The Z-Score: Inside The Numbers of Notre Dame’s Win over Sparty

Another game in 2026, and another game in which the offense struggled to move the ball on the ground in the first half. There's legitimate cause for concern, but we'll set it aside for now. See stat number three for that.

Instead, Nolan James Jr.'s performance against Michigan State is worth highlighting. James is the first running back not named Jeremiyah Love to rush for 120+ yards against a Big Ten team since 2011, and just the ninth running back to do so since 1995.

Notre Dame Running Backs with 120+ Yard Games

Since 1995, versus Big Ten Teams

1995 Randy Kinder OSU, PUR

1998 Autry Denson MICH, PUR

2008-09 Armando Allen MICH, PUR

2011 Cierre Wood MICH, PUR

2025 Jeremiyah Love PUR, USC

2000 Julius Jones MSU

2002 Ryan Grant MICH

2006 Darius Walker PUR

2026 Nolan James Jr. MSU

And no, seeing USC on that board doesn't seem any less weird than it did a year ago.

Notre Dame's rushing attack was far from efficient on Saturday. For the balance of the game, the Irish averaged 3.7 yards per carry. The first 20 first-half carries netted 3.4 yards per carry, whereas the second half improved to 4.1 yards per carry.

There are two takeaways here. First, the Irish can wear down their opponent through this commitment to the run. Slow, long drives with plenty of short runs might not be ideal when you have a quarterback of CJ Carr's caliber, but it will wear down less physically prepared teams. It worked against the Spartans and other lesser teams; it's a safe bet it will keep working.

The second takeaway is that it may be time to make James the starter. Per Pro-Football-Focus, James and Aneyas Williams have the same number of 10+ yard carries (3), but James has a higher breakaway percentage (18.9% to 11.1%). More importantly, given the current construction of the offensive line, James has forced seven missed tackles to Williams' five.

Notre Dame's offensive line is performing below expectations, and it's not in the same way as last year after facing Miami. These teams have respectable Power Four lines, but not CFP-caliber lines. Notre Dame has injuries to account for, but even so.

For now, it's worth giving the ball to the running back who can make the most out of suboptimal carries. James averaged 3.77 yards after contact per PFF to William's 2.89.

It might be time to see what a change looks like, though Purdue may provide Williams the opportunity he needs to build some momentum.

It's hard to have a lot of firsts when you're playing the same position as legendary players like Harrison Smith, Xavier Watts, and Kyle Hamilton.

Luke Talich found one anyway.

Per Stathead's database, which is highly accurate on positions but not perfect, Talich was the first Notre Dame safety to record a sack and an interception in the same game since at least 2005. That's as far back as Stathead's defensive stats go, but Talich could be the first true safety to do it in a program.

For context, only ten such safeties had a game like that last season, and only four did so against Power Four competition. If you add in Talich's additional half tackle for loss, he's the first safety to produce his final stat line against a Power 4 team since Penn State's Ji'ayir Brown did so against Utah in the Rose Bowl.

As promised, angst about Notre Dame's rushing attack.

Notre Dame finished the game with 43 carries for 161 rushing yards, which comes out to 3.7 yards per carry. In each of their three games this season, Notre Dame has had 30+ carries and averaged fewer than 4 yards per carry.

In 2024 and 2025, the Irish had just two such games each season and against much stiffer competition. In 2024, the games occurred against Penn State and Louisville. As for 2025, it was North Carolina State and Texas A&M.

There's some noise in the statistic, so it's fine to approach it with a grain of salt. If you're rushing 30+ times in a game, you're likely in contention late, so the sample might be biased toward obvious rushing downs where you're willing to accept shorter plays to burn clock.

A game with 30+ carries also requires a fairly high time of possession.

Still, that Notre Dame has been that dramatically inefficient against markedly lesser competition is a signal in the noise.

Through three games in 2025, the offense had 94 carries for 338 rushing yards compared to this season's 104 carries for 390 rushing yards. But back out CJ Carr's 11 carries for 16 rushing yards against Miami, and it's really 83 attempts for 322 yards, or 3.9 yards per carry compared to 3.8.

Even if that's not a significant difference, the level of competition should help convey the point.

Against its two Group of Six foes in 2025, Notre Dame averaged 6.6 yards per carry (Navy) and 6.5 yards per carry (Boise State). The concern is that it's supposed to look easy (relatively speaking), like against Rice, and it hasn't.

If you were looking for Notre Dame to develop a secondary weapon in the passing game, you need look no further than Micah Gilbert's performance against Michigan State. Gilbert's 170 receiving yards are the most by a Notre Dame wide receiver since Chase Claypool's 180-yard performance against Wake Forest in 2017.

To drill down further, Gilbert is the first Notre Dame wide receiver to finish with 170+ receiving yards since Maurice Stovall (186) in 2005. Stovall actually had two such games in his career: a 171-yard explosion against Purdue in 2003. And although not a Big Ten team, Stovall had a four-touchdown, 207-yard outing against BYU a month after his game against Michigan State.

It's still early in the season, but Gilbert feels like the answer to Notre Dame's missing No. 2 in the passing attack. Only three wide receivers have had a game with five or more receptions while averaging 20.0 yards per reception: Micah Gilbert, Jordan Faison, and Jaden Greathouse.

5+ Rec and 20 Yds/Rec

Notre Dame WR, Marcus Freeman Era

Micah Gilbert Michigan State 8 170

Jaden Greathouse Ohio State 6 128

Jordan Faison Oregon State 5 115

Jordan Faison Purdue 5 105

Faison is already playing well, and if Greathouse is able to emerge (re-emerge?), the Irish will have a strong trio.

As a bonus, can you name which non-wide receiver also had five or more receptions while averaging 20 yards per reception?

Gilbert's performance is impressive on a national scale, too. In 2025, only four players had eight receptions in a game while averaging 20+ yards per reception against Power Four teams: Lewis Bond, Trell Harris, Eric McAlister and Carnell Tate.

In 2026, it's Gilbert, Reed Harris, Jesse Legree, and Jeremiah Smith. The Tennessee Titans selected Tate with the fourth overall pick in 2025. Smith is a lock as a high first-round pick this year.

Not bad company, no matter how you slice it.

Without the context of the Irish's 29.5-point spread, it's fair to say most fans would be relatively happy with a 17-point win against a Big Ten team. Even an unranked one like Michigan State.

Under Marcus Freeman, the Irish have dominated their unranked competition, with a few noteworthy exceptions. With the win against Sparty, Marcus Freeman broke Knute Rockne's record of 12 straight double-digit wins.

In games where Notre Dame is ranked and facing an unranked opponent, Freeman is now 27-3, which represents the fifth-most such wins by a Notre Dame football head coach in the AP Poll era. He trails Ara Parseghian (78-6), Brian Kelly (66-4), Lou Holtz (61-9), and Dan Devine (30-6).

What makes Freeman's record that much more impressive is how lopsided those games are. Among head coaches with at least five such games, Freeman has the highest average point differential: +29.1. He's the only coach with a four-touchdown margin in those games, and just one of five with a 20+ differential.

Notre Dame Versus Unranked Teams

AP Poll Era, Notre Dame Ranked at Kickoff

Record Point Dif

Marcus Freeman 27-3 +29.1

Ara Parseghian 78-6 +26.0

Hugh Devore 5-1 +23.5

Frank Leahy 40-5 +21.9

Lou Holtz 61-9 +20.7

> Minimum 5 games coached

Freeman also improved to 7-3 in home night games, the second-most wins in program history behind Brian Kelly (15). He averages a 17.2-point differential.

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