A first-year starter at each corner. A first-year starter at safety. All three of them converted offensive players. And going up against the dynamic Denard Robinson.

The first real test of the Notre Dame secondary looked like a nearly impossible one to pass.

Five interceptions on five passes and a 13-6 win later, and it looked like the Irish had taken the Wolverines to school. Robinson, after racking up 948 total yards in the past two seasons in last-minute wins over the Irish, was held to just 138 passing yards (and four of the five picks) on 13-of-24 passing, with a modest 90 rushing yards on 26 carries.

"You know people are questioning you," said cornerback Bennett Jackson, who had one of Notre Dame's five first-half picks. "So that's going to motivate you to work harder. That's what we do, we come out every day and work hard, everybody believes in everybody, and it's the next man in. It's your turn to go in, you've got to step up. You've just got to know that everybody's here to support you."

Freshman corner KeiVarae Russell and freshman safety Nicky Baratti also had picks for the Irish, along with a pair by linebacker Manti Te'o. And Matthias Farley, starting in the place of senior Jamoris Slaughter -- who ruptured his Achilles last week against Michigan State -- had a strong game, as well. And while the stellar play of the Irish front seven certainly takes the pressure off the secondary, that door swings both ways, too.

"I think if I was looking for surprises, I would tell you to look at the game that Matthias Farley just played," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "First-time starter who was a wide receiver last year. I think our coaches have done a great job of getting that back end of our defense to the point where there's a lot of confidence so those guys can just tee off and go get the quarterback."

Safety Zeke Motta, the old man of the secondary now, raved about his young teammates' performances.

"Everybody played great," he said. "The young defensive backs showed they have the capability to rise up in games like this. Bennett obviously had a heck of a game. Everybody played great."

Jamoris Slaughter underwent successful surgery on his ruptured left Achilles tendon on Wednesday. The release from Notre Dame said he's expected to make a full recovery in six months.

Slaughter's absence puts redshirt freshman Matthias Farley -- a guy who's only been playing football for four years, and a guy who was recruited as a wide receiver -- in a key starting role for the Irish at safety. Fellow safety Zeke Motta thinks Farley's up to the task.

"His preparation has been great, it's all feel and Matthias isn't going to have a hard time, I don't think, at all," Motta said. The best thing I could tell him would be just to focus on each play and mentally prepare for anything that can happen. And move on to the next play if there is a bad play."

For Motta, Slaughter's absence means an increase in responsibility, especially with former walk-on Chris Salvi and freshmen Nicky Baratti and C.J. Prosise entering the rotation.

"Having Jamoris out, not on the field next to me, is tough," Motta said. "But he was a very vocal leader and he got the defense hyped. Stepping into that role, it's going to be tough, but I'll try to fill it the best that I can."

ND coach Brian Kelly said Motta is up to the challenge, and that he's been taking on more of a leadership role since long before Slaughter was hurt.

"It's probably one of the most remarkable, I think, developments of a player from year one or year two to year three in that sense," ND coach Brian Kelly said. "He had a hard time getting himself lined up last year. He has been terrific back there. He's been physical. He's played the ball well. And his leadership skills have continued to grow."

The celebration of Notre Dame's big win was tempered by the loss of starting strong safety Jamoris Slaughter for the season after he tore his Achilles on the first snap of the second half. Slaughter, a fifth-year senior, is the second starting defensive back ND has lost with an Achilles injury, joining cornerback Lo Wood on the sideline.

Redshirt freshman Matthias Farley, who has played well in the early going, will replace Slaughter. That gives the Irish three first-year starters in the secondary, and all of them are converted offensive players -- cornerbacks Bennett Jackson and true freshman KeiVarae Russell, and Farley.

"Those are things that coaches have to deal with all over the country," said ND coach Brian Kelly, who was particularly pleased with Russell's development over the first three games. "We're seeing the development of some really young players that can be really good players for us. We don't have to hide those guys."

Slaughter also missed much of the Purdue game with a shoulder injury, and the Irish defense fared well without him in both games. But it's still a big blow to a defense that was coming into its own.

