Notre Dame Football: Early Look At Camping World Bowl vs Iowa State

Notre Dame football (10-2) will play the Iowa State Cyclones (7-5) in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Florida on December 28th. Here is an early look at the upcoming matchup.

Notre Dame football finished the 2019 regular season with a 10-2 record after winning their final five games. That is three ten-win seasons in as many years for Brian Kelly.

The Irish were ranked 15th in the final rankings from the College Football Playoff committee. Six of the teams ranked ahead of Notre Dame have a record of 10-2 or worse. That is not to say that the Irish should be ranked higher, but that there is not much separating them from some teams ranked ahead of them.

Iowa State finished the regular season at 7-5, but they are better than their record indicates. In their five losses, they were only outscored by a combined total of 21 points. Also, four of those losses were to teams ranked in the Top 25 of the final College Football Playoff rankings.

The strength of this Iowa State team is their offense. This season, they averaged 34.1 points per game (26th in FBS) and 6.6 yards per play (11th in FBS).

The Cyclones have a fairly balanced attack, but most of their production comes from the passing game. They averaged 318 passing yards per game, which ranks ninth in the FBS.

At the helm of this proficient passing attack is quarterback Brock Purdy. The sophomore has thrown for 3,760 yards this season, which is the fourth-most among FBS quarterbacks.

Purdy is not just a pocket passer, though. He has the second-most carries on the team and has rushed for 265 yards and eight touchdowns.

You can bet that Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea’s number one priority heading into this bowl matchup will be slowing down Brock Purdy.

Fortunately for the Irish, their pass defense has been great this year. The Notre Dame defense ranks third in passing yards allowed per game and has held opposing quarterbacks to the fifth-lowest average quarterback rating.

What makes the Irish so good at defending the pass is a combination of great play from their secondary and pass rush. Heading into the 2019 season, defensive end and safety were considered two of the strongest position groups on the roster, and the players at those positions have lived up to expectations.

Looking at the other side of the ball, the Notre Dame offense should have a slight advantage in this bowl game.

Ian Book and the Irish offense really started to hit their stride in the final few games of the regular season. On the year, Notre Dame is averaging 37.1 points per game (13th in FBS) and 6.2 yards per play (23rd in FBS).

The Iowa State defense has been good, but not great this season. They rank 42nd in yards per play allowed and 47th in points per play allowed.

The area where the Cyclones have appeared to be the most vulnerable is their run defense. They are allowing 4.1 yards per rush attempt (54th in FBS).

Notre Dame’s rushing attack has had ups and downs this season, but overall they have been pretty solid. The Irish are averaging 4.9 yards per rush attempt (29th in FBS).

Brian Kelly has said he believes that his team’s offensive identity is being able to run the ball when they need to. In order to beat Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl, the Irish need to run the ball and run it well.

Despite what the win-loss records may indicate, this should be a close game. Vegas tends to agree, which is why the spread for this game opened at 3.5 points in favor of Notre Dame.

For Irish fans, this season definitely feels more like 2017 than it does 2018, but ending the year with a solid bowl win could move the needle a bit.

The Camping World Bowl may not be the caliber of bowl that the Notre Dame football program was hoping for after a 10-2 season. However, it is still a chance to win another football game against a quality opponent and finish the year strong.