It was a typical Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game, as it was anything but easy for the third-ranked Fighting Irish.

Yes, it wound up being a 27-10 victory, but the journey to get there was anything but pretty.

Notre Dame is 3-0 but it exits Saturday night with the same questions it entered the game with.

To those of you who are too young to remember a whole lot of what Michigan State vs. Notre Dame has been like - that was it. Sure, Notre Dame was the more talented team and was in control the vast majority of the game, but by no means was it easy for the night.

It would appear the early returns on the Pat Fitzgerald era in East Lansing show a team that is going to be a lot more physical than Michigan State teams of late.

Notre Dame operated early in the game as if it were the underdog. At no point was that feeling more so than on the fake punt in the first quarter that got stopped, giving Michigan State possession at midfield.

Marcus Freeman stated at halftime that it was the wrong call, but my issue of it wasn't the call as much the execution. If Brayden Robinson goes outside like the play is blocked for, he gets the first down easily and it's keeping things moving.

Instead, it was stopped two yards shy of the first down, and Michigan State was given new air.

We all knew coming in that Notre Dame wasn't going to have anything like Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price in this backfield, but who would have expected that a quarter of the way into the regular season, we'd be trying to pass off a nine-yard run as an explosive rush?

Sometimes it feels like an offensive line issue and others it feels like a running back issue. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle between the two, but its got a very long way to go before anyone is going to take it seriously.

That all said, things did pick up in the second half in terms of running the ball, but still plenty to be desired, but it does appear that Nolan James has unseated Aneyas Williams atop the depth chart as James finished with 24 carries to the nine Williams got.

How much of it had to do with Williams getting flagged for the excessive celebration in the first half?

Whatever the case, James averaged nearly two full yards per carry more on Saturday night than Williams, as James finished the night with 121 rushing yards.

It wasn't great all night, but overall a step in the right direction for the Notre Dame run game.

Notre Dame's defense held another opponent under 14 points, allowing just 10 to Michigan State on Saturday night. It appeared in the early part of the second half that Michigan State's offensive front was starting to really lean on Notre Dame.

Props to Chris Ash for the pressures he was able to dial up, which resulted in a couple of stops and a chance for the offense to extend the lead. That led to more of a need to pass for Michigan State, which led to more pressure by the defense.

A very good night for Ash the longer it went.

Welcome to the big time, Micah Gilbert. The Notre Dame wide receiver had a career night, hauling in 170 receiving yards, topping his previous high of 47, which came last week against Rice. It was also the most receiving yards by a Notre Dame receiver in a single game since Chase Claypool put up 180 against Wake Forest in 2017.

Maybe it's the lack of explosion in the running game, but I'm seeing more of it from the wide receiver group each of the last two weeks.