No. 14 Notre Dame breezed past Temple 28-6 on Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.
Senior quarterback Tommy Rees threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns as the offense rolled up 543 total yards on the Owls (0-1). Senior receiver TJ Jones hauled in a career-high 138 yards and was one of seven different Notre Dame players to catch a pass.
The good: The offense moved the ball incredibly well. The Irish (1-0) had 268 yards at halftime and were able to rip off huge chunks of yards at a time. Jones, junior tight end Troy Niklas, junior receiver DaVaris Daniels and sophomore receiver Chris Brown all hauled in passes of 30 or more yards. Junior running back Amir Carlisle also added a 45-yard sprint on the first play from scrimmage.
The bad: What happened to the rushing defense? The Owls ran for 134 yards on the stout Irish defense and scored a rushing touchdown. The first rushing touchdown Notre Dame gave up in 2012 came against Oklahoma, the eighth game of the season. Owls junior quarterback Connor Reilly was able to scramble successfully to lengthen drives and finished with 65 yards on the ground.
What we learned: Not a whole lot, actually. Temple was not very good and Notre Dame won a game that was over five minutes in to the game. The defense continued its bend but don't break style and the Rees showed everyone he could throw deep. The Irish lost a little momentum in the second quarter and the score should have been closer if Temple could have put the ball through the uprights.
