Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Game Preview: temple Facts & Figures temple at Notre Dame Game Info Date: Aug. 31, 2013 Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795) Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the first meeting between Notre Dame and Temple. Temple Head Coach Matt Rhule's Record • 0-0 entering his first season as a collegiate head coach • 36-37 as an assistant and offensive coordinator at Temple Prime Personnel • HB Chris Coyer (10) — Started nine games at quarterback last season before moving to the H-back position this spring. Ran for 444 yards in 2012, good for second on the team, and threw for another 946 yards and eight touchdowns. Considered one of the team's top athletes. • WR Jalen Fitzpatrick (15) — The junior wide receiver led the team with 30 catches for 363 yards last year in a run-oriented attack. He'll be the most experienced pass catcher during Temple's shift to a passing offense this season. • LB Tyler Matakevich (32) — The 6-1, 230-pound sophomore linebacker was the Big East Freshman of the Year last season. He made a team-high 101 tackles — 67 of them solo stops — and recovered two fumbles in his first season. Matakevich also broke up three passes and successfully defended three others from his spot in the middle of the defense. • CB Anthony Robey (10) — The 5-10, 190-pound junior cornerback made 41 tackles last season including 3.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks. He didn't intercept a pass, but led the team by breaking up six passes thrown his way. He is the veteran leader of a young and inexperienced secondary to start the 2013 season. For The Record • Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is 2-1 in home openers during his time in South Bend. He was 3-0 in home openers at Cincinnati and 1-2 in the first home game of the year while at Central Michigan. • Senior Tommy Rees will be Notre Dame's opening day starter for the first time in his career. Yet, if he attempts 350 passes this season, completes 200 of them and throws for at least 18 touchdowns, he'll leave school ranked among the top three quarterbacks in Irish history in those categories. He currently holds the best career completion percentage (.636) of any quarterback ever at Notre Dame. • The Irish have faced seven new opponents since the 2008 season: San Diego State (2008), Nevada (2009), Connecticut (2009), Tulsa (2010), Utah (2010), South Florida (2011) and Wake Forest (2011). Notre Dame is 4-3 in those games, with defeats against UConn (33-30 in double OT), Tulsa (28-27) and South Florida (23-20). Temple will be the eighth new opponent since 2008.