ND to face Iowa St. in Camping World Bowl

Notre Dame faces Iowa State for the first time today in the Camping World Bowl today in Olrando, Florida. For the Irish, the game has little meaning. No glamour matchup; nothing on the line except to win the game and get their 11th victory. Or to lose the game, which would be somewhat of an embarrassment. Playing Iowa State, the No. 3 team out of the Big 12, will not help ND, ranked 14th in the Associated Press poll, jump any higher than maybe a position or two, depending on what happens to the teams immediately ahead of them.

I’m not taking anything away from Iowa State – a much better football team than many believe – and certainly as good or better than some of the teams ND (10-2) played this year, such as New Mexico, Bowling Green, Duke and Navy.

The only thing the Irish really get out of it is extra practice days for coach Brian Kelly and his staff with the players who will be returning next year.

The money part of it doesn’t mean that much either. After ND deducts the costs of taking the team and all of its staff and the band to Orlando, ND might break even, or even lose some money. An Irish win would be a good jumping off point for the 2020 season, since most of the ND offense returns.

The Cyclones come into the game at 7-5, but have lost those five games, on average, by fewer than 10 points. The wins have been over Northern Iowa (29-26), LA Monroe (72-20), TCU (49-24), West Virginia (38-14), Texas Tech (34-24), Texas (23-21) and Kansas (41-31). The losses have been to Iowa (18-17), Baylor (23-21), Oklahoma State (34-27), Oklahoma (42-41) and Kansas State (27-17). As you can see, the wins and losses have been against some very good football teams.

The Cyclones will be a test for the ND secondary as they like to throw the football.

Iowa State has an excellent quarterback in sophomore Brock Purdy, who since taking over in the Oklahoma State game, has 3,760 yards passing and 27 TD throws. Iowa State has averaged 434.7 yards per game and 32.7 points per game since the Oklahoma State game. The Cyclones are probably the best 7-5 team in the country. Iowa State is 34th in rush defense nationally out of 130 FBS teams and 43rd in total defense. That puts them as No. 6 among the teams ND played this year.

The game will be televised nationally by ABC with a noon kickoff.

IRISH NOTES: Now we’ll catch up with some news since the Stanford game. First, some stats from that game. After struggling in the first half, the Irish pulled away late thanks to the defense and some timely Stanford errors. ND finished with 190 rush yards and 255 yards passing. Notre Dame had 445 yards of total offense to 394 for the Cardinal. Tony Jones Jr. rushed for 50 yards on 14 carries with Braden Lenzy getting 48 yards on four carries and Jafar Armstrong 44 on three. Ian Book ran for 29 yards on eight carries. Book completed 17 of 30 attempts for 255 yards and four TDs. Cole Kmet had five catches for 77 yards, and Chase Claypool three catches for 63 yards and two TDs. Lenzy had two catches for 48 yards and Jones two for 40....As you probably know, Chip Long parted company with ND and Brian Kelly as offensive coordinator. The South Bend Tribune said it was a “mutual” parting. In the three years Long was in charge of the offense, ND’s stats improved offensively. Kelly said he was not in a hurry to pick a new offensive coordinator as he wants to focus on the bowl game. QB coach Tommy Rees and running backs coach Lance Taylor are likely to fill in at the position. They have been running the offensive team meetings. Kelly announced Thursday that Rees will be calling the offensive plays....ND held its annual end of the regular season awards program, and wide receiver Chase Claypool was named the most valuable player for the 2019 season. In November alone he caught 30 passes for 455 yards and eight TDs in five games. He finished the regular season with 59 catches for 891 yards and 12 TDs. He currently sits in 10th place in program history for career touchdown catches for a WR with 18. Ian Book was named Offensive Player of the Year. He surpassed 2,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards and 30 TD passes in a season. Khalid Kareem won the Defensive Player of the Year award, his first postseason award. He had 45 tackles, 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Cole Kmet was named Impact Player on offense, despite missing two games due to injury. He caught 41 passes for 482 yards and six TDs in 10 games. Safety Alohi Gilman received the Impact Player award on the defensive side. He had 66 tackles, three for a loss, two forced fumbles, one sack, one interception and one fumble recovery. Gilman is still undecided if he will return next year or pursue an NFL career. Senior defensive end Julian Okwara won the Moose Krause Defensive Lineman of the Year while junior offensive tackle Robert Hainsey received the Offensive Lineman of the Year award. The rest of the award winners were: Bob Bauer, Special Teams Player of the Year; Jarrett Patterson, Offensive Newcomer of the Year; Drew White and Kyle Hamilton, Co-Defensive Newcomers of the Year; Tony Jones Jr., Running back of the Year; Jamir Jones, Next Man In; Asmar Bilal, Father Lange Iron Cross; Chris Finke, Rockne Student-Athlete; Jalen Elliott, Irish Around the Bend; cornerback Shaun Crawford, Pierosante award, recognizing courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and team pride; Trevor Ruhland, Humble and Hungry award; Brendon Clark, Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year; Isaiah Foskey, Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year....ND’s early signing recruiting class has about everything ND needed, which is sometimes more important and just signing numbers. ND had a limited amount of scholarships to give out due to the number of returnees in 2020. The biggest signee was running back Chris Tyree, a 5-10, 185 pounder who has impressed with a short-area burst, elusiveness, pass-catching abilitie and recruiting pedigree. He is ranked 115th overall by recruiting services. The next is wide receiver Jordan Johnson, who is expected to play as a freshman next season, he’s that good. Others include offensive lineman Tosh Baker; wide receiver Xavier Watts; tight ends Michael Mayer and Kevin Bauman; defensive end Alexander Ehrensberger; and finally another wide receiver in Jalen McMillan....Sophomore Micah Jones has moved up to top backup to Chase Claypool. Jones is 6-5 and 219 pounds, and has played in four career games for the Irish, never in a high-leverage situations and has no career catches. Senior Javon McKinley, who has 11 catches for 268 yards and four TDs, was Claypool’s backup but has miss the last three regular season games due to a mid-foot sprain....ND had to work out around final exams last week....Today’s game will not be a sellout. According to reports, Irish fans are not flocking to the game, but Iowa State fans are. Today’s game means more to Iowa State than the Irish. This is a chance for the Cyclones, who have been involved in so many close games – both wins and losses – this season to make an impression on the media and other schools and provide a launching pad for 2020. My question is, will Kelly return to his usual form, not having his team ready after such a long perparation period, or will the team bear down and want to get that 11th win of the year and finish 11-2. ND is just a three-point favorite in most rankings. My pick is toss-up and a slight edge to Iowa State.