Notre Dame To Meet Iowa State In Camping World Bowl
Ranked No. 15 in the final College Football Playoff poll released on Sunday afternoon, Notre Dame (10-2) will face unranked and 7-5 Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl to be held Saturday, Dec. 28 in Orlando, Fla. with a kickoff slated shortly after 12 p.m.
It will be the first meeting ever between the Fighting Irish and Cyclones, who will be making their third consecutive bowl appearance under fourth-year head coach Matt Campbell.
Last year Iowa State lost 28-26 to Washington State in the Alamo Bowl, but the year prior it defeated Memphis 21-20 in the Liberty Bowl.
In the final Associated Press poll, Iowa State tied for 31st in the "others receiving votes" category. The Cyclones lost four of their five games by a total of 11 points: 18-17 to current (College Football Playoff poll) No. 16 Iowa, 23-21 to No. 7 Baylor, 34-27 to No. 25 Oklahoma State and 42-41 to No. 4 and CFP participant Oklahoma.
Iowa State also lost its regular season finale to Kansas State, 27-17, meaning its five defeats were by 21 combined points.
The most prominent win was against then No. 22-ranked Texas, which finished 7-5.
Leading the Cyclones attack is sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy, who ranks fifth in the nation in passing with 313.3 yards per game and is 20th in passing efficiency (Notre Dame's Ian Book is 35th).
They will be going against a Notre Dame defense that is third nationally in fewest passing yards allowed per game and No. 5 in pass efficiency defense. Interestingly, Iowa State ranks No. 21 in total offense (458.7 yards per game) while Notre Dame also is No. 21 in total defense (325.8 yards per game).
A particular weakness for Iowa State is not generating turnovers, forcing only 13 to rank 112th.
This will be Notre Dame’s second trip to this specific bowl, although in the previous one in 2011 it was known as the Champs Sports Bowl, an 18-14 loss to Florida State.
The Irish also played in the same Orlando venue for the Jan. 1, 2018 Citrus Bowl, a 21-17 victory versus LSU.
Look for more information later here, including comments from Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's teleconference.
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