[2024] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stories – Week 7 Recap & Week 8 (BYE) prep

[LordLittlebutt]

This article was originally published June 12, 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, Jr. Photographer P. Parker.  

Send a volley cheer on high,

Notre Dame hosted the Spartans of Michigan State in this season’s episode of their regular throw down. We’ll provide a scoring drive recap, discussion with Coach LLB, check in on how the recruiting season is progressing and talk about the bye week coming up.

 

Week 7 – Game Statistics

Team	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Passing TDs	Rushing TDs	INT
MIST	28	402	291	111	4	0	0
ND	45	577	503	74	4	2	0

 

Week 7 brought the Spartans to town and they received the opening kick and started on their own 28 yard line. A penalty on third down created a tough 3^rd and 19 and they failed to fool anyone on a play action pass, resulting in a 4^th and 33 from their own 5 yard line. Hellbent for paydirt, the Spartans attempted a pass and gained 9 yards, turning the ball over to the Irish. Notre Dame couldn’t get much going and had to settle for 3 points on a Danny Cole 23 yard field goal from the Michigan State gift.

Notre Dame 3 – Michigan State 0

 

Michigan State gained 2 yards on 3 plays and wisely chose to punt the ball away. Taking over at their 31 yard line, Notre Dame looked to add to their early lead. Flushed from the pocket on a long pass attempt, Izaah Plawecki scrambled for an impressive 7 yard gain. On second and 3 to go, the Irish went back to the pass, looking deep to Josh Gaudin who pulled in a nice back shoulder pass for a 23 yard gain. With first at 10 from the Spartan 39, Plawecki hit Gaudin on deep route over the middle. Josh had to slow half a step for the ball, allowing the defense to trip him up at the 1 yard line. The Irish finished off the drive with Torrey Barbato muscling out the defender for a quick pass just over the goal line.

Notre Dame 10 – Michigan State 0

 

An Irish sack on second down led to another three-and-out for the Spartans who punted the ball back to Notre Dame who took over at their own 37. Taking to the air immediately again, Plawecki found Gaudin for another long conversion moving the ball to the Michigan State 42. Zhaire Philon took a pair of handoffs and it was first and 10 from the Spartan 25. Plawecki hits Gaudin, Barbato and Philon on consecutive passes to find themselves again at the Michigan State 1 yard line. Philon took the handoff down the left side of the line finding the crease and the touchdown.

Notre Dame 17 – Michigan State 0

 

The Spartans took over from their 25 after a touchback on the kickoff and put together a nice drive, highlighted by a 51 yard bomb to the Irish 21. Three passes later they were on the board.

Notre Dame 17 – Michigan State 7

 

A pair of Barbato completions set the Irish up at the Spartan 29, but a sack on first down and a couple short passes kept Notre Dame outside of field goal range and forced a punt. Seven straight Spartan handoffs moved the ball a bit but a sack and a defended pass on third down forced a punt. Notre Dame went back to the air and five passes later a 39 yard bomb had Gaudin tap dancing in the back of the endzone for another Irish touchdown.

Notre Dame 24 – Michigan State 7

 

A sack on first down pushed Michigan State back to their 15 and they would punt 2 plays later. Notre Dame took over on their own 34 with 5:10 left in the half. Five consecutive passes including 3 to Torrey Barbato put the Irish at the Michigan State 15. The Irish called a draw and Philon eluded just enough tacklers to make it to the goal line.

Notre Dame 31 – Michigan State 7

 

The Spartans were not ready to quit. With a decent return to their 32 and four passing plays later they were on the Irish 30. Michigan State converted a long play action pass to get into the endzone with only 0:12 left in the half.

Notre Dame 31 – Michigan State 14

 

After receiving the second half kick, Notre Dame stayed in aerial assault mode. Four passes later they were sitting at their own 48 before Plawecki connected with Barbato for a 52 yard bomb to add to their lead.

Notre Dame 38 – Michigan State 14

 

Michigan State’s next drive moved the ball well until they reached the Irish 39. Two short runs and an incomplete pass forced the punt, and Notre Dame’s start at their own 20 yard line. The Irish moved the ball to the Spartan on some good runs, a pair of 12 yard completions to Gaudin and a 9 yard screen pass to Philon. The it was time for more Barbato! A smooth double move left Torrey open on a 30 yard bomb for another the last Irish touchdown of the game with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

Notre Dame 45 – Michigan State 14

 

After forcing a three-and-out, Notre Dame started their next possession in fine fashion, with yet another long pass from Plawecki to Barbato – 42 yards long in fact. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out at the Spartan 35 and the Irish were forced to punt for only the second time of the game with 1:14 left in the third quarter. Michigan State put together a 10 play drive culminating in a 9 yard touchdown pass.

