Some games stay with you not because everything went according to plan, but because nothing did—and someone unexpected stepped into the moment anyway. Notre Dame’s 2002 trip to East Lansing was one of those games. The Irish arrived undefeated, carrying the weight of recent frustration against Michigan State and knowing how thin the margin for error can be on the road in a rivalry game. By the fourth quarter, that margin felt razor-thin, and the storyline seemed to be slipping in a familiar and uncomfortable direction.
Then came the reminder that college football has always been about more than stars and depth charts. It’s about preparation, belief, and being ready when your number is called. With the season hanging in the balance and the starting quarterback sidelined, Notre Dame turned to its backup plan—one that wasn’t supposed to be part of the script, but became the defining chapter of the afternoon. What followed was a moment that Irish fans still remember not just for how it ended, but for what it revealed about resilience and opportunity.
The following excerpt from the 2002 Notre Dame Football Review, appeared in Vol 114 of the Scholastic, Notre Dame’s Student Magazine, written by Jimmy Atkinson.
A Backup Plan
By Jimmy Atkinson
“Nauseated” was the feeling on the Notre Dame sidelines and among Irish fans who had made the two-hour trip to East Lansing. Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker had just thrown an 18-yard touchdown pass to Charles Rogers on fourth down to take the lead, 17–14, seemingly putting an end to Notre Dame’s undefeated campaign. With Carlyle Holiday out due to a shoulder injury since the third quarter, the situation looked bleak. The Spartans were on the verge of their sixth consecutive victory over the Irish.
The video board in the Spartan Stadium end zone repeatedly played highlights from each of the past five Spartan victories over the Irish, creating a painful reminder of the rivals’ history. Never before had any team beaten Notre Dame in six straight seasons.
Suddenly, the Irish shook down the thunder, and lightning struck. At 17–14 with only 1:15 remaining in the game, Notre Dame stood at its own 40-yard line. With their starting quarterback sidelined and their hearts in their throats, the Irish needed something special to happen. It did.
An unlikely hero, sophomore walk-on quarterback Pat Dillingham, connected with fifth-year senior wide receiver Arnaz Battle for a short pass over the middle. One tackler missed, redshirt junior tight end Gary Godsey made a block on two Spartan defenders, and Battle sprung free, dashing down the field as his teammates on the sidelines leaped from the bench to run with him 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
“I just got it to him, and it was all him after that,” Dillingham said. Dillingham finished with less-than-impressive numbers, 3-for-6 with 84 yards, one interception, and one touchdown. But head coach Tyrone Willingham commended his quarterback.
“To say I’m not surprised by his performance, I’d be lying,” Willingham said. “It’s very difficult to perform under those circumstances. I think he was amazingly poised and in control of his game.”
Perhaps Dillingham was more in control of the game than his postgame press conference. At the podium, Dillingham tried to keep from laughing as he listened to fans chanting his name outside. “If you had told me a year ago I’d be standing here, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said. “I’m still in shock right now. It just goes to show you that when your opportunity comes, you have to be ready.”
Some of Dillingham’s readiness can be attributed to Holiday. “We talked after every series,” Holiday said. “He came out and told me what he was seeing and I just told him to calm down a bit, and I think he did a great job today.”
After going the first two weeks without finding the end zone, the Notre Dame offense scored on its opening possession for the second consecutive game. This time, the Irish marched 80 yards in 10 plays. Sophomore tailback Ryan Grant scored on a 6-yard run to cap the drive. The score was set up by a bit of trickery on first and 10 from the Spartan 48-yard line. Battle took a handoff on a reverse and threw a pass to Holiday, who made a remarkable diving catch for a 30-yard gain. In the locker room afterwards, Holiday joked with his teammates, “It was the best catch this year.”
Michigan State struck back later in the first quarter with a field goal, set up by a circus catch by Rogers. With the Spartans on their own 21-yard line, Smoker threw a pass deep down the right sideline. Junior cornerback Vontez Duff was in position to make an interception—and probably would have against any other receiver in the country. But Rogers, behind Duff, out-jumped the Irish cornerback and reached over his back to grab the ball, giving the Spartans a 40-yard gain on Rogers’ second of seven receptions during the afternoon.
“[Duff] was doing a great job,” Willingham said. “He was all up into him and [Rogers] just reached over his back and took it like he wasn’t even there. That’s a great athlete. He played a great game, and you knew at some point he was going to make some plays.”
