[2024] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stories – Week 14 Recap

[LordLittlebutt]

This article was originally published July 30, 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.  

March on to victory

 

Notre Dame travelled to Los Angeles to tackle the USC Trojans in the final game of the regular season. Hoping to finish 11-1, the Irish came ready to play.  We’ll recap the drives and capture all the scoring before spending some time with Coach LordLittlebutt to get the coach’s perspective.

 

Week 14 – Game Statistics

Team	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Passing TDs	Rushing TDs	INT
ND	42	478	354	124	4	1	4
USC	22	334	284	50	2	0	2

 

The Trojans got the game underway with a kick to the goal line. CB Brandon Astudillo saw some daylight but USC closed the hole well and forced the Irish to start at their 27 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage Notre Dame went long to WR Josh Gaudin, but the pass was wrestled away for an interception, setting up the Trojans with first and ten at Notre Dame’s 34 yard line. After an incomplete pass, USC hits on a long 20 yard pass to set up first down at the 14. Another incompletion, and a pair of quick passes means 4^th and 3 at the Irish 7 yard line. USC kicks a field goal right down the middle for the first score of the game.

USC 3 – Notre Dame 0

 

Notre Dame starts their possession on their 25 after that first play interception to start the game. Fortunately, the Irish defense held USC to only 3 points.  QB Izaah Plawecki drops back on first and ten and delivers a strike to TE Torrey Barbato, who busts a tackle to extend the gain to 46 yards. Notre Dame turns around and delivers the ball to Barbato again, for a solid 6 yard reception. RB Zhaire Philon takes the ball around the left side to chalk up four yards and move the chains. Another 10 yard completion to Barbato sets up first and goal from the 9 for the Irish. As Notre Dame has done successfully all year, the screen to Philon pays off with Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the day!

Notre Dame 7 – USC 3

 

The Irish defense continues its early stinginess and forces a three and out from the Trojans. After a three yard run from Philon, Plawecki is sacked setting up a long third and 21 to go. The Irish run play action long and find Philon sneaking out of the backfield and under the coverage! Zhaire slips a tackle and reaches out to gain 22 and the first down! A short screen to Philon and a 15 yard completion to Barbato means first and 10 at the USC 18 yard line. A two yard RPO run and a 9 yard outside dash by Philon results in another Irish first down, this time with goal to go at the 7. Philon comes back for more, catching a quick strike from Plawecki and dashing down the sideline for another Irish touchdown!

Notre Dame 14 – USC 3

 

Notre Dame with a short kick to the 4, and a nice return by USC to start their drive at their own 37. The Trojans lead with a nice 7 yard inside run and then go to the air. A twenty-one yard long pass creates a first and ten from the Notre Dame 35. Two incompletions later it’s third and 10 with a connection a quick pass to the inside. Irish CB Brandon Astudillo brings the lumber and keeps USC from converting. 4^th and 3 at the Irish 28. Onto the field comes the Trojan field goal unit for their second try of the day. Again, the ball splits the uprights, doubling the Trojan score on the 45 yard kick.

Notre Dame 14 – USC 6

 

Notre Dame starts at their 25 after the touchback. On first down Plawecki hands off to the upback, TE Daniel Habib playing Fullback. Habib bursts off tackle and bowls over a Trojan linebacker to gain 23 yards. On first down Notre Dame spreads the field and while USC is looking pass, Philon takes the handoff to the house for another Notre Dame touchdown!

Notre Dame 21 – USC 6

 

USC starts their possession on their 28 with a seven yard completion for 2^nd and 3 from the 35. On the second play in the series, the Trojans run a play action pass, but CB Kelly May is not fooled and jumps the route to intercept the pass and setup the Irish with their own first and ten at the Trojan 43. Philon takes the handoff on first down and follow his pulling C Cam Black around the right for an eight yard gain, but Black is injured on the play! After Cam is attended to the Irish are back at it. A 10 yard strike to Barbato puts the Irish at the USC 25. Philon carries for 7. Philon carries for 5. Plawecki fakes the hand off to Philon, gets the linebackers to bite and Philon slips behind them to catch the 13 yard touchdown pass!

Notre Dame 28 – USC 6

 

Another short Notre Dame kickoff and good return by USC puts the ball at the USC 33 for the Trojans to begin their next drive with 14:29 left before halftime. USC urns for 7 before connecting for 21 yards moving the ball into Irish territory. The next play is a 39 yard bomb for USC’s first touchdown of the day.

