September 19, 2026 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Notre Dame defends the belt, 27–10, at home over Michigan State.

Home · Defending Holder

Notre DameAP No. 3 27

Away · Challenger

Michigan State 10

AP poll, week 3: Michigan State unranked at Notre Dame No. 3 · No. 1 that week: Texas. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Notre Dame came in 294 days into reign #332, which began with a win over Stanford, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Notre Dame went on to defend it 3 more times before BYU took it on October 17, 2026, 322 days after the reign began.

For Michigan State this was its 16th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.

This is the only time Michigan State and Notre Dame have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Notre Dame dominated Michigan State from start to finish, controlling the line of scrimmage and the clock en route to a 27-10 belt defense. The Fighting Irish struck first with a field goal and a touchdown run by N. James Jr. in the first quarter, then added another score on a short rushing touchdown by A. Williams in the second quarter while holding Michigan State to just a field goal. Michigan State's offense sputtered throughout the afternoon, managing only 167 total yards with two critical turnovers, including an interception in the end zone in the first quarter and another pick by A. Shuler in the fourth. Notre Dame's defense suffocated the Spartans' passing game, while quarterback C. Carr orchestrated a methodical fourth-quarter drive capped by his own rushing touchdown, with M. Gilbert providing clutch receptions downfield to seal the victory.

C. Carr's 61-yard completion to M. Gilbert in Q1 set up N. James Jr.'s early touchdown and established Notre Dame's offensive rhythm
A. Milivojevic's first-quarter interception at the UND27 prevented an early Michigan State score and shifted momentum
C. Fancher's 15-yard rushing touchdown in Q2 kept Michigan State competitive at 17-10, but Notre Dame's defense tightened thereafter
C. Carr's fourth-quarter rushing touchdown capped a dominant 39-yard drive and put the game out of reach

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

By Quarter

Line score

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Notre Dame	10	7	3	7	27
Michigan State	0	10	0	0	10

Pulled directly from CFBD’s play-by-play record, the same source as every score in the lineage.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Notre DameMichigan State

Total yards395167

Rushing yards16144

Passing yards234123

First downs2011

3rd down conv.4/124/11

Turnovers02

Penalties–yards3–302–30

Time of possession37:0222:58

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:06	Notre Dame	+25 yd	(12:05) #35 S.Porath field goal attempt from 25 yards GOOD (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci), clock 12:06
Q1 14:44	Notre Dame	+61 yd	(15:00) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep middle to #14 M.Gilbert caught at MSU27, for 61 yards to the MSU14 (#3 T.Bell), 1ST DOWN
Q1 4:31	Notre Dame	+2 yd	(04:34) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 N.James Jr. rush middle for 2 yards gain to the MSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 04:31 #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q1 3:02	Michigan State	+0 yd	(03:06) Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic pass intercepted by #28 L.Talich at UND27, End Of Play
Q2 10:05	Michigan State	+32 yd	(10:06) #37 L.Boyd field goal attempt from 32 yards GOOD (H: #9 R.Dakin, LS: #50 N.Duzansky), clock 10:05
Q2 9:54	Notre Dame	+21 yd	(10:05) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short right to #6 J.Faison caught at UND38, for 21 yards to the UND46 (#3 T.Bell), 1ST DOWN
Q2 4:46	Notre Dame	+1 yd	(04:48) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 A.Williams rush left for 1 yard gain to the MSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 04:46. The previous play is under automatic review - "Runner broke the plane". CALL UPHELD #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q2 4:38	Notre Dame	+22 yd	(04:46) #36 M.Drescher kickoff 70 yards to the MSU10 #32 K.Williams return 22 yards to the MSU32 (#20 J.O'Brien; #23 J.Clapper). #44 J.Coyne injured on the play
Q2 3:48	Michigan State	+53 yd	(04:03) Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic pass complete deep left to #3 R.Bullard Jr. caught at UND15, for 53 yards to the UND15, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN. UND is challenging the ruling on the field - "Pass completion". CALL UPHELD
Q2 3:21	Michigan State	+15 yd	(03:24) Shotgun #2 C.Fancher rush left for 15 yards gain to the UND00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 03:21, 1ST DOWN #37 L.Boyd kick attempt good (H: #9 R.Dakin, LS: #50 N.Duzansky)
Q3 1:00	Notre Dame	+35 yd	(01:03) #35 S.Porath field goal attempt from 35 yards GOOD (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci), clock 01:00
Q3 0:54	Notre Dame	+21 yd	(01:00) #36 M.Drescher kickoff 60 yards to the MSU05 #32 K.Williams return 21 yards to the MSU26 (#33 M.Jeffery)
Q4 13:22	Michigan State	-12 yd	(14:04) No Huddle-Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic sacked for loss of 12 yards to the MSU36 (#5 B.Traore), fumble by #11 A.Milivojevic recovered by MSU #75 B.Murawski at MSU36, End Of Play
Q4 13:00	Notre Dame	+28 yd	(13:10) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep middle to #14 M.Gilbert caught at MSU48, for 28 yards to the MSU40 (#2 D.Vaught), 1ST DOWN
Q4 11:27	Notre Dame	+39 yd	(11:44) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep left to #14 M.Gilbert caught at MSU03, for 39 yards to the MSU03, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Q4 10:55	Notre Dame	+3 yd	(11:00) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr rush middle for 3 yards gain to the MSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:55 #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q4 10:49	Michigan State	+9 yd	(10:55) Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic pass intercepted by #8 A.Shuler at MSU36 QB hurried by #5 B.Traore #8 A.Shuler return 9 yards to the MSU27 (#13 C.McCray)
Q4 9:18	Notre Dame	+39 yd	(09:21) #35 S.Porath field goal attempt from 39 yards NO GOOD (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci), clock 09:18

