Rakes Report #142: Just find what makes you happy and do it 'til you're gone (The Iowa State Review)
~optional musical accompaniment~
1) We should begin by establishing that it is dangerous to assign too much meaning to the non-playoff bowl games. So many things are in flux that gambling on or attempting to glean too much from the undercard of the college football postseason is folly: Coaches and players coming and going, some shutting it down for the draft or not pushing it due to injuries, younger players getting opportunities, etc. Another key factor is motivation level: Do both teams want to be there? Since Chip Long was let go, my working theory was this team would play really well despite the match up seeming below a 10-2 team. They spent all season with half the roster on the verge of mutiny against their coordinator and with him not just gone but replaced (at least temporarily) by someone as beloved as Tommy Rees, my guess was the locker room would be focused because otherwise, in a way, it was like Long would be victorious in absentia.
My faith wavered last week when some of the beat writers began to imply that this team was checked out and disinterested. Now, some of this data was questionable: Players stayed out until their curfew of 11:30 p.m. on Monday and indulged in some beverages, leading to a sloppy practice the next day. They were also not locked in on Christmas Day, but that makes sense since I imagine it is kind of a bummer to be practicing on December 25th. Brian Kelly was questioning the effort, which considering his postgame glee seems like a motivational ploy for his team or just straight screwing with the media.
But in the end, a very enthusiastic Iowa State showed up for their Super Bowl, Notre Dame also came to play and the result was complete and total domination. To put this performance in perspective, Iowa State lost this game by more points than their last six defeats combined and will surely remember their program’s inaugural meeting with the Irish for a long while. This game might not have been a marquee clash but personally I enjoy watching Notre Dame play football and I really like it when they win so I was a big fan of the Camping World Bowl experience.
2) The big storyline going into Saturday was Tommy Calls Plays but let’s set that aside momentarily and yet again praise Clark Lea, whose defense suffocated the Cyclones. Iowa State had scored a touchdown in every game going back to their 2018 opener but really only came close a few times before settling for three field goals. 4.6 yards per play and a measly 1.7 yards per rush in a total wipeout, especially when you consider Iowa State’s very first offensive play was a 23-yard run.
Alohi Gilman got the game ball for flying around on both defense and special teams (huge huge huge strip to begin the festivities) in what was likely his final time in an Irish uniform, but it’s tough not to single out Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who led the team with nine tackles including three sacks (!!) and another key forced fumble early. Asmar Bilal and Drew White were great again and it’s quaint to think back on the offseason and concerns over whether the Irish would have any production from the linebacking crew. If you have any concerns about who will replace Bilal, again, please, just refer to the cross-stitch and relax.
Coverage was great all day, highlighted by TaRiq Bracy breaking up a potential touchdown. On the senior front, Troy Pride didn’t have the final year many of us expected but he had a key tackle on third down short of the sticks to start the second half while Jalen Elliott chipped in eight tackles to close out his remarkable rise from afterthought to captain. On the freshman front, Kyle Hamilton essentially erased Iowa State’s previously productive tight end to close out a stellar rookie year. Khalid Kareem had a classic Kareem game: Limping off the field a couple times only to return and blow up the opposing offensive line, including one play where he helped free Ade Ogundeji for a drive-ending sack. Lea was a finalist for the Boston College job and it is likely his time in South Bend is limited, but while he is on the sidelines the Irish have a chance at an elite defense game in and game out. Excellent effort all around.
3) The first (only?) game with Rees calling the plays was fine, I think. It seemed like he started to find a groove on the 13-play, 74-yard drive that bogged down at the two and resulted in a chip shot to make it 33-9 but with no game pressure we really didn’t get to see much after that save for runs to salt things away. In the end, the offense averaged seven yards per snap against a capable defense, which is quite good. Really curious to see which direction Kelly goes with the new offensive assistant hire, but my guess is Rees shares coordinator duties with a more seasoned partner from outside the program. We shall see.
