ORLANDO, FL – On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, at Camping World Stadium, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, 33-9 in the Camping World Bowl. Notre Dame led all game and never once in the game, even early on, did it feel like Notre Dame was ever in danger of losing. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly spoke after the game about the win and how proud he was of the team.
“I’m just so proud of our football team, my staff and coaches,” said Kelly. “You know, 2019 will be one that I will always remember for a group of guys that just loved to play the game. They had such a strong brotherhood. They did not listen to what the naysayers had to say about them. The negative tone, the negative people out there. All they cared about was playing the game. It was clean. It was about competing, always looking to better themselves.”
Kelly added that “it’s just so satisfying that this group has been rewarded with 11 wins because they have thought only about their teammates and how they can work to get better each and every day. So they overcame adversity, lived the life lessons of it. They’re not perfect. They never pretended to be perfect and never wanted to be, but always strived for excellence. So I’ll always remember this group as a special group.”
In the first quarter, everything seemed to go Notre Dame’s way. After going three-and-out to start the game, they punted the ball away but during the return, Iowa State returner Tarique Milton fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Notre Dame wide receiver Chase Claypool. Notre Dame start their next drive with fantastic field position on the Iowa State 42-yard line. Seven plays later, Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer drilled a 39-yard field goal to give the Irish a 3-0 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Iowa State was driving down the field and were in Notre Dame territory when quarterback Brock Purdy was sacked and fumbled the ball. Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah recovered the ball. Eight plays later, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book launched a beautiful 24-yard fade pass in the right corner of the end zone to Claypool, who made a leaping grab for the score. This score gave Notre Dame a 10-0 lead.
By halftime, Iowa State was able to make two field goals and score six points but that wasn’t enough considering that Notre Dame scored and additional 10 points to take a 20-6 lead. The highlight play for Notre Dame during that sequence was 43-yard pass from Book to Claypool that led to a one-yard touchdown run by Notre Dame running back Jafar Armstrong. The Fighting Irish added 13 more points in the second half en route to a dominating 33-9 victory.
Offensively, Notre Dame was led by Claypool, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Camping World Bowl. Claypool finished the game with seven catches for 146 yards and one touchdown. He also had the first fumble recovery of the game that led to Notre Dame’s first points. Book completed 20 -28 passes for 247 yards and one touchdown. Running back Tony Jones Jr. led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 135 yards and one touchdown. His highlight play of the game was sprinting down the left side of the field and stiff-arming an Iowa State defender into the end zone on an 84-yard touchdown run.
Claypool spoke after the game about his fumble recovery.
“Yeah. I guess it was a good thing I missed the tackle at the beginning because our D-boys kind of shut the ball out and gave me a gift,” said Claypool as he smiled. “We feed off each other, us and the defense. You know, they tell us they’re going to get us a stop, and then we have to go score for them. So, you know, it’s give and take. I was happy we were able to put something on the board right after that turnover and then continue that on.”
The Notre Dame defense also came to play with six tackles-for-a-loss, four sacks and two fumble recoveries. They also had three pass breakups and six quarterback hits and put constant pressure on the Iowa State offense to succeed. Notre Dame also won the turnover battle, forcing two fumbles and recovering them and those fumbles led to 10 points.
Iowa State was led by quarterback Brock Purdy who completed 17-30 passes for 222 yards. Running back Breece Hall led the team in rushing with 17 carries for 63 yards. Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell spoke about the loss after the game.
“You know, from an Iowa State standpoint, I walked out of our last football game disappointed maybe with the character in which we played, because I thought it was a little bit uncharacteristic of who we are and what our program stood for, but today I don’t,” said Campbell. “Obviously, there’s about seven or eight plays in this football game that really dictated the outcome of the football game in some ways for us that allowed us to be inefficient. And, unfortunately, that’s really what’s held us back at times this football season from becoming the team that we do have the ability to become. But the character, the passion, the love of this senior class, what these young men have taught us and given to this football team has been some great lessons that we’ll be able to carry forward in a really powerful way.”
In front 46,948 fans in attendance, the largest Camping World Bowl crowd since 2016, Notre Dame improved to 11-2 on the season. This gave them a second consecutive 11 season, making it the first time since the 1988-1989 seasons that this has been accomplished. Kelly spoke about winning 11 games this season after the game.
“Anytime you win 11 games, that’s an outstanding football season. Everybody measures it by, you know, there’s only one team that can win a national championship. I can measure it by what our kids did at the end of the season; and that is, they got back up, they went out and competed and overcame adversity.”
Written by Erik Slaby
