Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 JANUARY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Clark said. "He's a true freshman, and so it just took him a little while to catch up to the speed of the game. "He's a good combina- tion of power and speed, and can also make some guys miss." T h e C y c l o n e s a l s o have a few dynamic pass catchers, including 6-6, 252-pound redshirt sopho- more tight end Charlie Ko- lar. The Associated Press third-team All-American is averaging 14.1 yards per catch this season and leads the team in receiving touchdowns with seven. Senior wide receiver Deshaunte Jones leads the team in total catches (72) and receiving yards (832), but he's not a huge threat in the red zone with just two touchdowns grabs on the year. Another receiver to monitor closely is 5-10, 183-pound redshirt sopho- more Tarique Milton, who is averag- ing 20.9 yards per catch, has three touchdowns and is also the team's primary punt returner. Iowa State also has an established offensive line that Clark says is one of the best he has seen from the Cy- clones in a few years, but it still has its inconsistencies. "It's a good offensive line," he said. "It's not a great offensive line, but it's been good enough. And certainly, the fact that Purdy has a little bit of mobility helps him in terms of avoiding sacks." A lineman to keep an eye on is fifth-year senior left tackle Ju- lian Good-Jones, who was recently named first-team All-Big 12. DEFENSE While the Cyclone offense seems to have the most compelling individual pieces, the defense may actually be the strength of the team. Iowa State ranks 35th in ESPN's defensive efficiency ratings. The Cy- clones have allowed significantly more yards per game this year through the air compared to on the ground, but that could be somewhat inflated by playing in the pass-happy Big 12. With that said, Clark believes the defense isn't as strong as it was in past seasons. "Iowa State innovated on defense the last couple of years," he said. "They were doing some things that were unique in terms of using three- man front and then how they de- ployed the other eight guys on the back end. "They just had a lot of variety and maybe people have caught up a little bit and figured that out. But they're still a good defense this year. I just think they maybe took a step back from last year." The team is led in to- tal tackles by fifth-year senior linebacker Marcel Spears Jr., who made 85 stops. He's also third on the team in tackles for loss with 8.0 and has five passes defended on the season. Another linebacker, red- shirt sophomore O'Rien Vance, leads the team in tackles for loss with 9.0 and sacks with 6.5. On the defensive line, redshirt freshman defen- sive end Will McDonald has had a solid season, but he doesn't make too many plays outside of getting after the quarterback. On the year, he has six sacks among 14 total tackles and one forced fumble. The secondary, which has dealt with injuries and mistakes from in- experienced players all season, is the weak point of the Cyclones' defense. MATCHUP WITH THE IRISH This should be a good test for Notre Dame. Its biggest strength on offense is passing, while Iowa State's prime weakness is the secondary and, as people saw throughout the month of November, Irish senior quarterback Ian Book is adept at taking advan- tage of inexperienced cornerbacks. On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame's strength lies in its passing de- fense, which ranks third in the Football Bowl Subdivision in fewest passing yards allowed per game (163.7). This should allow the Fighting Irish to miti- gate the Cyclone's offensive strength, as they have the ninth-ranked passing offense (318.3 yards per contest). Still, Iowa State should be taken seriously and you can bet their play- ers will be highly motivated for this game and focused on limiting Notre Dame's explosive plays. "For Iowa State the key is they can't give up big plays," Clark said. "That's really been a strength for Iowa State's defense throughout the years. When Iowa State loses, a lot of times you can say, 'Here are a couple of plays that got away from them on defense that normally don't.'" ✦ GAME PREVIEW: IOWA STATE Redshirt sophomore linebacker O'Rien Vance led Iowa State in tackles for loss (9.0) and sacks (6.5), while tying for fourth in total stops (61). PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS 2019 IOWA STATE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 Northern Iowa W, 29-26 (OT) Sept. 14 Iowa L, 18-17 Sept. 21 Louisiana-Monroe W, 72-20 Sept. 28 at Baylor L, 23-21 Oct. 5 TCU W, 49-24 Oct. 12 at West Virginia W, 38-14 Oct. 19 at Texas Tech W, 34-24 Oct. 26 Oklahoma State L, 34-27 Nov. 9 at Oklahoma L, 42-41 Nov. 16 Texas W, 23-21 Nov. 23 Kansas W, 41-31 Nov. 30 at Kansas State L, 27-17 Dec. 28 vs. Notre Dame^ (ABC) 12 p.m. ^ Camping World Bowl at Orlando, Fla. 2019 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 at Louisville W, 35-17 Sept. 14 New Mexico W, 66-14 Sept. 21 at Georgia L, 23-17 Sept. 28 Virginia W, 35-20 Oct. 5 Bowling Green W, 52-0 Oct. 12 USC W, 30-27 Oct. 26 at Michigan L, 45-14 Nov. 2 Virginia Tech W, 21-20 Nov. 9 at Duke W, 38-7 Nov. 16 Navy W, 52-20 Nov. 23 Boston College W, 40-7 Nov. 30 at Stanford W, 45-24 Dec. 28 vs. Iowa^ (ABC) 12 p.m. ^ Camping World Bowl at Orlando, Fla.