Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs Iowa State

Bowl season is in full swing as Notre Dame football is looking for its 11th win of 2019 vs Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl.

It’s certainly not as glamorous or as “big-time” as we had expected before the season started, but the fact of the matter is Notre Dame football drew the Camping World Bowl and will take on a 7-5 Iowa State team in Orlando, Florida this Saturday.

After the Irish suffered their second loss of the season in embarrassing fashion to Michigan, the College Football Playoff committee were adamant about keeping Notre Dame away from the Top-10.

Despite winning five straight following the loss, the Irish were never ranked higher than 15th, despite a handful of other 10-2 or 9-3 teams ranked ahead of them.

I can’t blame the committee too much for punishing Notre Dame the way that they have. It was a monumental collapse on a big stage vs a ranked rival, something we’ve seen far too much as Irish fans in recent years. A win and 11-1 regular season would have put Notre Dame in the CFP conversation and almost certainly guaranteed a New Year’s Six Bowl.

We could sit here and play “what-ifs” all day, but the fact of the matter is Notre Dame sits at 10-2, having secured their third straight 10-win season, and has the chance to finish with 11 wins and gain some huge momentum heading into 2020.

Although 7-5, Iowa State is no pushover. While there could be an argument made that Notre Dame deserved to play a better opponent more than Iowa State deserved to play a team like Notre Dame, the first ever matchup between the two programs could prove to be very entertaining.

The Cyclones’ five losses were by a combined total of 21 points, with four of those losses coming to teams ranked in the Top-25 of the final College Football Playoff rankings.

Contrary to popular beliefs that northern teams are run-heavy, ground-and-pound offenses, Iowa State will travel to Orlando with one of the best passing offenses in the nation. Led by sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy, who’s No. 4 in the country with 3,760 passing yards this season, Iowa State is averaging 318 yards through the air per game, good enough for 9th in the country, along with 34 points per game.

If Notre Dame wants to ring in the new year with their 11th win, the same solid defense we’ve seen the last five games will have to show up, along with an explosive offense that can put up points in case of a shootout.

Here are the top storylines to watch for heading into the bowl game vs Iowa State.