"You lose a Jamoris Slaughter, you're losing an 'A' player," Kelly said. "Matthias is certainly not at the level yet of a Jamoris Slaughter. But we have a lot of confidence and trust in him, and he'll be getting a lot of work back there. We'll have to continue to develop him, but we have a lot of confidence in him."

Cierre Wood didn't start Saturday's game against Michigan State.

But he helped finish it.

Wood, returning from a two-game suspension, had a modest 56 yards on 10 carries in the Irish's 20-3 win over the No. 10 Spartans -- but 45 of them came on the clock-killing, game-icing, 84-yard drive in the fourth quarter that started at the Notre Dame 4 and ended with a 29-yard Kyle Brindza field goal and a 17-3 lead.

Wood had lost his starting role to Theo Riddick after his suspension for unspecified rules violations. But he knew he'd still play a big role in the Irish offense.

"I believe in my team, I believe in my coaches," Wood said. "I knew they were going to be me in the right positions, as they did. They trusted me down the stretch, and as our motto says, 'You can count on me.'"

Wood said that he and Riddick talked to the offensive line before the long fourth-quarter drive, asking them to "just give us a couple seconds" so they could put together a long drive and drive a stake through MSU's heart.

"That's what good teams do, and that's what we did," Wood said.

Wood said it was "just another win" for the players. But for him, it was great to simply "be out there with my bros" after a tough two weeks.

"It was hard for me, not playing, seeing my teammates out there," he said. "At the same time, I was happy for my teammates, cheering them, doing what a great teammate's supposed to do. And I was just waiting for my time to come back. When I came back, I promised myself and I promised my teammates I would make a statement. And that's exactly what I did."

Everett Golson and Co. looked like the Not Ready For Primetime Players at the outset of Notre Dame's first night game of the season.
On the first play of the game, the Irish were whistled for a false start. Before Golson -- in the first true road game -- could even get the next snap off, he had to burn a timeout, as he was frantically shuffling his teammates all over the field in a mass of confusion.
But the redshirt freshman quarterback quickly regained his composure, and his control of the offense. He promptly hit T.J. Jones for a 21-yard gain that seemed to settle down the Irish. After the teams traded punts, Golson hit Toma for a 14-yard gain, then threw a beautiful deep ball to senior John Goodman, who beat out two Michigan State defenders in the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown pass.
Golson was far from perfect -- he was nearly picked off three times on the Irish's final drive of the first half, and overthrew both freshman Chris Brown and Jones on what could have been big gains in the first quarter. But he certainly looked sharper, and fared better, than his fellow first-year starter, Michigan State's Andrew Maxwell, who was rattled early and often by the Irish front seven.


Deep impact: On those two big catches in the first two series, Jones and Goodman became the seventh and eighth players to catch a pass of at least 20 yards from Golson this season, in just the ninth quarter of the season.

Personnel matters: Irish outside linebacker Danny Spond returned to the starting lineup after missing the first two games -- and most of training camp -- with the lingering effects of a migraine. With Spond back, Dan Fox moved back inside.
Also, Kona Schwenke started at nose guard ahead of Nix, though Nix was back in for the second series.

Emptying the notebook leading into tomorrow night's showdown in East Lansing.

Notre Dame's All-America linebacker Manti Te'o will be playing with a heavy heart on Saturday at Michigan State, after a devastating two days in which he endured the deaths of two people close to him, his grandmother and a close friend.

"He lost some people very close to him," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "It's obviously taken a toll on him. Our players have been there for him, there's been great support."

Te'o stayed with the team this week, and he will play on Saturday.

"He'll be with us, he practiced, he'll be playing Saturday against Michigan State," Kelly said. "Unfortunately, he's gone through a very rough 24-48 hours. His support, his family at home has been great, all the players and coaches have been there for him, He wants to be with his teammates, he wants to be with people who care about him. He's a strong man, he's going through a tough time, but he'll rise to the occasion."

