Michigan St. Defeats Notre Dame 31-14

By David
Kaye

The losing streak continues to mount in South Bend as Charlie Weis has now coached the Fighting Irish to a disappointing 0-4 record. In the 119 year history of the prestigious and revered university the team has never started the season this poorly.

Fortunately, a first did occur this weekend as the Irish found the endzone for their first offensive touchdown. Even though running backs Travis Thomas and Robert Hughes accelerated past the Spartans defense, it was the Spartans offense that could not be contained.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer threw for four touchdowns and running back Javon Ringer ran for 144 yards on 26 carries to guide his team to a 4-0 start. After last seasons debacle in which they lost at home to Brady Quinn and Notre Dame 40-37, head coach Mark Dantonio was fixated on pulling out the victory.

For the Irish, freshman quarterback Jimmy Claussen went 7-for-13 with 53 yards passing and was eventually replaced in the fourth quarter by Evan Sharpley. With Purdue, UCLA, Boston College and USC lined up as their next four opponents, it's not impossible to think that Notre Dame could falter to 0-8 heading into a November 3rd bout against Navy.