Notre Dame began the Camping World Bowl by proving two things out of the gate:
1) The offense was not going to settle for just getting by. A pair of fourth-down conversions in Iowa State territory proved that, and they kept alive the drives that led to Jonathan Doerer’s 39-yeard field goal and Ian Book’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool, giving the Irish a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.
2) The Cyclones better take care of the ball because the Irish was not going to make it easy. First, Alohi Gilman forced a fumble by punt returner Tarique Milton, and it was recovered by Claypool. After the Notre Dame field goal, a promising Cyclones possession was snuffed out when Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah strip-sacked Brock Purdy and took the ball for himself at the Irish’s 42. Like on the fourth downs, both instances led to the two Irish scores.
It’s unlikely the Irish are going to get so many opportunities like this as the game goes on, but they’ve shown they’re here, and they intend to play their way.