In his final game in blue and gold, Chase Claypool was a monster and took home the bowl’s MVP award after hauling in seven catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns, although he was only awarded one after a dumb replay review. The Canadian also had a lovely quote after the game about his teammates, saying, “Being so far away from home and in another country, you need a family that will have your back and those guys did that every step of the way." Aw, you guys. Hopefully Claypool downloaded his sideline tapping and goal line expertise into the next wave of wide receivers because he will be sorely missed.
Also great was Tony Jones, Jr.*, who ripped off an 84-yard third quarter rumble/stiff-arm to bury any remaining thought of Iowa State being competitive. The running game still needs some work, but the offensive line getting older and healthier combined with the addition of Chris Tyree’s jets and Kyren Williams coming off 20 months in the strength and conditioning program should help? Maybe? (Also, we still don’t know if Jones will be back for a fifth year or not.) In his final game, Chris Finke pitched in 6 catches for 46 yards and if it was Cole Kmet’s final game it was a quiet one with solid blocking, two catches and a leg injury of unknown severity. While we are on tight ends, let’s shout out Tommy Tremble, who had another nice blocking game.
* Jones had five 100-yard rushing games this season and he saved four of them for big moments (the opener at Louisville, Virginia, USC and the bowl). The fifth was Bowling Green, where he hit 102 despite carrying the ball all of seven times.
Ian Book had another strong game: 20 for 28 for 247 yards and two deserved touchdowns, some key rushes, no turnovers (although a couple close calls) and his 20th victory in 23 career starts, which doesn’t include the previous time he won a bowl game in Orlando in relief. In the first of the coming offseason announcements, Book confirmed Sunday evening he would be returning for the 2020 campaign, an expected decision but still very much a welcome one as a major piece is in place to hopefully keep this train rolling.
Book’s announcement naturally raises questions about Phil Jurkovec, who came to town expecting to sit behind Brandon Wimbush for one, maybe two years and instead appears to be stuck behind Book for three. Jurkovec hasn’t graduated so unless he gets a miracle waiver any transfer will result in sitting out the 2020 season anyway unless he goes the FCS route. While it appears Book will have a great shot at eclipsing the program’s all-time quarterback wins record of 29 shared by Brady Quinn, Tom Clements and Ron Powlus, this is college football and we are one fluke injury from Jurkovec stepping in as the starter. Hopefully Kelly and Rees can recruit the Western PA product into sticking around and at least getting his degree, but I would not blame him if he decided it was time for a change of scenery.
4) The conservative offensive game plan — seldom taking shots downfield, avoiding anything up the seam to the tight ends — matched up with the overall strategy for the afternoon. It seems Kelly and the staff were very confident Iowa State was never going to get rolling on them so they were happy to limit risks. It was frustrating to watch them waste two timeouts at the end of the first half, but the margin was 20-6 at that point and I can kind of understand not wanting to gamble even though it went against everything in my “NCAA Football”-playing soul. Nearly as frustrating was the punt on 4th and 1 from the ISU 46 in the third quarter, but at that point it was 27-6 so I get it. It’s easy to be more conservative when your kicker is as good as Jonathan Doerer, who made four more field goals in as many attempts to finish the season 17 for 20 and perfect on extra points. (Yes, Doerer outscored Iowa State.) As always, I prefer pushing it at every opportunity, but I won’t complain about covering spreads by three touchdowns in bowl games.
(If you were interested in an advanced stats breakdown of the bowl, Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes pivoted to video with his Camping World analysis and it’s a fun and informative watch. I also appreciate Mike using the technical definition of havoc rate, which is of course “neat stuff the defense does.”)
5) Winning Is Hard/Schadenfreude Round Up: This is weird to do with bowl games, so I want to start by talking about Matt Campbell, who has frequented this section over the last couple seasons. We first must recognize that Campbell took an Iowa State team that was among the worst in the Power 5 and turned it into a perennial bowl team that competes with the top of the Big 12, which makes him an appealing candidate down the road for any midwestern power with a head coaching vacancy. However, it was a tough look for our guy on Saturday, even though he was at a talent disadvantage.
