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Michigan State tried trickery from the 2, a fake field goal again against Notre Dame. And this time, unlike a year ago, the Spartans came up empty.
Late in the game they reached the Irish 3 and were driving for a TD that could have produced another frantic finish, but Kirk Cousins was intercepted by Robert Blanton.
Two trips inside the 5 and no points. Throw in 12 penalties and the No. 15 Spartans left Notre Dame with a 31-13 loss Saturday.
''We're down inside the 10 twice and we come away with nothing on those. One of them is mine. Another one is an interception,'' coach Mark Dantonio said of the missed chances.
''And, you know, so those things are happening. We have to obviously omit those, clear those up.''
The Spartans (2-1) stunned Notre Dame in overtime a year ago with a game-winning TD pass off a fake field goal and tried to surprise the Irish again after lining up for a field goal near the end of the first half.
Notre Dame (1-2) was ready this time. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Ethan Johnson broke up a shovel pass attempt from holder Brad Sonntag and the Irish led 21-10 at the half.
''Field goal at the end of the half, my call, didn't work. Three points. But I don't think that's why we lost the game,'' Dantonio said. ''But I'll take the blame for that.''
Michigan State's Kirk Cousins, who had 11 straight completions at one juncture of the second half, was 34-for-53 for 329 yards but he was intercepted at the Notre Dame 6 with just under four minutes left by Blanton, who returned it 82 yards to the 12.
The Spartans had just recovered a fumbled punt by Notre Dame's John Goodman at the Irish 21 and were ready to set the stage for another frantic finish between the two rivals. But with the Spartans trailing 28-13 and having a first and goal at the 3, Blanton came up with a juggling interception and then took off on his long return that sealed the win.
''There was a crowd in there and in hindsight, I probably should not have thrown it,'' Cousins said.
Cousins completed 12 of his passes to B.J. Cunningham as the Spartans were forced to go to the air and play catch up.
''I think Notre Dame's coverage did a nice job of taking the longer stuff away and we didn't always have time to throw deep. If you are giving us 8-10 yards, we are going to take it,'' Cousins said.
''Getting behind early made it harder to execute the running game for us. We will get back on track. We will run the ball better next week. We just came up short. We got to the 5-yard line or closer twice and came away with no points and you can't expect to win doing that.''
Cierre Wood's 6-yard TD run capping a 92-yard drive made it 21-10 late in the first half.
Cousins came right back after a 42-yard kickoff return by Nick Hill gave the Spartans good field position. His 21-yard pass to Todd Anderson and an 11-yarder to Cunningham gave the Spartans a first down at the Irish 8.
But after the drive stalled, Michigan State lined up for a field goal, only to have their attempt at trickery turned away. Instead of trailing by 8 at the half, they were down 11.
After Notre Dame took an early 7-0 lead on a Wood TD run, the teams traded turnovers twice in a matter of minutes.
Rees took a hard blindside hit from Kevin Pickelman and fumbled with MSU's Jerel Worthy recovering. But just moments later, Notre Dame freshman defensive end Aaron Lynch drove into Cousins from behind, forcing a fumble and Johnson recovered for the Irish. But three plays later Rees' pass was picked off by Kurtis Drummond and returned to the Irish 27, setting up Conroy's 40-yard field goal that made it 7-3.
But 12 seconds later, George Atkinson III - the son of the former NFL star defensive back - took the ensuing kickoff, broke to the sideline and sprinted in for the touchdown. It was Notre Dame's first kickoff return for a TD by a freshman since Raghib Ismail returned two against Rice in 1988.
''That kickoff return was a huge play for them and I think it kind of deflated us momentarily on the sideline,'' Spartans linebacker Max Bullough said. ''When a team can make plays like that in their own stadium, it is tough to beat them.''
