[2024] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stories – Week 10 Recap & Week 11 Prep

[LordLittlebutt]

This article was originally published July 1, 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.  

What though the odds be great or small

Notre Dame travelled to southern California to play Fresno State the past weekend, hoping to bounce back after their close loss to the Ball State Cardinals. Indeed, it was a different game with a dramatic lead early that allowed several backups to get valuable playing time. We’ll provide a recap of the scoring drives, talk to Coach about the results of this weekend’s game, how things are going for next week and peek in on the recruiting status.

 

Week 10 – Game Statistics

Team	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Passing TDs	Rushing TDs	INT
ND	65	741	742	-1	9	0	2
FRES	12	370	253	117	0	0	4

 

The Irish took it to the Bulldogs, with a pure passing attack resulting in NINE touchdowns through the air, let’s follow the action.

 

Fresno State sent the opening kickoff to the 4, and Josh Gaudin’s return set up Notre Dame on their 27 yard line. After an initial sack on first down, 10 and 21 yard completions moved the Irish to their 37. Three consecutive incompletions forced a punt. A pair of Notre Dame sacks and an incomplete pass had the Bulldogs on their own 2 yard line for a 4^th down and 37.  The Fresno State staff must have seen something they thought could be exploited, and went for it, but the pass attempt fell short for a turnover on downs.  Plawecki hit RB Zhaire Philon on a quick pass out of the backfield and he dodged the lone defender between him and the goal line to put the Irish on the board. A missed extra point meant only 6 for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame 6 – Fresno State 0

 

After a solid return on the kickoff, Fresno State was on their own 37 yard line. A 7 yard completion and 36 yard run moved the ball into Notre Dame territory. An incomplete pass and another pair of Irish sacks forced the punt and takeover by Notre Dame on their 20 yard line. Philon took the ball to the 25 on the first play, and a 22 yard strike to Torrey Barbato moved the chains to the Notre Dame 47. WR Josh Gaudin pulled in an over the should bomb to score on the next play.

Notre Dame 13 – Fresno State 0

 

The Bulldogs started their next possession at the 20 and converted on 3^rd and 1 with 6 yard quarterback scramble to avoid another sack. Fresno attempted a short pass on first down but it was picked off by Notre Dame! After a 2 yard run on first down, Plawecki found Gaudin for a 33 yard touchdown bomb.

Notre Dame 20 – Fresno State 0

 

Fresno State converted a first down on their next possession and moved the ball across midfield to the Notre Dame 48. Faced with fourth and 5, the Bulldogs elected for a 65 yard field goal attempt, which missed low and to the left. The next play saw yet another long touchdown bomb from Plawecki to Gaudin, who caught the ball after his first stride into the endzone on a deep route off play action.

Notre Dame 27 – Fresno State 0

 

The Bulldogs were held to three and out on their next possession. The Irish returned with a 3 and score, topped off by yet another long pass to Gaudin from Plawecki.

Notre Dame 34 – Fresno State 0

 

Fresno State failed to get any traction and punted the ball away on 4^th and 11 from their own 27. The Irish reeled off 12 straight passing plays, with Plawecki connecting with 8 different receivers, the last a screen pass that Philon took from the 8 to find paydirt.

Notre Dame 41 – Fresno State 0

 

The Bulldogs hit on a five yard completion to have second-and-five from their 30. The following pass was picked off for the Irish giving them excellent field position on the Bulldog 48.  A 23 yard completion to Gaudin followed, then a stuffed 1 yard loss on a run was immediately followed by a 26 yard strike to WR Derrick Muno for another Irish touchdown, with 5:25 left in the first half.

Notre Dame 48 – Fresno State 0

 

Fresno State started their drive on their 37 and put together a series of short gains to reach the Notre Dame 38 yard line. An option to the left led to a 29 yard completion and the Bulldogs added a 5 yard run before facing 4^th and goal from the 4 yard line. The field goal was fired right between the uprights to put Fresno State on the board with 1:25 remaining in the half.