In the second quarter, neither team was able to sustain a drive of considerable yardage, and the defenses kept the offenses out of scoring range. As the half wound down, the Irish defense forced Michigan State into making the first mistake of the game. Smoker threw an interception to senior safety Gerome Sapp, who returned the ball 13 yards to the Spartans’ 28-yard line with just two minutes left before halftime.
The Irish, using a pass interference penalty on third down to their benefit, were able to capitalize on the turnover. Holiday threw his first touchdown pass of the season, a 15-yard over-the-shoulder lob to freshman wide receiver Maurice Stovall just 11 seconds before halftime.
While the first half belonged to Notre Dame, Michigan State controlled the momentum for almost the entire second half. The Spartan offense woke from its first-half slumber, during which it had gained only four first downs, to rack up 15 first downs after halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, the Spartans, trailing 14–3, finally found their flow in the fourth. Following a Notre Dame punt, the Spartans quickly went 56 yards in four plays. Rogers’ 38-yard touchdown reception finished the drive with 13:22 remaining, letting the Irish know that their lead, now cut to 14–10, was in jeopardy.
The Irish offense continued to sputter with Dillingham at quarterback in place of Holiday. The one drive that looked promising for the Irish ended bitterly, courtesy of a mistake made by a young quarterback seeing his first action in a college game. Dillingham had driven the Irish 39 yards in four plays to the Spartans’ 33-yard line and was looking to put the game out of reach for Michigan State. With just under six minutes remaining, Dillingham threw deep to the end zone, but the pass was underthrown and into double coverage, allowing Spartan safety Thomas Wright to intercept it at the Spartan 3-yard line.
“I was disappointed with my decision to throw the ball up like that,” Dillingham said. “Coach Willingham said it was like a punt, pinning them like that.”
Pinned deep or not, with time running low and backed up 97 yards away from taking the lead, the Spartans knew this was their golden moment to take advantage of Notre Dame’s only turnover of the afternoon. In methodical fashion, fit for such a rivalry as Notre Dame–Michigan State, Smoker engineered an almost perfectly executed 10-play, 97-yard scoring drive in four minutes, nine seconds. Smoker completed four of five passes for 83 yards and left Dillingham and company with less than two minutes to work with—a tall order for an offense that had been stymied for the whole of the second half.
The go-ahead score for the Spartans came on an 18-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 11. Smoker threw a bullet to the back of the end zone where only Rogers could leap up to make the grab. He put down a foot in bounds with 1:45 left to give the Spartans a snug 17–14 lead.
It appeared as though Michigan State would continue its winning streak for yet another season when Rogers scored. But Spartan hopes were dashed after the Dillingham-to-Battle hook-up. “Those are the kind of plays that build momentum for the rest of the season,” Holiday said.
The Irish defense limited Michigan State to a measly 53 yards rushing and also sacked Smoker six times, compiling 33 yards in losses. “Being able to stop the run early and make them get into a passing mode made it easier on us,” said redshirt junior middle linebacker Courtney Watson. Watson led the team in tackles with 10, including three for a loss and two sacks.
Watson also helped to limit the playmaking ability of Rogers. “Going into the game, we thought that he was a really good receiver,” Watson said. “But he didn’t like to get hit. My responsibility wasn’t necessarily to cover him, but when he caught it, to try to take his head off.”
Notre Dame might have limited Rogers, but he still finished with seven receptions for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Certainly, though, he could have done more damage, as he dropped a couple of passes over the middle.
The victory gave Willingham his second win over his alma mater. Not that it mattered to him. “I don’t put much stock into coming back to Michigan State,” Willingham said. “There is no nostalgia. There is no emotional tie. What is really special about this is we go 4–0 into our bye, and that’s a great place to be positioned.”
Games like this endure because they capture the essence of why we fall in love with college football in the first place. Not every victory is clean. Not every hero is expected. And not every turning point arrives with plenty of time on the clock. Sometimes, it shows up with nerves, uncertainty, and one chance to get it right. The 2002 win in East Lansing was a reminder that belief and execution, even in the most chaotic moments, can change the outcome—and sometimes, the direction of a season.
On this Flashback Friday, this game stands as a testament to readiness and resolve. A walk-on quarterback. A senior wide receiver. One missed tackle. One perfectly timed block. Together, they flipped a rivalry narrative, preserved an undefeated start, and reinforced a timeless lesson: when opportunity knocks, you don’t wait for perfect conditions—you answer. And in doing so, you create a moment that lives far beyond the final score.
Cheers & GO IRISH!