Kelly said there has been some "preliminary discussion" about giving Te'o time to fly home to Hawaii to be with his family.

"We got a bye week coming up (after next week's home game against Michigan)," Kelly said. "We'll see how things go. We know he's going to be with us for Saturday."

Tommy Rees heard the boos when he trotted out on the field with a little more than two minutes to go in a 17-17 game on Saturday against Purdue.

He just didn't have time to care. The game was on the line.

"I heard them," Notre Dame's backup quarterback, A.K.A. "The Closer", said on Wednesday. "But it went in one ear and went out the other."

Rees led the Irish to a game-winning field goal in his surprise relief appearance. Coach Brian Kelly pulled starter Everett Golson -- who had played a strong game, but was coming off a fumble at his own 15-yard line that set up the game-tying touchdown for Purdue -- because he believed Rees had a better command of the two-minute offense. The crowd was displeased, to say the least.

"That's just something that comes with the territory, I guess," Rees said. "There's been some highs and there's been some lows here, but the highs definitely outweigh the lows. The crowd's emotions definitely flipped at the end of the game."

Indeed, the 81,000 fans at Notre Dame Stadium cheered Rees off the field, vindicating Kelly's decision, and vindicating Rees, who spent the offseason digging out of a hole he created by getting arrested after an off-campus party in May.

The respect and affection Kelly and Rees' teammates have for the quarterback was evident in their postgame comments.

"It's just the kind of guys we have on the team," Rees said. "I felt that support from my teammates and coaches for a long time now."

Rees admitted he was surprised by Kelly's decision. Because he was suspended for the opener against Navy, Rees spent training camp just watching Everett Golson and Andrew Hendrix take nearly all the snaps. Rees was relegated to a coaching role, essentially helping Golson take his job.

But he did what he could to stay fresh, working on his timing with receivers after practice and trying to simulate live action the best he could.

He drew on his experience -- 16 career starts -- when he came in cold off the bench against Purdue.

"That's what you need to do when you're the No. 2 quarterback, you need to stay ready (because) at any time you're number can be called," Rees said. "(It wasn't) too bad. I've had a lot of experience in the past, a lot of game experience. ... When I got back into it, it wasn't too much of a jump."

Rees doesn't know what his role is anymore. He knows he can be called upon at any time in crunch time, and he knows that if Golson is injured, he's the likely replacement. But he also knows Golson might seize control of the job and never relinquish it.

His role is simply to be ready, and to help wherever he can.

"Just help the team any way I can," Rees said. "Everett's the starter, and whatever I can do  -- if I need to go in and play, if I need to be an extra set of eyes for him, whatever the coaches ask, that's what I'm here for."

The way Brian Kelly sees it, Cierre Wood doesn't change anything in the Notre Dame running game. He simply enhances it.

"No, I don't think Cierre makes the difference in the running game," Kelly said. "He definitely gives us more weapons in the offense that we can utilize. We're going to have to do a great job as a staff of utilizing him. It gives us great depth, but I wouldn't say, 'Well, Cierre is back, you're going to run the ball well this week.' It just gives us more versatility and more weapons on offense."

The Irish rushed for 293 yards in a 50-10 win over Navy, with Theo Riddick rushing for 107 yards and George Atkinson III gaining 99. But against Purdue's stout front four, the Irish relied more on the pass, mustering just 52 yards on 36 carries. Riddick had 53 on 15 carries, and Atkinson had just one carry for zero yards. Saturday's opponent, No. 10 Michigan State, has allowed only 109 rushing yards in its two games combined, holding Boise State and Central Michigan to an average of 2.4 yards per carry.

Kelly thinks Wood's return can only help. Though he has lost his starting spot to Riddick, Wood averaged 5.1 yards per carry in each of the last two seasons, rushing for 1,102 yards last season.

"Great versatility," Kelly said when asked what Wood brings to the offense. "We have to get George some more touches, as well. Because we think we have got really three backs that have equal starting ability. They all can be stars and starters. We have to make sure that we integrate them all into the offense."