ND scored fewer points than it was favored by

Notre Dame was favored by 29.5 points against Michigan State and only scored 27.

There's more nuance to the effectiveness of an offense than just points, points, points, but ND only got 3 points after a 61-yard pass play to start the game and later got 0 points after an INT set up the offense at the MSU 25. ND took an early 10-0 and it didn't grow again until the 4th quarter.

That's not good and would cost ND against a legitimately good opponent.