But after hitting 2 perfect field goals, the Trojans mishandle the snap and miss out on the PAT.

Notre Dame 28 – USC 12

 

USC commits a false start penalty to move them back to 1^st and 15 from their 21. An incomplete pass and a 1 yard loss on a running play creates a tough 3^rd and 16 on their own 20. The Trojans connect on a long pass for 22 yards to convert and gain a new set of downs. The Notre Dame defense stiffens, and with the help of a false start call, forces the Trojans to punt from their own 42. Notre Dame takes over at their 13 and Plawecki connects on a 4 yard screen pass to Philon, and then an incomplete pass was followed by another Plawecki interception, giving the Trojans the ball on the Notre Dame 14. The Irish defense held tough again, forcing another field goal attempt, which was successful for the Trojans.

Notre Dame 28 – USC 15

 

Notre Dame started their next series at their own 27 and Habib was stuffed for a 2 yard loss on first down. On 2^nd and 12, Plawecki went deep to Josh Gaudin and connected for a whopping 53 yard gain, moving the chains to the USC 22 yard line. That monster was followed by another bedeviling interception, giving the Trojans the ball.  The Irish defense came in and once again held the line, forcing a three-and-out. Starting on their 35, Notre Dame was able to get out to their 41 before time expired on the first half of play.

Notre Dame 28 – USC 15

 

USC put together a six minute drive to start the second half, moving from their 33 to the Notre Dame 4 with a mix of runs and passes before delivering a short pass to the endzone for what would turn out to be their final score of the day.

Notre Dame 28 – USC 22

 

Notre Dame moved the ball into Trojan territory but Plawecki delivered another turnover by throwing the ball into the defense’s waiting hands. The Irish defense once again stonewalled the USC offense allowing only 5 yards on the third-and-ten try. Notre Dame returned the three-and-out favor and USC started with excellent field position at their 47. Facing 4^th and 7 from midfield, the Trojans opted for a 67 yard field goal try.  Not surprisingly, the attempt was not good and Notre Dame took over at midfield. Alternating runs and passes the Irish took six plays to face a 2^nd and eleven at the Trojan 14 yard line. A screen picked up four yards and then Plawecki hit Barbato in the endzone for another Irish touchdown.

Notre Dame 35 – USC 22

 

USC started with a draw on first and 10 from their 25 that was stuffed for zero yards. On second and 10, the Irish punched the ball out and DT John Frazier came up with the fumble recover to give Notre Dame first and ten from the USC 26. Notre Dame could only move the ball to the 20 before facing fourth down and calling for the field goal unit. The kick bounced off the right upright and the Irish failed to convert any points from the turnover. On first down, the Trojans run was again stuffed for no gain. On second down, Irish CB Josh Wright jumped the quick slant route and held onto the ball all the to the endzone for a highlight pick 6!

Notre Dame 42 – USC 22

 

Notre Dame continued its defensive dominance over the demoralized Trojans, forcing another three-and-out. The Irish converted another first down but was forced to punt after reaching the USC 46 yard line. The Trojans started their final drive on their own 4 yard line. Leaning on the pass, with a couple runs sprinkled in they managed to drive to the Notre Dame 22 and faced a 4^th and 11 with 1:53 remaining in the game. Down three scores, they went for it and Irish SS Edgar Patton came up with a nice tackle at the Notre Dame 18 to give the ball to the Irish on downs. Notre Dame managed to run the clock and punt with only 2 seconds in the game to secure the win.

Notre Dame 42 – USC 22

 

 

Notre Dame Top Performers Week 14 – Regular Season Finale

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	27 of 41 for 65.8% compl	354	4
RB – Zhaire Philon	16 rushes	96	1
TE – Daniel Habib	3 rushes	28	0
RB – Zhaire Philon	8 catches on 12 targets	70	3
WR – Josh Gaudin	4 catches on 8 targets	107	1
TE – Torrey Barbato	9 catches on 13 targets	139	1

 

Notre Dame Season Leaders – 12 games

Player & Position	Attempts	Yards Gained	TDs
QB – Izaah Plawecki	363 of 501 for 72.5% compl	5073	51
RB – Zhaire Philon	178 rushes	968	13
RB – Zhaire Philon	77 catches on 112 targets	653	10
WR – Josh Gaudin	85 catches on 109 targets	1671	13
TE – Torrey Barbato	101 catches on 123 targets	1625	20

 

We caught up with Coach LordLittlebutt to talk about the USC game and the season overall.

