Stacking Up: Notre Dame Offense vs. Iowa State Defense

A look at how the Irish offense stacks up on paper against the Cyclone defense.

Notre Dame (10-2) faces Iowa State (7-5) in the Camping World Bowl. The Cyclones record is a bit misleading, as four of those five losses came by a combined 11 points to four ranked opponents.

Notre Dame and Iowa State on paper presents a very intriguing matchup.

NOTRE DAME SCORING OFFENSE vs. IOWA STATE SCORING DEFENSE

Advantage: Notre Dame

Notre Dame has a significant matchup advantage from a scoring standpoint, with the Irish ranking 13th in scoring offense and Iowa State’s defense ranking 52nd in points allowed per game.

When you look at the numbers against Power 5 competition the scoring numbers become more balanced. Notre Dame averaged 52 offensive points in three contests against non-Power 5 opponents but averaged just 29.0 offensive points in its nine matchups against Power 5 teams.

The yards per game and yards per play numbers are almost identical from a rankings standpoint. Notre Dame ranks 47th in total offense while Iowa State ranks 43rd in total defense. Notre Dame ranks 33rd in yards per play while the Cyclones rank 36th in yards allowed per play.

Both teams were up-and-down at times, but Notre Dame finished on a strong note, averaging 40.3 offensive points per game while racking up 456.3 yards per game and 6.5 yards per play in its final four games. Iowa State gave up 28.5 points and 401.8 yards per game in its final four contests. That included giving up 42 points to Oklahoma and 31 points to Kansas in November.

Finishing strong isn’t the only reason Notre Dame gets the advantage in this matchup. Notre Dame has a significant edge with its red zone offense and ability to limit turnovers. The Irish rank 12th nationally in red zone offense and seventh in fewest turnovers, while Iowa State ranks 103rd in red zone defense and 112th in forced turnovers.

The Irish rank 51st in third-down offense, but that is well ahead of Iowa State, which ranks 98th in third-down defense.

NOTRE DAME RUSH OFFENSE vs. IOWA STATE RUSH DEFENSE

Advantage: Notre Dame

Notre Dame has been an erratic rushing offense all season, sometimes looking quite dominant and other times looking non-existent. The Irish had four games with at least 230 yards on the ground and four games where it racked up fewer than 110 rushing yards.

The last six games show the kind of schizophrenia we saw all season from the run game. Notre Dame had games with 288 yards, 252 yards and 190 yards in November, but also had games of 106 yards, 105 yards and 47 yards in the second half of the season.

Prior to his rib injury, senior running back Tony Jones Jr. was on pace for a 1,000-yard season, but he never looked the same after coming back. Jones finished the regular season with 722 yards and five touchdowns, but he had just 151 yards in the final four games. Quarterback Ian Book finished second in yards with 516, but according to Pro Football Focus 351 of those yards came on scrambles and not designed runs.

Inconsistent play from the offensive line was the primary culprit in Notre Dame’s run game struggles, which is disappointing for a line that has so much talent in the two-deep.

NOTRE DAME PASS OFFENSE vs. IOWA STATE PASS DEFENSE

Like its scoring offense numbers, the pass game numbers can be a bit misleading. Notre Dame ranks in the Top 25 nationally in touchdown passes, fewest interceptions, pass efficiency and sacks allowed. It’s yards per game, yards per attempt and yards per completion numbers all ranked in the Top 50.

But dive deeper into the numbers and the story is quite different.

Quarterback Ian Book has impressive numbers on the whole, but his production against Power 5 opponents isn’t overly impressive, and his numbers against Top 50 defenses is even worse. Book had a quarterback rating of just 123.94 against Power 5 teams, and his passer rating against Top 50 defenses was just 110.33.

Book completed just 53.4-percent of his throws against Top 50 defenses and averaged 206 yards per game, 5.4 yards per attempt and 10.2 yards per completion while throwing 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

If you take out the rain-soaked Michigan game it doesn't change the numbers much, with Book completing 56.7-percent of his throws while accumulating a passer rating of just 116.52, which wouldn't rank him 99th in the country if it was his season-long numbers.

Compare that to Iowa State sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy, who faced four Top 50 Power 5 defenses this season. In those games, Purdy completed 63.9-percent of his throws, averaged 262.5 passing yards, averaged 7.9 yards per attempt, 12.4 yards per completion and had a passer rating of 143.61. Purdy had six touchdowns and just one interception in those games.

Against the two Top 10 defenses he faced (Baylor, Iowa), Purdy 64.6-percent of his throws, averaged 309 yards, had three touchdown passes (one interception) and a passer rating of 140.27.

Against the two Top 15 defenses Book faced, the Irish quarterback averaged just 174 yards, completed just 51.4-percent of his throws and had three touchdowns and two picks.

What Book has going for him in this contest is he has a dynamic one-two punch to throw two (Chase Claypool, Cole Kmet), and sophomore wideout Braden Lenzy finished the season playing impressive football.

Purdy will be facing a Notre Dame pass defense that is one of the five best in the country, but the Cyclones defense ranks 70th in passing yards allowed, 69th in pass efficiency defense, 75th in touchdown passes allowed and 110th in interceptions.

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