A glacially paced no huddle in the fourth and refusing to just quarterback sneak or at least stay out of shotgun in short yardage situations were two of the more glaring issues. There was also a horrible false start at the end of the first half that might have cost them four points. Color commentator Dan Orvlosky was basically begging the Cyclone offense to try something else since Lea had taken away their crossing routes but they never really did. Campbell also issued a coward’s punt on 4th and 10 from his own 40 down 21 points in the fourth quarter, effectively surrendering with 13 minutes to go.
As far as other games go, let’s start with the semifinals. Did Oklahoma fall to 0-4 in the playoffs after another semifinal evisceration? They did. Maybe it’s time for them to join a conference? Ohio State did a bunch of bad stuff — red zone inefficiency early when they were rolling, bad penalties, not reading the two-point chart correctly, punting on 4th and short to a quarterback who’s literally never lost a college game instead of going for the kill — and fell to Clemson in a classic. The Fiesta Bowl featured two excellent teams and one of them, by rule, had to lose.
In other bowls, Miami got shut out by Louisiana Tech to finish the season 6-7 and the program is now under .500 since hosting the Irish in 2017. USC could not handle the team speed of Iowa and finally fired defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, prompting the reasonable question of why they waited until after the bowl. Pitt almost lost to Eastern Michigan. SMU was blown out by the ghost of Lane Kiffin. Washington State didn’t bother to pack an option defense for their trip to play Air Force. But yeah, bowls are weird and great but not necessarily things from which we should take grand conclusions.
6) It is fitting for this season that one of the best bowl performances this December and one of Notre Dame’s best games of 2019 was overshadowed by the playoff starting almost immediately after so it wouldn’t get a second of consideration from folks outside of the two fan bases who participated. No one will be writing any sonnets about this game but don’t let the fact the Cyclones finished 7-6 via a blowout make you think this wasn’t impressive: Both Vegas and the stat models all said this game would be close and it wasn’t because Notre Dame had both a talent and coaching advantage. (A number of pundits and analysts also picked the Irish to fall.) Even though they had every right to be disappointed with their destination and opponent they came out and coolly dismembered a motivated team that was Top 25 in both the SP+ and FEI.
I have said this before but I think it’s even truer after another win: The fact that the Irish can go 11-2 and the college football world just kind of shrugs* is an incredible sign for the health of the program, even if we remain a few rungs below where we’d ultimately like to be. 33 wins in the last three years, two straight 11+ win seasons, two straight years with undefeated home records. This team was written off for dead after the Michigan debacle/Virginia Tech near-debacle and all they did was respond by winning five games in a row by 21 points or more. This team wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t quite elite but it had guts and won far more games than it lost. Recruits are going to commit to come to Notre Dame because of what these seniors built and they should be applauded for what they’ve accomplished.
* The Irish also didn’t really factor into award season or All-American lists with a few exceptions: John Shannon won the long snapper award and Hamilton was on every freshman team because obviously.
What will I think of when I think of the 2019 Notre Dame Fighting Irish? Top of mind will be Chase Claypool and his autumn-long sideline ballet, a mix of power, grace and sheer athleticism against overwhelmed defensive backs. I will think of him converting the 4th and 10 against Virginia Tech, followed by Ian Book high-stepping into the end zone to save the season. I will remember the defensive line taking over against Virginia and Khalid Kareem’s fumble recovery for the miracle cover as the losing streak ended in Palo Alto. I will recall the pleasant surprises of the linebacking corps and Jonathan Doerer and I will certainly smile fondly at the emergence of young guns like Kyle Hamilton and Braden Lenzy. And I will think of Athens and Ann Arbor because we must take the bad with the good, but those failures are simply parts of the story and not the entire narrative. Overall, there was much to love and appreciate and enjoy as a fan, a warm feeling amplified by the amount of talent returning next season.
I will be in touch in the coming weeks as we learn more about the composition of the roster and coaching staff for 2020, but until then, Happy New Year. Thanks for reading, thanks for listening, thanks for writing, thanks for donating, and thanks for being great.
See you in Dublin.
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