[2024] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stories – Week 18/CFP Round 3 Recap

[LordLittlebutt]

This article was originally published August 25, 2024, in The Observer, a student run publication serving the University of Notre Dame, St. Mary’s College and Holy Cross College. Re-posted as agreed to with co-editors J.J. Jameson, P. White, reporters V. Vale, L. Lane and photographer J. Olsen, Jr. Photographer P. Parker.  

Rally sons of Notre Dame:

Sing her glory and sound her fame,

Raise her Gold and Blue

And cheer with voices true:

Rah, rah, for Notre Dame

We will fight in ev-ry game,

Strong of heart and true to her name

We will ne’er forget her

And will cheer her ever

Loyal to Notre Dame

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,

Wake up the echoes cheering her name,

Send a volley cheer on high,

Shake down the thunder from the sky.

What though the odds be great or small

Old Notre Dame will win over all,

While her loyal sons and daughters

March on to victory.

 

Notre Dame travelled to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana to take on the second ranked Tennessee Volunteers in the College Football Playoff Semi Finals. In the still air of the dome, the Fighting Irish would end their season against the Volunteers, having reached the National Championship semi-final game in Coach LordLittlebutt’s inaugural season.  We’ll cover all the scoring action and catch up with Coach for some comments after the game.

 

 

CFP Championship Playoffs, Round 3 at the Sugar Bowl – Game Statistics

Team	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Passing TDs	Rushing TDs	INT
TENN	47	569	510	59	6	0	1
ND	26	449	281	168	1	1	1

 

Notre Dame kicked off to launch the 2024 Sugar Bowl, with the winner moving on to play for the 2024 College Football Playoffs National Championship.

Tennessee started the first drive of the game from their 30 yard line and immediately took to the air, completing a 56 yard bomb out of the gate. Their second play from scrimmage hit paydirt for the Volunteers on a short pass from the 14.

Tennessee 7 – Notre Dame 0

 

Notre Dame would start their first drive with a touchback and a hand off to RB Zaire Philon, who took the RPO handoff through the A gap for 36 yards. The Irish followed up with an 8 yard completion to WR Josh Gaudin and another 4 yard run by Philon. This put Notre Dame at the Volunteer 27 with a first and ten. An 8 yard sack, stuffed run and incomplete pass brought out the Irish K Danny Cole to attempt a 52 yard field goal. The kick misses just left and Tennessee takes over.  The Volunteer offense completes their first two passing attempts to move to the Tennessee 48 yard line. On third and three a surprise handoff moves the chains. A sack on first down sets up 2^nd and 20, with another short run, Tennessee is facing 3^rd and 17.  A long pass and a missed tackle puts the Volunteers in the endzone for their second touchdown in as many possessions.

Tennessee 14 – Notre Dame 0

 

After a three and out on the next Irish possession, two incomplete passes means third and 10 for the Volunteers. A fourteen yard completion converts the first down, followed by two more first downs and Tennessee is again threatening from the Notre Dame 12 yard line. Two plays later the Volunteers have scored their third touchdown in as many drives.

Tennessee 21 – Notre Dame 0

 

Tennessee kicks off to deep in the Notre Dame endzone, and Gaudin looking to spark the Irish offense brings the ball out.  Two key blocks and Gaudin is across midfield with only the kicker to beat. The Volunteer kicker makes a lunging tackle attempt and gets enough of Gaudin to bring him down at the Tennessee 35 yard line. Back-to-back sacks from the Volunteer defense push Notre Dame back to the Tennessee 44 yard line for third and 19. A seven yard completion to WR Derrick Muno means another long field goal try for Notre Dame. The 54 yard attempt is just short and Tennessee takes over at their 37. Seven plays and two third down conversions later, Tennessee has first and goal at the Irish 2 yard line. Notre Dame forced two incompletions before Tennessee scored their fourth touchdown of the day with 13:44 left to play in the first half.

Tennessee 28 – Notre Dame 0

 

Notre Dame began their next possession on their own 20 and two short Philon runs meant 3^rd and 3 to go. QB Izaah Plawecki connects with TE Torrey Barbato for 22 yards and then Philon catches a 24 yarder to move the ball to the Volunteer 12 yard line. Here the Tennessee defense stiffens forcing two incompletions and a zero gain scramble by Plawecki. Cole comes on for his third field goal attempt, this one and 29 yard try that bounces off the right upright for zero points. Tennessee needs only 3 plays to move 88 yards through the air for their next touchdown, the fifth in five possessions.

Tennessee 35 – Notre Dame 0

 

Notre Dame fails to convert a third and 22 on their next possession, punting the ball to Tennessee. Tennessee fails to convert their own 3^rd and 5 and punts the ball back to the Irish, breaking their string of five consecutive scoring drives. Notre Dame mixes the run and the pass to create some momentum with a seven yard drive to the Tennessee 27. An incomplete pass on third and three brings out K Danny Cole for this forth field goal attempt, this one is converted finally putting points on the board for Notre Dame.

Tennessee 35 – Notre Dame 3

 

The Volunteers start their seventh drive from their 20 yard line with 2:46 left in the half. Four completions move the ball to the Notre Dame 15 yard line with 1:05 left on the clock. Switching to the run, Tennessee gets to the Notre Dame 11 as time expires.
Tennessee 35 – Notre Dame 3

 

Notre Dame and Tennessee trade three and outs to start the second half, and then Notre Dame starts the next drive on their own 17.  A huge sack puts the Irish back to their own 1 yard line, and another Volunteer sack results in a safety for Tennessee.