Notre Dame 45 – Michigan State 21

 

The Irish sent in their backups with about 12 minutes left in the game and an incompletion, sack and 2 yard completion led to another punt to the Spartans.  Michigan State mixed the run and pass to move the ball from their 37 to the Notre Dame 47 but the Irish defense stiffened and forced a punt. Irish QB Conor Mancz’s second possession went sack, 6 yard completion, 4 yard completion and another punt back to Michigan State. The Spartans moved the ball on a pair of runs and passes before throwing long from their 48 to the endzone for their last touchdown of the game.

Notre Dame 45 – Michigan State 28

 

Mancz would drive the Irish 30 yards to the Spartan 35 with a good mix of runs and short passes to eat the last 3:41 of the game and secure another Irish victory!

 

 

Notre Dame Top Performers Week 7

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	32 of 37 for 86.5% compl	471	4
RB – Zhaire Philon	8 rushes	46	2
RB – Zhaire Philon	6 catches on 9 targets	31	0
WR – Josh Gaudin	10 catches on 11 targets	175	1
TE – Torrey Barbato	14 catches on 14 targets	248	3

 

Notre Dame Season Leaders – 8 games

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	230 of 319 for 72.1% compl	3359	32
RB – Zhaire Philon	126 rushes	681	10
RB – Zhaire Philon	44 catches on 65 targets	416	5
WR – Josh Gaudin	62 catches on 80 targets	1169	5
TE – Torrey Barbato	55 catches on 69 targets	870	17

 

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:    Coach, this is habit forming! 8-0, fantastic win over the Spartans!

LLB:        Thanks Vicky. It was nice to be in control of the game and get some of the backups in for almost a full quarter.

TheO:    With the bye week coming up, what changes for the team?

LLB:        Well, we’re happy to have the time and a chance to be sure that everyone is 100%.

TheO:    Will all the starters be healthy and ready to go?

LLB:        Yes, we’re good across the board. Hopefully we’ve shaken the injury bug. We’ve got 3 games and then a double bye before finishing out at USC.  We’ll spend some extra time game planning for Ball State in another week and a half and I’ve got quite a few recruiting visits scheduled.

TheO:    Is this a worry to bust the winning streak?

LLB:        You never know, Vicky. We have been doing extra prep and game planning and we are definitely taking this game very seriously. I have faith in our guys, and think that we can put some numbers on the board, we’ll see how things go.

TheO:    How is the recruiting coming?

LLB:        It’s a grind. We’re very pleased with how things have moved lately. I think I saw some ranking us at the 20^th best class signed so far. That’s not bad, but we expect to be top ten if we are going to remain competitive, there’s just too many good teams out there. We picked up a fantastic Tackle on the offensive side, Jorge Totten. A beast out of Schaumberg, he’s really looking forward to making his mark with us. Isaac Martinez, the 2^nd ranked punter committed as well.  Some folks shy away from punters/kickers, but they are an important part of the game, and we need to focus on all available resources out there to keep this team at an elite level.

TheO:    Speaking of elite level, another week at #5 in the rankings, not too shabby.

LLB:        No, Vicky, that’s great. We appreciate the recognition. We are nearing the home stretch and with the playoff format we’ve got this year, a top four spot is hugely beneficial, so we are definitely eyeing that. Ball State may not be ranked right now, but they are a quality team, so a win coming out of this bye will mean a lot.

TheO:    Eight undefeated teams, is there a log jam at the top?
 

LLB:        That does seem like a lot. There’s a bunch of scuttlebutt out there about losses being inevitable, but these are some really strong teams. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are 4 or 5 undefeateds at the end of the season.  We need to be in that group and make a statement in these last 4 games to get a first round bye in the playoffs.

TheO:    We’ll definitely be watching and rooting! Thanks for your time this week Coach.

LLB:        Your welcome Vicky. GO IRISH!

 

Edited June 20 by LordLittlebutt