Notre Dame cruises past Temple in season opener
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The way Notre Dame started its season opener you thought they would cover the spread in the first half.
The first two times the Fighting Irish touched the ball against visiting Temple, they found the end zone, and for all practical purposes the game was over.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Notre Dame, a 30-point favorite, needed just three plays to go 77 yards.
The Irish were off and running when quarterback Tommy Rees connected with receiver DaVaris Daniels for the game’s first score, a 32-yard strike.
It was the first of several big passing plays for Rees, who had set a career high for passing yards by the time the third quarter expired.
Rees threw for 346 yards, completing 16 of 23 passes, in the 14th-ranked Fighting Irish’s 28-6 win in front of the usual sellout crowd of 80,795 in Notre Dame Stadium.
“I was pleased with his (Rees’) performance,” said Irish coach Brian Kelly, who received a five-year contract extension that was officially announced after the game. “I saw some really good things.”
Afterward, Rees said he played well enough to win the game.
“I had some missed opportunities out there that we need to fix,” the senior said. “I’m pleased with how the entire offense played. We had an opportunity to make some big plays, which we did.”
The Irish made it 14-0 when Rees found Daniels for another 32-yard score. This time the drive covered 87 yards.
After that, the Irish offense bogged down a little bit and Temple’s offense showed some life. However, the Owls missed a pair of very makable field goals.
Temple got on the board when running back Kenny Harper scored on a 1-yard run, but the PAT was blocked to make the score 14-6 with just over a minute to play in the half.
However, that was as close as the visitors would get.
On Notre Dame’s next possession, Rees hit tight end Troy Niklas, who was wide open, down the middle of the field. Niklas stepped away from a would-be tackler and rumbled 66 yards for a touchdown.
On the play, Kelly said Niklas simply beat the freshman linebacker and there was no safety help over the top.
The Irish led 21-6 at halftime.
Temple looked as though it would cut into that lead, taking the second-half kickoff and getting inside Notre Dame’s 10-yard line. But the drive bogged down and the Owls again came up with no points after an incompletion on fourth-and-goal at the 6.
“I think we shot ourselves in the foot,” Temple coach Mark Rhule said. “We moved the ball and couldn’t put it in the end zone.”
The Irish iced the game after that, going on a 94-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a George Atkinson 2-yard plunge into the end zone.
Although Notre Dame’s 22-point margin of victory wasn’t overly impressive, the game was never in doubt.
Once the Irish built that three touchdown-plus lead, you got the feeling that Kelly kept things pretty vanilla.
The Irish may not have lit up the scoreboard, but they did amass 543 total yards of offense.
They gained 188 on the ground. Leading the way was Southern California transfer Amir Carlisle, who finished with 68 yards, including a 45-yard burst the first time he touched the ball. Cam McDaniel added 65 yards rushing.
Receiver TJ Jones led the Irish with six catches for 138 yards. It was Jones’ first career 100-yard receiving game.
Kelly thought Jones was awfully impressive.
“He caught the football, and then he was dynamic after the catch,” said Kelly. “That’s what we’re looking for from him.”
Overall Kelly was pleased with his team’s performance, noting that you never know exactly what to expect in openers.
He was particularly happy with how his defense continued to be tough to score on.
“You’ve got to keep the points down on defense,” Kelly said. “We continue to do that.
“Our defense does not surrender big plays and keeps the points down and really makes you work to sustain drives and to get it into the end zone.”
Temple gained 362 total yards. It gained 134 yards rushing on 29 carries.
Owl quarterback Connor Reilly threw for 228 yards, completing 23 of 46 passes, but none covered more than 26 yards.
A lot of the yards Temple gained were of the dink-and-dunk variety in the passing game, something the Irish coaches were perfectly fine with giving up.
“Those little short passes are not going to win any games,” Notre Dame senior cornerback Bennett Jackson said. “They’re not point-producing plays, so we just tried to keep the ball in front of us and make the tackle. At the end of the day, they’re not going to get all the way down the field.”
Kelly also liked how his offense showed some big-play potential. He really liked how his offense protected the ball, finishing with no turnovers.
“To win football games at the BCS level, you’ve got to take care of the football,” Kelly said. “We took care of the football today. No turnovers. That’s extremely important.”
“Obviously not turning the ball over gives you the best chance to win,” Rees said. “That’s been a point driven into me for a long time. I’m a senior now. I understand a lot of the nuances of playing. That’s something that you’ve got to continue to strive for.”
The Irish will need to play another clean game next week when they travel to 17th-ranked Michigan.
That will be the last Notre Dame-Michigan game in Ann Arbor for the foreseeable future as the series won’t be extended past 2014 as a result of the Irish playing a handful of games against ACC teams. The Irish and Wolverines will collide at 8 p.m. next Saturday, a game that will be televised by ESPN.