Notre Dame 48 – Fresno State 3

 

While the commentators expected Notre Dame to run clock and go into halftime with a comfortable lead, the Irish could not resist a chance to run the 2 minute offense. Catches by TE Torrey Barbato (21 yards), WR Kyle Edens (11 yards), and another by Barbato (41 yards) put the Irish on the Fresno State 5 yard line with 28 seconds left. A quick slant to Edens provided another Notre Dame touchdown.

Notre Dame 55 – Fresno State 3

 

Notre Dame kicked off for the second half, and the Bulldogs started on their 32 yard line. A pass heavy attack bisected by an 11 yard run put the ball on the Notre Dame 45 and the Bulldogs facing 4^th and 11.  After fielding the punt, the Irish put QB Conor Mancz on the field with great expectations, but a three and out led to a punt giving the Bulldogs the ball on their own 47. After a 3 yard gain on a short play-action pass, Fresno State went back to the short pass, but the Irish defense was prepared and intercepted the throw. A Bulldog sack and two incomplete passes from Mancz led to another Irish punt. Fresno State moved the ball from their 24 to the Irish 44 before being forced to punt again. Mancz ran 6 passes to push Notre Dame from its 20 to the Fresno State 40 but incompletions forced a Notre Dame punt. Fresno State took over at their 20 and after a nice 9 yard pass connected off an option play to pickup 67 yards on an impressive catch and run. The Irish defense stiffened and allowed no more yards on the drive, leading to a 21 yard field goal for the Bulldog’s second score of the day.

Notre Dame 55 – Fresno State 6

 

Mancz moved the Irish from their 24 to the Notre Dame 45 before being setting up a punt on fourth and one.  Fresno State managed to block the punt and recover the ball on the Irish 24. The Notre Dame defense held tough and forced Fresno State’s third field goal of the day.

Notre Dame 55 – Fresno State 9

 

Mancz would go 2 for 6 on the next series, with a highlight 43 yard bomb to Edens setting up the Irish on the Bulldog 20. Forced with fourth and nine from Fresno State’s 19 yard line, the Irish brought on K Danny Cole for his first field goal attempt of the game with 46 seconds left to go in the third quarter. The kick was missed and Fresno State took over. The Irish defense held the Bulldogs to a single yard and as Notre Dame took over on their 39, the fourth quarter began with QB Kenneth Brimhall jogging onto the field. An 11 yard completion to TE Daniel Habib couldn’t convert after the sack on first down, so Notre Dame was forced to punt. The Irish notched a quick sack and then picked off the throw on second down to give Brimhall and the offense great field position on the Bulldog 44. An 8 yard screen to RB Jamal McBride put the Irish into second and short. Brimhall connected with Muno on a long 34 yard sideline pass to move the line of scrimmage to the Fresno State 2 yard line. Two plays later Habib caught the touchdown pass to bag Notre Dame’s last touchdown of the game.

Notre Dame 62 – Fresno State 9

 

The Bulldogs started the next possession on their 26 with 12:35 left in the game. After going three and out, the Irish ran two plays before Brimhall turned the ball over with an interception.  Fresno State was set up with great field position on the Notre Dame 48, but the Irish defense held and the Bulldogs punted it away after a good run and two incomplete passes. Brimhall hit 3 straight completions but fell short of the first and the Irish were forced to punt it back to Fresno State. Another strong hold by the Irish had the Bulldogs punting it away with 8:29 remaining. Brimhall fired off another pick, setting up Fresno State at the Notre Dame 10. Again the Irish defense answered the call forcing a field goal attempt that was good by the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame 62 – Fresno State 12

 

Neither Notre Dame nor Fresno State could convert to a first down in the next 2 series. The Bulldog punt pushed the Irish back to their own 3 yard line as Brimhall huddled the team. A trio of long passes pushed the Irish to the Fresno 10 yard line. Two sacks and another 10 yard completion meant 4^th and 15, so Notre Dame sent the field goal unit on.  Cole’s kick split the uprights for the final score of the game.

