Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1197084
22 FEBRUARY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED "And the ceiling is [high] for him as he continues to learn our defense and continues to grow." Unless something unforeseen hap- pens, Owusu-Koramoah will be back with the Irish in 2020, creating havoc in opposing backfields and using his speed and agility to be a menace in pass coverage. IRISH SHUT DOWN CYCLONES' KEY OFFENSIVE WEAPONS A specialty of Notre Dame defen- sive coordinator Clark Lea is to take away what an opponent does well offensively, while also making ad- justments early in the game. So it's no surprise that Lea clearly placed an emphasis on shutting down three of Iowa State's most im- pactful offensive players: sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy, junior tight end Charlie Kolar and freshman run- ning back Breece Hall. All three struggled against the Fighting Irish defense, producing well below expectations. Coming into the Camping World Bowl, Purdy was completing 66.3 percent of his passes while averag- ing 313.3 passing yards and just more than two passing touchdowns per game. Against Notre Dame, he con- nected on just completed 56.6 percent of his passes for 222 yards with no touchdowns. "All year we have been stingy in passing defense efficiency," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "And we felt like we were going to be in a good position, as long as we rerouted and did some good things. "And we did. Clark did a good job with the linebackers, getting in pass- ing lanes and making it difficult." Kolar, who was a named a second- team All-American by the Associated Press, was averaging 56.2 receiving yards per game and had seven touch- down catches during the regular sea- son, but the Fighting Irish held him to three catches for 22 yards and he never sniffed the end zone. This was accomplished in large part thanks to freshman safety Kyle Hamilton, who covered him throughout much of the game. Unlike the other two, Hall didn't become a feature offensive player un- til six games into the season, but once he was given the opportunity he ran with it and averaged 137.9 yards from scrimmage per contest while scoring a total of 10 touchdowns in the final seven games of the regular season. Hall got off to a hot start against the Irish, producing 71 total yards in the first 20 minutes, but after that Notre Dame adjusted. He was held to 30 yards the rest of the game. ✦ IOWA STATE VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Iowa State 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:46 8:10 7:35 5:41 13:56 13:16 27:12 Third-Down Conversions 2-2 1-5 2-5 0-3 3-7 2-8 5-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-2 Average Field Position ISU-23 ISU-27 ISU-23 ISU-39 ISU-26 ISU-28 ISU-27 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:14 6:50 7:25 9:19 16:04 16:44 32:48 Third-Down Conversions 1-5 0-2 1-3 1-3 1-7 2-6 3-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 0-0 2-2 Average Field Position ND-40 ND-30 ND-21 ND-25 ND-34 ND-23 ND-29 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ISU ND Nega ve 5 6 0-5 37 35 6-9 6 10 10-19 7 6 20-29 4 5 30-39 0 1 40-49 0 1 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Iowa State 2 0 2 0 Notre Dame 4 2 2 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Iowa State • 1-10 ISU33 Purdy pass complete to Hall for 29 yards to the ND38 • 1-10 ISU25 Purdy pass complete to Milton for 28 yards to the ND47 • 2-6 ND31 Purdy pass complete to Shaw for 28 yards to the ND3 Notre Dame • 1-10 ND42 T. Jones rush for 26 yards to the ISU32 • 1-10 ND35 Book pass complete to Claypool for 32 yards to the ISU33 • 2-9 ISU44 Book pass complete to Claypool for 43 yards to the ISU1 • 1-10 ND16 T. Jones rush for 84 yards and a touchdown MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • With the 33-9 win over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl, Notre Dame improved to 11-2 on the season. It marked the program's second consecutive 11-win season — the first time the Fighting Irish accomplished that feat since 1988-89. • The 33-9 triumph over the Cyclones was Notre Dame's biggest margin of victory in a bowl game (24 points) under head coach Brian Kelly, and the largest since the Irish topped Hawai'i by 28 in 2008. • The Irish recovered two fumbles against the Cyclones, giving them a Football Bowl Subdivi- sion-leading 19 for the season. • After blanking the Cyclones in the first quar- ter — the seventh time the Irish achieved that feat in 2019 — Notre Dame finished allowing just 3.38 points per first quarter this season. • The Fighting Irish were 4 of 4 in the red zone against Iowa State, and finished the season 51 of 55 (92.7 percent) in red-zone opportunities. Notre Dame, which had 42 touchdowns and nine field goals, ranked 11th in the country in red zone offense as of Dec. 31. • The second-quarter touchdown scored by junior running back Jafar Armstrong was his first of the season and the eighth of his career. Freshman safety Kyle Hamilton was a key fig- ure in the Irish shutting down second-team All- American tight end Charlie Kolar (just three receptions for 22 yards and no scores). PHOTO BY JAMES GILBERT