Orlando, Florida- On a warm but cloudy day in Orlando, Florida; Notre Dame beat Iowa State 33-9 in the Camping World Bowl. Notre Dame started the scoring drive off with a field goal on their opening possession. It was helped by an Iowa State fumble on the punt return that set Notre Dame up in good field position. Iowa State then fumbled on its first offensive possession. Again the Fighting Irish took advantage and went down and scored the first touchdown of the game on a 24-yard pass to Camping World Bowl MVP, Chase Claypool, the start of a big day for him (7 catches 146 yards and a touchdown). Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach said that they “thought they had a good plan to stop him [Claypool]” but they didn’t execute the plan well enough.

The first quarter ended with Notre Dame leading 10 to 0. The major difference being the two Iowa State fumbles. A major issue for Notre Dame is the struggling on third down, going 1 for 7 on third down in the first half. Iowa State started to get the ball moving in the second quarter gaining 135 yards but only getting two field goals. The Iowa State defense did not stop the Fighting Irish as they extended their lead to 20-6. Chase Claypool was a major factor in extending the lead having two catches for 75 yards including a big catch to set Notre Dame up inside the 1-yard line. Both teams were moving the ball well at the half, with both over 200 yards but Notre Dame was getting the most out of their yards with the 14 point lead.

The second half started with Iowa State going three and out. Notre Dame’s Tony Jones Jr. ran for an 84-yard touchdown. If that wasn’t enough he ended the run with a ruthless stiff arm, that allowed him to score on the run. This is the longest run in both Camping World Bowl and in Notre Dame Bowl history. Jones Jr. is a native of the St. Petersburg area and had a  bunch of friends and family at the game today. Brian Kelly said it “was very satisfying” to see him break off that run. That run was one of the main parts of a run game that Kelly described as running “effectively”. On the topic of the offense, Kelly said the offense was “well-orchestrated” and the “ball was spread out evenly”.

After that touchdown run the teams traded punts but Iowa State put together a nice 10 play drive that ended in a field goal. After taking a sack to turnover the ball over on downs, Iowa State Quarterback Brock Purdy limped off the field and was taken to the locker room. After the game, Head Coach Matt Campbell said that it was a high ankle sprain and that they had already ran both X-rays and MRIs on the ankle. After that Notre Dame added two more field goals to bring the final score to 33-9.

Both Iowa State and Notre Dame go into offseason facing some major losses on both sides of the ball and could see some talent go early into the draft. Head Coach Matt Campbell said that this senior class has shown how to be a good leader to the next group of leaders of the team and expects to be even better next year.