Notre Dame 65 – Fresno State 12

 

 

Notre Dame Top Performers Week 10

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	26 of 31 for 71.67% compl	438	8
RB – Zhaire Philon	0 rushes	0	0
RB – Zhaire Philon	5 catches on 8 targets	22	2
WR – Josh Gaudin	6 catches on 6 targets	218	4
TE – Torrey Barbato	5 catches on 5 targets	106	0

 

Notre Dame Season Leaders – 10 games

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	299 of 410 for 72.9% compl	4245	43
RB – Zhaire Philon	146 rushes	781	11
RB – Zhaire Philon	64 catches on 94 targets	542	7
WR – Josh Gaudin	77 catches on 96 targets	1530	11
TE – Torrey Barbato	81 catches on 102 targets	1348	18

 

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:    Looks like things got back on track Coach.

 

LLB:        Yes, indeed. This was a great way to bounce back after that very close loss to Ball State.

 

TheO:    It looked like you had a gameplan change up? The Irish offense ran 89 plays against the Bulldogs, 88 of which were passes.

 

LLB:        Some of the staff have been intrigued all season long by the offense that Georgia Tech has been running this season. We took a closer look and thought it might not be a bad fit here.

 

TheO:    What were Zhaire’s feelings on that?
 

LLB:        All the guys, including Zhaire are team first, win first guys. Zhaire in particular, contributed 5 catches and 2 scores even without direct handoffs. He is an immense talent and when he’s on the field is a threat to score, either on the ground or as a very accomplished receiver out of the backfield. Eighteen touchdowns in ten games seems pretty good to me.

 

TheO:    The lead and the passing focus gave everyone a chance to see both Mancz and Brimhall under center. What do you and the coaching staff think of those guys?

LLB:        We definitely need to get them both time on the field to augment our evaluations from practice. Mancz has seniority, he’s been with us for going on four years now. Conor had a couple dozen plays and showed some great flashes with long completions to Muno and Edens, but he has to develop that consistency that we need at this level.

 

TheO:    And Brimhall?
 

LLB:        Kenny B has the most upside of our retuning QBs, we decided to give him a bit more playing time to see how he fared on the field. 14 for 23 passing for 189 yards was good. He spread the ball around pretty well, but unfortunately threw a pair of picks.  Some of that is to be expected, he’s a couple years behind Conor.  We are excited to get both those guys on the field, so when the starters clear some room on the scoreboard we are going to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

TheO:    Josh had a few highlights! And Barbato over 100 yards.

 

LLB:        FOUR touchdowns and over 200 yards in a single half! An incredible performance on just six catches. He is truly electric. Catches better than 8 out of 10 passes thrown his way, over 1500 yards in the books with more games to go.  Torrey continued his stellar play, ten games done and averaging over 130 yards and almost 2 TDs a game, another great performance with only half the game played. And on top of those numbers, Torrey is maybe the best TE in the country when it comes to blocking as well.

 

TheO:    On the defensive side of the ball?

LLB:        A great performance as well. 4 field goals, no TDs given up, we’ll take that every week of every year. These guys are definitely performing well and taking some of the load off the offense.

 

TheO:    What’s it look like this weekend coming up, Coach?

LLB:        Hawaii comes to town. We’ll be ready for them, they have had their troubles this season, but that travel is incredibly hard on a team, seems like they are at a disadvantage before the season even gets going.  They have a couple guys that we will have to gameplan for – AJ Stewart is a fast RB with great hands and they’ve got a corner, Gates who might be able to match up with Gaudin.

 

TheO:    A two week break, double-bye after the Hawaii game, how does that fit in with your planning?

 

LLB:        The guys will leave nothing on the field, we’ll go super hard on Hawaii, look to come out with the win and take a short break for the guys before focusing 100% on the Trojans to end the season.

 

TheO:    And after that?

LLB:        Well, let’s not get too far ahead. We can talk about that after the USC game, Vicky.

 

TheO:    Fair enough, Coach.  We’ll skip the recruiting talk, as we’ve started pulling together a recruiting overview show for the double-bye weeks. Hopefully we can get some good insights for our readers on how 2025 might be shaping up.

 

LLB:        Sounds good Vicky.  GO IRISH!