[2024] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stories – Week 3 Recap & Week 4 Prep

[LordLittlebutt]

This article was originally published May 15, 2024, in The Observer, a student run publication serving the University of Notre Dame, St. Mary’s College and Holy Cross College. Re-posted on delay as agreed to with co-editors J.J. Jameson, P. White, reporters V. Vale, L. Lane and photographer J. Olsen.  

We will ne’er forget her 

 

Notre Dame advanced in brilliant fashion to 3-0 as the first quarter of the season is complete for the Fighting Irish. We’ll provide a scoring drive recap, discussion with Coach LLB, check in on how the recruiting season is starting and preview next week’s matchup with Rutgers.

 

Week 3 – Game Statistics

Team	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Passing TDs	Rushing TDs	INT
AUB	24	368	307	61	1	2	3
ND	62	705	520	185	7	2	3

 

Notre Dame delivered the opening kickoff to the visiting Auburn Tigers and the game was underway! After a couple of quick first downs, Auburn was forced to punt from their own 45 yard line. Notre Dame gave the ball back on the very next play as Kyle Edens coughed up the ball after a short 4 yard reception. Auburn was set up on Notre Dame’s 17 yard line, with high expectations two and a half minutes into the game. The Irish pushed them back, highlighted with a 6 yard sack, but Auburn delivered a sideline run to score first.

Auburn 7 – Notre Dame 0

 

Notre Dame returned the kickoff to their 34 yard line on a strong run by Josh Gaudin. The Irish moved the ball to the Auburn 39 yard line before Plawecki threw his second interception of the season. Auburn would return the favor three plays later. Another 3 plays and the Irish find the endzone on a 27 yard play action bomb to Josh Gaudin in the back of the endzone.

Auburn 7 – Notre Dame 7

 

The Auburn Tigers returned the kickoff to their 49 yard line and followed it up on the very next play with a long 51 yard pass for the third score of the game with 6:48 left in the first quarter.

Auburn 14 – Notre Dame 7

 

Notre Dame starts the next drive at their 29 yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage Plawecki delivers a deep sideline pass to Josh Gaudin who is pushed out of bounds at the Auburn 29. Before anyone has a chance to catch their breath, Torrey Barbato takes a short pass of play action all the way to the endzone to tie the game.  That’s three thrilling touchdowns in 1:23.

Auburn 14 – Notre Dame 14

 

Amazingly the next two possessions end in interceptions – turnovers 4 and 5 in just the first quarter of the game. With Auburn at the Notre Dame 18 yard line, the Tigers are forced to settle for a field goal to move ahead of Notre Dame.

Auburn 17 – Notre Dame 14

 

Notre Dame takes over at their 30 yard line after the Tigers kick off.  On the first play from scrimmage Torrey Barbato shows why he’s the best college tight end in the game, taking a short pass from Plawecki 70 yards for the score, embarrassing 3 would be tacklers and powering into the endzone.

Notre Dame 21 – Auburn 17

 

Auburn is forced to punt after gaining only 6 yards on three plays and Gaudin proves that he too can make tacklers miss, with a brilliant return to the Auburn 19. Zaire Philon takes over the series with a 9 yard screen followed by a burst through the middle and a powerful run across the goal line.

Notre Dame 28 – Auburn 17

 

 The Tigers and Irish trade three-and-outs before Auburn converts on their next third and seven opportunity. Two plays later, Auburn again suffers a turnover, with an interception giving the Irish the ball on their own 46. Three passes gets Notre Dame to the Auburn 26 where Gaudin takes a quick slant and turns up field for the touchdown!

Notre Dame 35 – Auburn 17

 

The Notre Dame defense forces a three-and-out and Notre Dame takes over on their 41 yard line. Two runs and six passes later Irish WR Kyle Edens is in the endzone for another Notre Dame touchdown. Hardly anyone notices the missed extra point. That’s 58 points and 6 turnovers with 4 minutes left to go in the first half.

Notre Dame 41 – Auburn 17

 

Auburn converts two first downs and makes it to their 45 yard line before again being forced to punt. Notre Dame fires of 4 straight runs and tries a short pass to Philon which falls incomplete as the first half comes to an end. No shortage of replays in this high scoring, mistake filled half of football.

 

Notre Dame takes the second half kickoff to their 27.  Philon sneaks out of the backfield and down the right sideline to catch a 60 yard bomb down the right sideline setting up the Irish at the Auburn 13 yard line. He continues his dominance with two runs, with another inside dive from the Tiger 4 to add another Irish touchdown.

