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Notre Dame vs. Iowa State: Recruiting Comparison
One way to look at bowl matchups, at least early on before diving into more pertinent data, is to compare recruiting rankings. It is always interesting to see how teams are put together, and what schools are able to do the most - or least - with the amount of talent they have accumulated.
When comparing programs like Notre Dame and Iowa State it shows that good players are sometimes ranked high, and other times they are either underrated coming out of high school, or they were late developers.
To begin our comparison of Notre Dame vs. Iowa State from a recruiting standpoint, let's take a look at the class rankings that make up the current rosters.
The list above and the rankings below all come from the 247Sports composite rankings.
Notre Dame has clearly dominated Iowa State from a rankings standpoint, with the Irish finishing between No. 10-16 nationally in each of the last five seasons. Iowa State's current freshman class was its highest ranked class, checking in at No. 46. The rest of its classes were ranked from No. 52-64.
The No. 64 class was not signed by current Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, who has upped recruiting in Ames since he arrived. Iowa State's Class of 2020 class is currently ranked No. 40 (21 commits) while Notre Dame's class is ranked No. 13 (17 commits).
Now let's look at how the Notre Dame offense stacks up against the Iowa State defense.
Eight of Notre Dame's 11 offensive starters were ranked as four-star recruits, with two checking in as Top 100 players and five being ranked within the Top 250.
Three Notre Dame starters were ranked as Top 100 recruits by at least one service; left tackle Liam Eichenberg (No. 60 - Rivals, No. 67 - ESPN), right tackle Joshua Lugg (No. 84 - 247Sports) and tight end Cole Kmet (No. 88 - 247Sports)
Backup tight end Brock Wright (No. 29 - ESPN), wide receiver Javon McKinley (No. 59 - Rivals) and quarterback Phil Jurkovec (No. 87 - Rivals) were also ranked as Top 100 recruits by at least one service. Jurkovec (No. 83) and Wright (No. 71) were composite Top 100 players.
Injured starting right guard Tommy Kraemer was ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 26 overall player in the 2016 class, and injured right tackle Robert Hainsey was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 84 player in the country. That means to begin the season the Irish had three Top 100 recruits in its starting offensive line and another (Aaron Banks) ranked No. 166.
Iowa State does not have a single composite four-star recruit on its defense, and none of its top defenders was ranked in the Top 500 by a single service.
Let's look at the Irish defense against the Cyclone offense.
It's interesting when you look at the recruiting rankings for the Notre Dame defense and compare them to the offense. While the offense has eight four-star recruits in its starting lineup, the defense has just four, yet the defense has played much better this season.
Senior cornerback Troy Pride Jr. was ranked as the No. 95 player in the country by 247Sports, but Rivals had him ranked as a non-Top 250 four-star player and ESPN graded him as a three-star recruit, which drags down his overall grade. Fifth-year senior Shaun Crawford was ranked No. 82 in the country by Rivals.
Notre Dame has six starters that were composite three-stars, and captain Alohi Gilman was unranked by 247Sports and was just a two-star recruit according to Rivals. It should be noted that defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, safety Jalen Elliott and rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah were all ranked as four-star recruits by at least one service.
Freshman safety Kyle Hamilton was the No. 60 overall composite player, and 247Sports ranked him as a five-star recruit and the No. 15 overall player in its own rankings.
Notre Dame's backup defensive line has some young and talented players, and their rankings was evidence of that. Sophomore defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola was ranked as the No. 128 composite player, and 247Sports ranked him as the No. 45 overall player in its own rankings. Freshman defensive tackle Jacob Lacey was also a four-star recruit and the No. 172 overall player in the composite rankings. ESPN ranked Lacey as the No. 115 player in the country.
It should be noted that defensive end Julian Okwara was a four-star player (No. 301), as was key reserve Daelin Hayes (No. 133). Hayes was a five-star recruit and the No. 31 overall player according to Rivals. Sophomore linebacker Jack Lamb was a key part of Notre Dame's nickel package before his injury, and Lamb was a four-star recruit and the No. 99 composite player in the country in the 2018 class.
The only four-star recruit that Iowa State landed on offense was freshman running back Breece Hall, who along with Hamilton was named a Freshman All-American by Pro Football Focus.
Quarterback Brock Purdy was ranked as the No. 839 player in the country in the composite rankings, but as a true sophomore he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors and has passed for 6,010 yards and 43 touchdowns in just two seasons with the Cyclones.
Left tackle Julian Good-Jones and tight end Charlie Kolar were first-team All-Big 12 selections, but Good-Jones was ranked No. 855 nationally and Kolar was ranked No. 1208.
Kolar earned a Pro Football Focus grade higher than anyone in the Notre Dame starting lineup
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