ORLANDO, Fla. — A balanced offense and disciplined defense left little doubt for the 15th-ranked Notre Dame football team in Saturday’s Camping World Bowl match-up with Iowa State, as the Irish registered their second straight 11-win season with a 33-9 victory at Camping World Stadium.
It marked the first time since 1988-89 the Irish notched back-to-back seasons of at least 11 wins. It was also the sixth straight win for Notre Dame (11-2), making it the first time since 1992 that an Irish team won that many to close out a season.
Quarterback Ian Book went 20-for-28 for 247 and a touchdown, including 146 yards to Chase Claypool, who also caught the scoring pass. For his efforts, Claypool claimed Camping World Bowl MVP honors. Senior running back Tony Jones Jr. rushed for 135 yards, including an 84-yard touchdown rush that was the longest in school bowl history and was a Camping World Bowl record.
The Irish caused two Iowa State turnovers, resulting in 10 points, with the defensive effort led by linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The junior led all defensive players with three sacks and four tackles for loss (nine total tackles). Owusu-Koramoah’s strip-sack in the first quarter resulted in the first Irish touchdown of the day. Safeties Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott also recorded eight tackles, while Gilman also forced a fumble.
The 24-point win was Notre Dame’s biggest bowl victory under Brian Kelly and was the biggest since a 28-point victory over Hawaii in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.
How It Happened
After going three-and-out to open the game, the Irish regained possession on the ensuing punt, when Chase Claypool recovered Alohi Gilman’s forced fumble at the Iowa State 42-yard line. Eight plays later, Jonathan Doerer converted on a 39-yard field goal attempt to stake the Irish to an early 3-0 lead.
Another Irish takeaway on the next Cyclone possession — a strip-sack fumble recovery by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah — again gave Notre Dame favorable field position at its own 42-yard line. Less than four minutes later, Claypool capped an eight-play scoring drive with a 24-yard touchdown snag that gave the Irish a 10-0 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first.
The Cyclones got on the board with a field goal at the 9:27 mark of the second quarter. The Irish responded on their next drive when Doerer sent through a 51-yarder — the fourth-longest in program history — to regain the two-possession lead.
The Irish stopped Iowa State with a fourth-down stuff on the Cyclones’ next possession, taking over at the ISU 44. Four plays later — including an apparent 43-yard touchdown catch by Claypool that was spotted inside the one-yard line after a review — the Irish found the end zone on a short rush by Jafar Armstrong, putting the Irish up 20-3 with 2:25 before halftime.
Iowa State looked to close the gap before the half, but a trip into the red zone yielded just three points as the Irish defense stopped the Cyclones at the eight-yard line.
The Irish stopped the Cyclones with a third-and-out to open the second half and quickly capitalized when retaking possession. With the ball on their own 16, the Irish needed just one play for Tony Jones Jr. to thunder for an 84-yard touchdown run, stiff-arming his way into the end zone in the final eight yards. The run was a Camping World Bowl record.
After the Cyclones kicked yet another field goal, Doerer kicked the third field goal of his own with 15 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 30-9. Another Doerer field goal of 39 yards with 3:53 remaining locked in the final score for the Irish.
NOTES
- Alohi Gilman, Jalen Elliott, Khalid Kareem and Chris Finke represented the Irish as captains for the opening coin toss. Notre Dame won the toss and elected to receive.
- With the win:
- Notre Dame improved to 11-2 on the season, notching the second-consecutive 11-win season, the first time the Irish have accomplished the feat since 1988-1989
- Notre Dame tied the program record for most wins in a three-season run (33, also posted from 1988-90).
- It was Notre Dame’s biggest bowl win margin (24 points) under head coach Brian Kelly, and the biggest since the Irish topped Hawaii by 28 in 2008 and 28 vs. Texas in Cotton Bowl following 1977 season.
- The Cyclones become the 148th different opponent in school history, with the Irish owning a 122-22-3 (.840)* record against first-time opponents, including today’s result.
- Under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame is 33-0 entering today when the Irish hold a halftime lead of 14 or more points.
- Today’s matchup also marked the first time Notre Dame has faced a Big 12 opponent in a bowl game.
- Iowa State entered the game as one of just three schools (Washington and Oklahoma) with one or fewer losses of 14 points or more since the start of 2017. The Irish took the Cyclones off the list with the 24-point margin of victory.
*Includes one win vacated under discretionary NCAA penalty
TEAM NOTES
- The Irish recovered two Iowa State fumbles in the first quarter. The last time the Irish recovered multiple fumbles in a single stanza came in the second quarter vs. Navy this season. Entering this game, the Cyclones gave up five fumbles, all coming in the first four matchups of the season. In the eight games leading up to the Camping World Bowl, Iowa State did not lose any fumbles.
- On the season, Notre Dame has recorded 19 total fumble recoveries, including the two today, which leads the FBS in 2019.
- With the seventh first-quarter shutout this season against the Cyclones, the Irish have held opponents to just 3.38 points per first quarter this season.
- In the opening five-and-a-half minutes in the second half, the Irish traveled 116 yards on just five plays.
- The Irish were 4-for-4 in the red zone on the day, On the season, Notre Dame was 51-of-55 in the red zone.
STUDENT-ATHLETE NOTES
- S Alohi Gilman forced a fumble on Iowa State’s first punt return of the day, and WR Chase Claypool recovered the loose ball, returning possession to the Irish and marking Claypool’s second fumble recovery of the season. Both came on special teams.
- On Iowa State’s first offensive drive of the game, LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah strip-sacked Cyclone QB Brock Purdy, recovering the fumble to return the ball to Notre Dame.
- WR Chase Claypool caught the first touchdown of the game, a 24-yard Ian Book pass on third down. The score marked Claypool’s 13th TD reception of the season. It moves him into sixth for TD receptions in a season in program history. He also is tied for sixth place in the nation for touchdown receptions this season.
- With his performance, Claypool passed the 1,000-yard receiving mark on the season. In the first half, he posted 112 receiving yards on four catches (28.0-yard average), also marking his third game of the season totaling 100 or more receiving yards.
- K Jonathan Doerer netted a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter to put the Irish up, 13-3. Doerer is now two-for-two on attempts of 50-plus yards this season, connecting from 52 yards against Southern Cal before today’s 51-yard make. Those are the third- and fourth-longest field goals in program history, respectively.
- With his third field goal of the day, Doerer moved into a tie for ninth all-time in program history for field goals made in a season(16 of 19 attempts).
- RB Tony Jones Jr. broke out on an 84-yard touchdown run on Notre Dame’s first offensive play of the first half, marking the longest rushing play in Camping World Bowl history (the previous long came in 2015 with Baylor’s Johnny Jefferson 80-yard rush). It was also Jones’ career-long rush, and the longest in program history since Dexter Williams’ 97-yard rush at Virginia Tech in 2018. The 84-yarder also marks the longest rush ever by a Notre Dame player in a bowl game.
- RB Jafar Armstrong scored Notre Dame’s second touchdown of the day on a one-yard rush with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. It marked Armstrong’s first touchdown of the season and eighth of his career.
–ND–