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Notre Dame

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
C.J. Carr	18/24	234	9.8	0	0	92.3

Michigan State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Alessio Milivojevic	9/17	123	7.2	0	2	36.0
Cam Fancher	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	--

Rushing

Notre Dame

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Nolan James Jr.	26	121	4.7	1	17
Aneyas Williams	9	25	2.8	1	9
Brayden Robinson	1	11	11.0	0	11
C.J. Carr	3	9	3.0	1	7
Jonaz Walton	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Team	3	-4	-1.3	0	0

Michigan State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Camryn Edwards	12	38	3.2	0	9
Cam Fancher	2	18	9.0	1	15
Marvis Parrish	5	8	1.6	0	4
Alessio Milivojevic	8	-20	-2.5	0	7

Receiving

Notre Dame

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Micah Gilbert	8	170	21.3	61
Jordan Faison	5	38	7.6	21
Aneyas Williams	2	11	5.5	7
Mylan Graham	1	8	8.0	8
Nolan James Jr.	2	7	3.5	5

Michigan State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Rodney Bullard Jr.	2	66	33.0	53
Jayden Savoury	3	30	10.0	18
Fredrick Moore	2	13	6.5	13
Kai Rios	1	9	9.0	9
Chrishon Mccray	1	5	5.0	5

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Notre Dame

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Drayk Bowen	8	7	0	0	0	0
Jaylen Sneed	5	4	0	0	0	0
Luke Talich	3	2	1	1.5	1	0
Adon Shuler	3	2	0	0.5	0	0
Bryce Young	3	2	0	0	0	0
Francis Brewu	3	1	0	0	0	0
Boubacar Traore	2	2	1	1	0	2
Tionne Gray	2	2	1	1	0	0
Jaiden Ausberry	2	2	0	0	0	0
Armel Mukam	2	2	0	1	0	0
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa	2	1	0	0	0	0
Loghan Thomas	1	1	1	1	0	0
Matt Jeffery	1	1	0	0	0	0
Christian Gray	1	0	0	0	1	0
Thomas Davis Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ethan Long	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ja'Kobe Clapper	1	0	0	0	0	0
Joey O'Brien	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jayden Sanders	1	0	0	0	1	0
Dylahn McKinney	0	0	0	0	1	0
Leonard Moore	0	0	0	0	1	0
Rodney Dunham	0	0	0	0	1	1

Michigan State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Jordan Hall	13	9	0	0.5	0	0
Tre Bell	5	5	0	0	1	0
Devin Vaught	5	4	0	0	0	0
Dion Crawford	5	3	0	0	0	0
Eli Coenen	5	3	0	0	0	0
Nikai Martinez	4	3	0	0	1	0
Brady Pretzlaff	4	3	0	0	0	0
Tyran Chappell	4	3	0	0	0	0
Caleb Wheatland	3	3	0	0	0	0
Cam Stodghill	2	2	0	0	0	0
Keahnist Thompson	2	1	0	0.5	0	0
Derrick Simmons	2	1	0	0	0	0
Isaac Smith	1	1	1	1	0	0
Chrishon Mccray	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ben Roberts	1	1	0	0	0	1
Michael Richard Jr.	1	1	0	1	0	0
Trey Lisle	1	1	0	0	0	0
Charles Brantley	1	0	0	0	0	0
Keshawn Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0
Mikeshun Beeler	1	0	0	0	0	0
Cal Thrush	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Notre Dame

No recorded stats in this category.

Michigan State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Alessio Milivojevic	1	0	0

Interceptions

Notre Dame

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Adon Shuler	1	9	0
Luke Talich	1	0	0

Michigan State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Notre Dame

No recorded stats in this category.

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kenneth Williams	2	43	21.5	22	0
Evan Young	1	19	19.0	19	0

Kicking

Notre Dame

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Spencer Porath	2/3	67.0	35	3/3	9

Michigan State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Liam Boyd	1/1	100.0	32	1/1	4

Punting

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jasper Scaife	1	49	49.0	0	0	49

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Rhys Dakin	4	181	45.3	0	2	57
Team	1	14	14.0	0	0	14

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401858453) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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