Despite Off Day, Powlus Rallies Irish : Nonconference: After trailing at halftime, 20-7, Notre Dame comes back to beat Michigan State, 21-20.

Ron Powlus, who had four passes intercepted, directed two long second-half drives Saturday to bring No. 8 Notre Dame back from a 20-7 halftime deficit to a 21-20 victory over Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich.

“I made some wrong reads, some stupid plays I shouldn’t have done,” Powlus said. “I tried to force a couple things. I should have taken what they gave me. But it turned out OK.”

It was the 16th consecutive road victory for Notre Dame (2-1), breaking the school record of 15 set in 1929-31. Knute Rockne’s 1929 team played and won all nine of its games on the road while Notre Dame Stadium was being built.

Powlus, a redshirt freshman, completed only 10 of 30 passes for 161 yards. But he was on target when he had to be in the second half.

His 13-yard pass to Mike Miller on third and nine kept a drive alive early in the third quarter. Two plays later, Lee Becton broke at least four tackles on a 37-yard touchdown run that made the score 20-14.

“I couldn’t bury my head,” Powlus said. “I couldn’t say, ‘Well, I’m doing terrible, it’s over.’ I had to keep playing.”

Late in the third quarter, the Irish launched an 84-yard, 10-play drive for the go-ahead touchdown. Powlus completed all three of his passes for 66 yards in the march, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Robert Farmer with 12:12 to play.

Michigan State (0-2) came up with two more interceptions after that, but the Irish countered by sacking Spartan quarterback Tony Banks three times.

Banks, a transfer from Mesa Junior College in San Diego who was making his second start, completed 15 of 27 passes for 190 yards without an interception. Banks, a cousin of former USC and NFL linebacker Chip Banks, signed with the Minnesota Twins out of San Diego’s Hoover High, but a rotator cuff injury cut his baseball career short.

Banks failed to put much of a dent in the Irish defense in the second half.

Michigan State finished with 270 yards, but got only 21 in the second half.

Notre Dame had only 114 yards at halftime, but finished with 430.

The Spartans suffered a similar fate last week when they led at Kansas, 10-0, before losing, 17-10.

“I’m not going to sit here and give them too much praise,” Banks said. “We moved the ball against them. We feel we should have won it. We feel we can win every game. People haven’t seen that yet, but they will.

“When we put four quarters together, and when Tony Banks puts four quarters together, then everybody will be pleased.”

For Michigan State, Mill Coleman scored on a 30-yard run, Banks on a three-yard run, and Chris Gardner kicked field goals of 31 and 24 yards.

For Notre Dame, Randy Kinder, who went to East Lansing High, carried 18 times for 104 yards, and Derrick Mayes caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Powlus in the second quarter.

It was the 100th game with Lou Holtz as coach for Notre Dame. He has a 79-20-1 record.

“I thought at the half we could win, but I was not very convincing to the players,” Holtz said. “It was a nightmare of a first half.”

The Irish, who lost three fumbles in a 26-24 loss to Michigan last week, turned the ball over three times in the first half against Michigan State. The Spartans converted all three misplays into scores.