Notre Dame 48 – Auburn 17

 

A 15 yard sack on Auburn’s second and 7 dooms the next drive for the Tigers. Auburn does force a three-and-out from the Irish, but follow with their own short possession, punting the ball to the Irish 47. Two sacks later Notre Dame is faced with third and 28 to go. A fifteen yard completion means its fourth and 13 from their own 44 yard line. In a surprise move, Notre Dame keeps their offense on the field and convert that 4^th down with an 18 yard reception by Kyle Edens. The Irish move the Tiger 22 before Plawecki delivers a long pass to Barbato in the corner of the endzone for another Irish score!

Notre Dame 55 – Auburn 17

 

The Irish defense holds the dismayed Tiger offense to another three-and-out. The Notre Dame offense follows up with a run heavy series, with Philon gaining 28 yards over 5 rushing attempts. A short 12 yard pass to Gaudin puts the Irish at the Tiger 4, where a screen pass to Philon results in the last Notre Dame score of the game.

Notre Dame 62 – Auburn 17

 

Auburn opens the fourth quarter with a 75 yard drive, mixed well between the run and pass to put another six on the board for the Tigers.

Notre Dame 62 – Auburn 24

 

AJ Crowder would come in at quarterback for Notre Dame and complete 6 of 9 passes for 58 yard with an interception in relief of Plawecki. Auburn’s two remaining fourth quarter possessions would end in punts with the Irish yielding only 2 first downs in the last 6 minutes of the game.

 

Dynamic, high scoring game but riddled with turnovers on both sides leads to Notre Dame’s fourth win in four tries on the season.

 

Notre Dame Top Performers Week 3

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	26 of 38 for 68.4% compl	462	7
RB – Zhaire Philon	17 rushes	127	2
RB – Zhaire Philon	6 catches on 10 targets	92	1
WR – Josh Gaudin	7 catches on 9 targets	157	2
TE – Torrey Barbato	8 catches on 12 targets	179	3

 

Notre Dame Season Leaders – 4 games

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	104 of 153 for 67.8% compl	1652	16
RB – Zhaire Philon	80 rushes	428	4
RB – Zhaire Philon	21 catches on 30 targets	249	4
WR – Josh Gaudin	30 catches on 39 targets	614	3
TE – Torrey Barbato	19 catches on 27 targets	563	7

 

The Observer caught up with Notre Dame head coach LordLittlebutt to talk about the game, what’s coming next week and any developments on the recruiting side.

 

TheO:    Well Coach, another victory, but even that recap is exhausting!

 

LLB:        Thanks Vicky. Yes, 86 points and over 800 yards of offense makes for quite a few highlights. Not good to see Izaah and those picks, but our defense kept pace and preventing things from blowing up with those errors on our part. We’ve got to cut down on the turnovers.

 

TheO:    Quite a change from last week, with loads of early scoring against Auburn. Did you think you’d have that kind of success against the Tigers?

 

LLB:        We knew it would be tricky, but its hard to anticipate that kind of output, especially early in the game. We’ll go back and look at the footage and see what really paid off for us and how we can apply that in our upcoming games.

 

TheO:    Speaking of upcoming games, you have Rutgers on the road this weekend, what can you tell us about the matchup?

 

LLB:        We’ve only had a short look at the Scarlet Knights. They didn’t have an early season game, but did have an early bye this past weekend. A win on the road in Hawaii and a loss on the road to Nevada will provide some info, but not as much as they may have on us. We know they are a run heavy team and are happy to go to either side of center. They run a lot of triple option, so we’ve spent a lot of practice time getting ready to defend that. The QB over there is pretty good, and they have a spectacular receiver that frankly, may not be used as effectively as he could be.  It will be a tough match up, but if we can find the endzone like we did last weekend, we should be in good shape.

 

TheO:    How is Jomal doing, any timetable for his return?

 

LLB:        The staff feels like he’ll be ready in another week. We really need him back, he’s a key part of our defense. But, we’re grateful that the injury bug hasn’t hit us too hard so far, fingers crossed.

 

TheO:    And we got some good news on the recruiting front?

 

LLB:        Yes, indeed! We’re thrilled to have Richard Robinson commit to be part of the Fighting Irish!

We know that Navy was also chasing Rich pretty hard, but we stuck with him and we’re looking forward to him joining us. He’s got great hands and a better attitude, he’ll be a fantastic addition to the team.

 

TheO:    Thanks for your time Coach!

 

LLB:        Thank you Vicky. GO IRISH!