Notre Dame overwhelmed Iowa State in a 33-9 victory in Saturday’s Camping World Bowl match-up in Orlando, Florida. The Irish used a balanced offensive and defensive performance to dominate the Cyclones.
The Irish ended the season on a 6-game win streak and finished with an 11-2 overall record. This was their first back-to-back 11-win season since 1988-1989.
Irish Defense Ignites Team
Notre Dame’s defense helped ignite the team early in the 1st quarter with 2 forced fumbles that resulted in 10 points. Alohi Gilman forced the first fumble on a punt and junior linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced the second on a big sack. Owusu-Koramoah led all defensive players with three sacks and four tackles for loss (nine total tackles).
Notre Dame’s Offensive Stars Come Through
Offensively, Chase Claypool caught 7 passes for 146 yards and 1 touchdown. His performance earned him MVP honors. Quarterback Ian Book also helped the Irish offense. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 247 yards and 1 touchdown.
Tony Jones led all rushers with 135 yards on 11 carries. His 84-yard touchdown run marks the longest rush ever by a Notre Dame player in a bowl game.
Notre Dame was effective in all three phases of the game. The defense kept a high scoring Iowa State offense out of the end zone and the Irish had big plays from all their key offensive weapons. This will definitely give the Irish a lot of momentum heading into the offseason.