TheO:    Nice to end with a victory, Coach. 11-1 is a pretty good result for the regular season.

 

LLB:        Thanks Lois. Definitely nice to finish the schedule with a win, and 11 and 1 is a GREAT record. That 3 point loss to Ball State will stay with a lot of the team, but like I told them after that game, we can’t go back and change anything, so let’s put our effort into what we can control, and that’s playing damn fine football.

 

TheO:    Coach, how is Cam Black doing?

 

LLB:        He’s got a shoulder injury and looks like he’ll definitely miss some time. We have this next weekend off, and he’ll rehab hard and we’ll see when he’s able to return. We definitely need him. He calls a great line game and is fantastic blocking on passing plays. Andy Miller’s behind him on the depth chart and he’s been learning behind Cam, but if we’re in the playoffs, we really need all our best.

 

TheO:    Speaking of playoffs, how do you think that shapes up for the Irish?

 

LLB:        We think 11-1 is going to be impossible for the selection committee to ignore. As you know, Notre Dame doesn’t have a conference championship game to shine in, and that action this weekend will kind of the shiny squirrel that could pull some attention away from our great season.  We’ve got quality, quality wins over Navy, a top defensive program and 10 game winner. Frankly, we expect they may well be the AAC champs with that defense.  Stanford, 9 wins led by Vontae Knebel is another quality, quality win for us. This past game with USC – they have championship level talent on that club. How they decided to change BOTH their offense and defense schemes mid-season is beyond me.  That definitely cost them their Wisconsin and Minnesota games. Changing their entire offense and defense must have been hell on those kids, having to go out and perform like that.  Those games are the difference in USC playing the Big 10 championship game and sitting at home. That’s a very solid resume we are sporting and the committee will recognize that and we expect to make the playoffs.

 

TheO:    Where do you think Notre Dame should be ranked?

LLB:        You asked me about that earlier. We don’t like to depend on rankings, we need to go out and take care of business on the field.  Do I think we are a top 12 team? Heck yeah. Top 8 for home field in the first round of the playoffs? Without a question, we should be bringing a playoff game to South Bend for our fans to benefit from the season we’ve had.  Do I care where we are ranked outside of that? Not really. Give us the shot we’ve earned and we’ll settle that on the field.

 

TheO:    Let’s spend a couple minutes on the USC game, any thoughts?

LLB:        We’ve got to clean up the turnovers. Plawecki’s awesome, he should be in New York for Heisman consideration, but he’s got to stop throwing picks.  That defense REALLY stepped up for us. Holding the Trojans to field goal attempts and forcing a fumble, and that pick six really had huge impacts for us on the field, and for the mental approach with the offense. It’s great to believe that mistakes can be mitigated and head right back onto the field and score.

 

TheO:    How about the overall season performances?

LLB:        Well, I know you’ve been tracking our offense’s skill players since our conversation at the beginning of the year.  There are some outstanding performances there.  Plawecki throwing for over 5000 yards and 50 touchdowns is more than any OC could hope for.  Zhaire Philon, can you believe, 23 touchdowns catching and running – over 1600 all purpose yards – fantastic!  We all know Torrey would deliver, 20 TDs and over 100 catches at tight end, what a weapon.  Gaudin, again over 1600 yards and 13 scores, plus a great job returning kicks as well.  Just an outstanding line up.

 

TheO:    Any other performances to call out?
 

LLB:        We’ve talked about the defense toughening up and making big stops in games. They’ve done a great job limiting opposing offenses. We’re giving up fewer than 20 points a game on average, while scoring over 40. Opponents are averaging only 250 yards in the air against us and 140 or so on the ground. We’d like to that rushing yards allowed down quite a bit, but for a team that’s been touted and recognized for our offense, it’s really nice to see a strong defense emerge, and I’d like to recognize that here. That group doesn’t have standout individuals, nobody with double-digit sacks or other gaudy numbers, but we have 5 players with interceptions, four players forcing fumbles, five guys with more than 5 tackles for loss, 10 guys with more than 20 tackles. That group works really well together, and keeps us in games.

 

TheO:    Thanks for your time Coach. Rest up and give ‘em heck in the playoffs.

 

LLB:        Thanks Lois. GO IRISH!