Sep 12, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) celebrates after throwing the game-winning touchdown pass against the Virginia Cavaliers with twelve seconds left in the fourth quarter at Scott Stadium. The Fighting Irish won 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame is going to meet a Big Ten team after all.
After a new ACC affiliation forced them to scale back rivalries with traditional Big Ten foes — with one in the 2015 regular season — the Irish announced on Sunday that they’ll meet heavyweight Ohio State in the Jan. 1, 2016 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
The Irish (10-2) are No. 8 while the Buckeyes (11-1) are seventh in the final College Football Playoff rankings released Sunday.
“We know Big Ten football, and we know what it’s like, it’s tough, it’s physical, it’s well-coached,” said Irish coach Brian Kelly, who will make his sixth bowl appearance in as many seasons. “But I don’t think that there’s like, you know, an added kind of resume builder. It’s Ohio State. They’re the defending national champs. It’s a darned good football team. But I think we know who we are, and we’ve been tested by some very, very good football teams.”
Notre Dame and Ohio State play for the sixth time in history and the first since the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. The teams are scheduled to play a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023.
Notre Dame had hoped to land in the four-team College Football Playoff berth but Stanford’s Conrad Ukropina had other plans last month.
The Cardinal senior nailed a 45-yard field goal as time expired in a 38-36 Stanford victory that left the Irish out of the national playoff conversation.
The Irish already saw a spot among the elite four slipping away when they dropped from No. 4 to sixth in last week’s rankings.
They needed a convincing win over the Cardinal to jump back in. Instead, Stanford prevailed in the see-saw contest and reaped the rewards as it jumped from ninth to No. 7.
The Cardinal eventually landed No. 6 in the CFP rankings and will meet Iowa in the Rose Bowl.
“I won’t tell you that they were jumping up and down when the announcements were made today because they were disappointed that they weren’t one of the four teams,” Kelly said. “But they also want to play one more game together, and this is that opportunity to play one more.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB DeShone Kizer stepped in when Malik Zaire went down with a season-ending injury. He went 189-for-298 and 2,600 yards and 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Kizer has also rushed 119 times for 499 yards.
–WR Will Fuller is fifth all-time on the school’s single-season chart (1,145 yards) and seventh (2,399 yards) on the career list. He’s had six 100-yard receiving game of the season, tying Maurice Stovall (2005) for third in school history.
–LB Jaylon Smith has now eclipsed 100 tackles in consecutive seasons. The last Irish player to do that was Manti T’eo’s run of three straight years from 2010-12. Smith has reached double digits in tackles in five of the last six games
–K Justin Yoon, a freshman, has now connected 12 consecutive field goals, the fourth-longest run in school history. His last miss came on Sept. 12 at Virginia.
–RB C.J. Prosise has been out with an injury but could be back for the bowl game. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau on the season with his second carry of the game against Boston College, a 31-yard scamper. He now has 157 carries on the year for 1,029 yards.
BOWL HISTORY: Notre Dame is 17-17 in previous bowl appearances.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think those eight teams that if you look at the first eight, that would be a pretty good playoff. Everybody would be excited about it. You’ve just got to keep moving in this direction. … But you know, if college football continues on its trend of popularity and teams building the way they are, it’s going to be hard to stay at four.” — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly on the prospect of eventually expanding the playoffs to eight teams.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
BOWL BREAKDOWN
Scouting the running game: Freshman Josh Adams has stepped into a gap left by C.J. Prosise’s injury to set a freshman record with 757 net yards plus five rushing TDs. Notre Dame ranks 25th nationally in rushing with a 214.8 per game average.
Scouting the passing game: Notre Dame barely missed a beat when Malik Zaire was sidelined with an injury. DeShone Kizer has gone 189-for-298 and 2,600 yards and 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. WR Will Fuller has 56 catches for 1,145 yards and 13 TDs. The Irish rank 37th nationally with a 256.7 yards per game passing average.
Scouting the run defense: Notre Dame ranked 67th — the middle of the pack nationally — with a 166.5 yard average an and average of 4.52 yards per game.
Scouting the pass defense: KeiVarae Russell and Cole Luke each have two interceptions but Russell is out for the year. Notre Dame is 28th in the nation with 195.9 average yards allowed per game.
Scouting the special teams: Freshman kicker Justin Yoon has hit 12 straight field goals and 46 of 48 field goal attempts. Tyler Newsome averages 44.0 yards per punt and 61.5 yards per kickoff.
Intangibles: While it’s certainly a prestigious Jan. 1 game, it’s not where either program wanted to be. Both Notre Dame and Ohio State were in the mix for the four-team College Football Playoff but missed out with last-season stumbles. Still, the Irish and Buckeyes want to go out winners
ROSTER REPORT:
–RB C.J. Prosise has not yet been fully cleared to practice.
–DL Jarron Jones is fully cleared and will return to practice later this week.
–Seven players were previously declared out for the season: G Alex Bars (left ankle injury), DB Drue Tranquill (ACL); TE Durham Smythe (shoulder); QB Malik Zaire (ankle); RB Tarean Folston (knee); DB Shaun Crawford (knee); CB KeiVarae Russell (tibia).
