
Coach Nick Saban has a 3-0 record against the Irish and the
Spartans have their second 3-0 start since 1979. It also marks just
the second time since 1987 that a team has won three in a row
against the Irish, who started a season 1-3 or worse for just the
seventh time in 111 years. Two of those have come under Davie's
watch.
"We don't play for two weeks, and a lot of things can happen in
two weeks," Davie said. "We're either going to get better or fade
off into the sunset."
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Michigan State Clubhouse
Notre Dame Clubhouse
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