Tennessee 37 – Notre Dame 3

 

Tennessee begins their drive on their 27, again going to the air. Completions of 43 and 11 yards sets up the Volunteers with first and ten at the Notre Dame 19 yard line. An incompletion, a stuffed run and a great tackle on third down results in 4^th and 8 from the 17. Tennessee converts their first field goal attempt of the game to add 3 points.

Tennessee 40 – Notre Dame 3

 

Notre Dame manages to move the ball into Tennessee territory but chooses to punt on 4^th and 1 from the Volunteer 45. Tennessee’s first play from their 17 yard line results in a 46 yard completion. Four runs later, its 2^nd and 12 from the Irish 27. A ten yard completion is followed by a seven yard catch for first and goal from the 10. Another scoring strike yields six for the Volunteers.

Tennessee 47 – Notre Dame 3

 

Notre Dame begins their drive on their 32 yard line with a short 3 yard completed pass to Philon. On second down, Plawecki throws an interception giving Tennessee first and 10 from the Irish 25.  Tennessee’s backup quarterback returns the favor on his first play of the game returning possession to Notre Dame. Plawecki hits Gaudin for a 46 yard bomb, then follows up with another long pass to Josh for 22 more yards, setting up first and goal from the Volunteer 7. The screen pass to Philon scores Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the day.

Tennessee 47 – Notre Dame 10

 

Tennessee’s backups go three-and-out and Notre Dame returns the punt to the Tennessee 12 yard line with 14:10 left in the game. Two incompletions and a six yard run by Philon brings out Danny Cole for this fifth field goal attempt of the day. Straight through the middle, the Irish add 3 points.

Tennessee 47 – Notre Dame 13

 

Tennessee begins their drive on their 29 with a QB run for 4 yards, however an ugly display of unsportsmanlike conduct moves Tennessee back to the 18 and no gains on the next three plays means another Tennessee punt. A 36 yard Philon run is followed by a 14 yard Plawecki to Gaudin completion and the Irish have first and 10 at the Tennessee 22 with 9:53 left in the game. Notre Dame manages to move to the Volunteer 14 but the drive stalls and leads to the sixth field goal attempt by Cole. This attempt is converted with 9:16 left to go in the game.

Tennessee 47 – Notre Dame 16

 

Tennessee’s backups produced a three-and-out and another great Josh Gaudin return sets up the Irish with first and ten at the Volunteer 37. A combination of runs and passes moves the ball to the 8 for first and goal. A sack on second down and an incompletion on 3^rd down puts the Irish at 4^th and goal from the 15. Cole comes on to hit his sixth attempt, improving his average on the day to 50%.

Tennessee 47 – Notre Dame 19

 

Tennessee is able to pull over 2 minutes off the clock before punting the ball to the Irish with 1:29 left in the game. With 15 seconds left in the game, Philon takes the handoff and runs 48 yards for the second Notre Dame touchdown, and final play of the game.

Tennessee 47 – Notre Dame 26

 

A pretty one-sided affair, with Tennessee mauling the Notre Dame defense early, scoring touchdowns on each of their first five drives, with little effective response from the Irish. The Observer caught up with Coach LordLittlebutt after the game for a few questions and answers.

 

TheO:    Rough game, Coach. But only the second loss in an overall great season.

 

LLB:        We were definitely the underdog today, but we failed to execute in many areas and should have been more competitive in this matchup. That is a very potent offense, everyone knows about Savage but their defense really stepped up today. Six field goal attempts is not where we want to be. We had increased Cole’s range throughout the season, but the those 50+ yarders are big asks from us.  But you are right, we’ve had a heck of a season. For not being ranked and the very close game against Navy, we really pulled together for a successful season.

 

TheO:    What do you think you and the team learned this season?

 

LLB:        I hope we learned about preparation, execution and perseverance. All of these served us well this year, and I know we had a talented roster, but I think the guys came together and outperformed most expectations.  We did expect to be a top ten team this year, especially with this offense. Top 4 sounds pretty good.

 

TheO:    Almost all the starters will be moving on, Coach -what does 2025 look like?

LLB:        Yes, we’ve mentioned this before. We’ll only have 2 starters returning next season, and while we’ve worked hard to get snaps in for non-starters, we’ll have to see how these guys really look when we get back to camps for next season.  We’ve done pretty well recruiting, with broad needs.  A few great players will be joining us, and we’ll have more depth than we did this year.

 

TheO:    What about the transfer portal?

LLB:        Well, this will be the first iteration of the portal, I’m not sure anyone really knows how things will work out. We hope that our projected starters realize their importance to the team and their teammates and aren’t interested in transferring out, but we’ll have honest conversations with anyone that does think leaving might be worthwhile and I’m sure we’ll come to a solution that is best for everyone.  It may be that some kids need to seek other teams, and that’s OK. We do hope that Notre Dame is the place for a few guys that are looking to leave their current programs, so we’ll focus on being better off after the transfers than we are now.

 

TheO:    Thanks, Coach. I know you have to get going.

 

LLB:        You’re welcome Lois, good talking with you. GO IRISH!

 

[npklemm]

Well, guess we can't say the sim isn't realistic