User:AStudent/2005 Michigan State vs. Notre Dame football game

The 2005 Michigan State-Notre Dame football game (nicknamed flag-gate) took place on September 17, 2005 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, where the Spartans of Michigan State University met the Fighting Irish in one of the most controversial football games in recent years. The game ended when Michigan State scored the winning touchdown, in overtime, to upset the Irish 44-41. However, it was the events that took place after the game that many remember.

Introduction
After blowing out Kent State and Hawaii at home, Michigan State University entered Notre Dame Stadium having won 4 straight games against the Irish at home. The team was led by junior quarterback Drew Stanton and featured one of the most prolific offenses in college football at that time.

Notre Dame entered the match 2-0 under first-year head coach Charlie Weis with wins at Pittsburgh and at Michigan. It was the first home game for the new coach and many expected a good showing by the Irish offense, led by Brady Quinn.

Scoring
Scoring began early in the first quarter as Spartan quarterback Drew Stanton threw a 20-yard touchdown to Matt Trannon. The Irish responded with quarterback Brady Quinn throwing an 18-yard touchdown to Jeff Samardzija, but Stanton threw an 11-yard touchdown to Kellen Davis to give the Spartans a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. On the next two Irish drives, Quinn threw a 38-yard touchdown to Samardzija and D.J. Fitzpatrick kicked a field goal to give the Irish their first lead of the game. After tying the game with a field goal by John Goss, Stanton scored on a 4-yard scramble to give the Spartans a 24-17 lead at the half.

On the first play of the second half, a Quinn interception was run back 30-yards by SirDarean Adams for a Spartan touchdown. On the next possession, the Irish fumbled on their goal-line, leading to a 65-yard touchdown pass from Stanton to Trannon. The Irish finally responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass by Quinn to Darius Walker to bring the score to 38-24 at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw two more Quinn touchdown passes, one of 7-yards to Maurice Stovall and the other of 4-yards to Samardzija, to tie the score at 38 at the end of regulation.

In overtime the Irish got the ball first, and after three incomplete passes into the endzone, settled for a Fitzpatrick field goal to give them a 41-38 lead. On the Spartans second play, Jason Teague ran 19-yards for the winning touchdown, giving the final score of 44-41.

2004 Game in Spartan Stadium
The 2004 MSU vs. ND game ended with a 31-24 Irish victory amid allegations by Lansing media member Earle Robinson, and several other fans in the area, that the Irish planted their flag in front of the visitors section of Spartan Stadium during their postgame celebrations.

Pre-game pep rally
Just prior to the game Charlie Weis publicly boasted, "the last thing I'm going to say to [the fans] is - I'm going to be looking for you at about 5:40 after we're 3-0." The comments suggested that Weis would have no trouble defeating the Spartans and was used by Michigan State football coach John L. Smith to motivate his players prior to the game.

Post-game flag planting
The winner of the Michigan State-Notre Dame game is given possession of the Megaphone Trophy for the year. Notre Dame did not have the trophy at hand, however, as the Irish claim to not bring trophies to rivalry games. Without the trophy to raise after the win, a group of Michigan State football players planted the Michigan State flag on the 35-yard line.

Fallout
The incident lead to a number of flag planting incidents across the Big Ten and SEC, resulting in banning by Big Ten commissioner James Delany and the NCAA.