Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Game Preview: temple Top Storylines By Lou Somogyi Breaking (In) The Rhule In contrast to the more grizzled coaching veteran Brian Kelly, Temple's 38-year-old Matt Rhule is a first-time head coach. A Pennsylvania native and an assistant for six years (2006-11) at Philadelphia-based Temple, Rhule is a long shot to pull off what might be a unique achievement: defeating Notre Dame in his first game ever as a head coach. Research dating back about 80 years has not yet indicated that has ever happened, but some of the closest instances included: • Purdue's Jack Mollenkopf defeated Notre Dame in his third game as a head coach in 1956, but it wasn't his first. • Pitt's Jackie Sherrill coached his first college game against Notre Dame in 1977 and had a 9-0 lead at home before an injury to his quarterback and multiple turnovers led to a 19-9 defeat to the eventual national champs. • In 1978, Warren Powers' first game as Missouri's head coach saw the Tigers pull off a 3-0 upset at Notre Dame. However, Powers' first game as a head coach came the previous season at Washington State. • Michigan State's George Perles' second career game as the head coach saw the Spartans upset the Irish in Notre Dame Stadium to end a sevenyear losing streak to ND. Again, it was Matt Rhule was an assistant at Temple from 200611, helping build up a program that was nearly abandoned in 2004 into one that notched a 27-12 record with two bowl appearances and one bowl win from 2009-11. photo courtesy temple Perles' second career game as a head coach, not first. • The closest was Washington State in 2003 with first-time head coach Bill Doba. The Cougars built a 19-3 lead in the opener at Notre Dame Stadium before the Irish rallied in the fourth quarter and then won 29-26 in overtime on a Nicholas Setta field goal. There have been many coaches who have won either in their first meeting with Notre Dame or in their first year at a school, with Michigan's Brady Hoke or Stanford's David Shaw in 2011 the