Alessio Milivojevic had just made the kind of mistake that can make a quarterback want to disappear. The Michigan State offense had turned the ball over. Milivojevic had been battered throughout the night, and Jordan Hall could see the disappointment in his body language. Hall did not approach him with a technical correction or an empty assurance that everything would work out.
Instead, he reminded Milivojevic who he was.
“You're a captain, and you're leading this team,” Hall told him. “We're going to get the ball back for you, so just calm down and be ready to go in a couple minutes.”
Then Hall returned to the field and helped Michigan State do exactly that.
In fact, Notre Dame failed to score following either of Milivojevic's interceptions in Michigan State's 27-10 loss Saturday night. The first ensuing possession ended on downs. The second began at the MSU 27 and ended with a missed field goal after the Spartans allowed only six yards.
It would be fair to argue that those responses revealed more about Hall's importance than the 13 tackles beside his name in the final statistics.
Hall was everywhere against Notre Dame. He finished with nine solo tackles and four assists, giving him eight more total tackles than any other Michigan State defender. He added half a tackle for loss while playing through an arm injury that had made his availability uncertain earlier in the week. After the staff reviewed the film Sunday, Michigan State named him its defensive player of the week. Fitzgerald said the performance reflected uncommon toughness and grit from a player returning from injury.
Hall spent the first part of the week testing what he could do. By Wednesday, he felt confident that he would play. The brace he wore helped, although the arm still bothered him when it was caught in certain positions.
Photo credit: Sydney Padgett/Spartans Illustrated
None of that was evident in his willingness to engage Notre Dame's running game or pursue the ball across the field.
The Irish ran 43 times, controlled the ball for 37:02, and forced Michigan State's defense to play 67 snaps. Nolan James Jr. carried 26 times for 121 yards, repeatedly bringing Hall and the rest of the defense into the center of a game that became increasingly physical as it progressed.
Hall resisted treating his tackle total as an individual accomplishment. He acknowledged that he happened to be the player finishing many of the plays, then immediately credited the teammates whose work in front of and behind him helped put him in position to make those tackles.
“I'd be remiss if I didn't give credit to some of those guys,” Hall said.
That response was consistent with everything else Hall did after the game. He did not describe himself as the player dragging Michigan State through a difficult night, even though his production invited that interpretation. He described a defense working collectively and a team that continued to believe it could win.
Fitzgerald was less restrained when asked about him.
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