What They're Saying: Notre Dame Fighting Irish 33, Iowa State 9

There was not a better player on the field — versus the run or pass — than junior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who recorded four stops for loss (three sacks) and also forced a fumble that set up Notre Dame’s initial touchdown.

Rushing only four remained effective and allowed the Irish to drop more into coverage and limit Brock Purdy to 17 of 30 passing for 222 yards — 10 percentage points under his pass completion mark and 91 yards below his yardage output per game that ranked fifth nationally.

Particularly notable was ISU tight ends entered the contest averaging six catches for 79 yards per contest. They finished with three receptions for 22 yards, all by AP second-team All-American Charlie Kolar, while coordinator Clark Lea aligned his troops to take away the crossing routes in particular.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Notre Dame Running Game Vs. Iowa State Run Defense

Conspicuous from the outset is newly assigned play-caller/quarterbacks coach Tom Rees appeared mandated and committed to stay with the ground attack. Tony Jones Jr.’s 84-yard run on Notre Dame’s first play of the second half significantly boosted the yards per carry from 3.4 yards to 5.6 in the final data.

Other than that one play, the run game remained okay at best, final stats notwithstanding.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Vince DeDario, Blue & Gold Illustrated: Breaking Down Notre Dame's Bowl Victory

- The Notre Dame defense led by defensive coordinator Clark Lea again led the Irish in this game. To keep Iowa State out of the endzone all day was extremely impressive. This is the same team that scored 41 points against Oklahoma who was in the CFB playoff. Iowa State was the 25th ranked scoring offense in the country coming into this game and they were held to just three field goals. There are two sets of numbers to keep in mind from this game that tell the tale as to why Notre Dame was successful. Sophomore Brock Purdy was 93 yards below his average through the air even though he threw the ball 30 times and Iowa State averaged 1.7 yards per carry even with the 23 yards that freshman Breece Hall had on the first play from scrimmage. That is what a dominant defensive performance looks like.

- Junior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was in rare form today and his stat line was extremely impressive. He led the team in tackles with 9, 3 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 1 quarterback hurry, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. There was certainly a case to be made for him to be the MVP of the Camping World Bowl, and he actually got both mine and BGI recruiting insider Mike Singer’s vote following the game. He was all over the field and just continues to impress. His coverage skills have gotten so much better throughout the course of the season and he just has a nose for the football that is something you cannot teach.

- The secondary played well all day. It was not a secret what Iowa State wanted to do with their offense even though they attempted to run the ball 27 times. Notre Dame needed to be on point in the passing game and they were. Senior corner Troy Pride, Jr. made an excellent play on the ball on a second down in the first quarter to get the defense off the field.

Click the picture to sign up for BlueandGold.com at 25% off PLUS a FREE $75 Nike gift card.

Douglas Farmer, NBC Sports: Notre Dame strips Iowa State of Camping World upset hopes

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME

Eventually named the Camping World Bowl MVP, Claypool’s official stat line fell short of what could have been when what would have been his 14th touchdown of the year instead became a 43-yard completion to the one-yard line upon a questionable review. The Irish already held a convincing 13-3 lead late in the second quarter, but with Iowa State receiving the kickoff to start the second half, the game was still in doubt.

Two plays later, junior running back Jafar Armstrong took a handoff around the edge for a touchdown and an overwhelming deficit.

That Claypool catch made him the ninth player in Notre Dame history with 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

“It’s not something that I was trying to reach,” he said. “It was a goal I had, it was definitely a goal I had, so it’s nice to reach that goal, but you don’t really play the game for statistics. It’s nice, but I’m not going to remember getting 1,000 yards this game. I’m going to remember going out with these guys.”

PLAY OF THE GAME

The ABC broadcast did an illuminating job of highlighting the blocks that made senior running back Tony Jones’ 84-yard touchdown run possible. Tight ends Cole Kmet and Tommy Tremble, and fifth-year receiver Chris Finke all cleared Jones’ path through the second- and third-levels.

From there, it was a question of if Jones could outrun his pursuers. For all his varied assets, outright speed has never been among them. Instead, Jones made a stiff arm apparent.

“It was exciting — it was the culmination of putting together a running plan that when you see it hit, and then you see [Jones] go the distance because he’s been talked about as a guy that doesn’t have the ability to take you over the top,” Kelly said. “You saw him today break down the sideline and have the longest run in Notre Dame bowl history, another record that probably will not be given enough credit to a guy.

“He doesn’t really care about that stuff. He was just excited about the ability to run the ball today effectively. He ran physical and did what he normally does, help us win.”

Thanks to that run, Jones gained 135 yards on 11 carries, bringing his season totals to 857 yards on 144 rushes, a 5.95 average per attempt.

Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame dominates Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl

ORLANDO, Fla. -- On a day when Tommy Rees made his debut as an offensive play-caller, the most artful strategist in No. 14 Notre Dame’s 33-9 domination of Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl, Saturday in Orlando, Fla., was Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea.

The Notre Dame defense allowed a 23-yard run by ISU freshman Breece Hall on the Cyclones’ first offensive play, then just 22 rushing yards the rest of the game, including a single yard on the ground in the second half.

All-Big 12 second-team QB Brock Purdy, a sophomore, came into the game having set 18 school records (game, season, career) during his career and ranked fifth nationally in total offense (335.4) in 2019. The Irish defense held him to 206 total yards and a passer rating (118.8) roughly 35 points below his season average.

The Irish defense forced a first-quarter turnover after ND’s special teams did the same, and got better as the game went on.

ISU managed just 68 yards in the second half, including five in the fourth quarter — this from the highest-ranked team nationally in total offense (18th) the Irish (11-2) had faced all season.

All of which took the pressure off Rees, elevated to play-caller after head coach Brian Kelly decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Chip Long earlier this month.

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION

Embed content not available

----

• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @CoachDeDario and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.