Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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training staff attended to Daniels on the sideline after he injured himself on his third reception of the game. Daniels rode a stationary bike and tried to re-enter the game — at one point he grabbed his gloves and helmet — but Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said he did not want to risk further injury. "He had a slight groin [injury], and we could have played him, but we felt like with the depth that we have at that position, we put [sophomore wide receiver] Chris Brown in for the big third-down conversion," Kelly said. "DaVaris would have normally been in that position, but it gave us a great opportunity to put Chris Brown in there. "And he came up with a big catch. So it was next man in. But he could have played. We wanted to make sure we did not put him in a position where it could have been worse, and make sure that he's a hundred percent for next week." Senior wide receiver TJ Jones said he was impressed by his fellow pass catcher's performance. "He was real good," he said of Daniels. "When his number got called he made the play." Brian Kelly Regrets Removing Cam McDaniel After Big Run Early in the third quarter, junior running back Cam McDaniel scampered down the right sideline for a 16-yard gain to the Temple 2-yard line. He had been on the field for most of the drive, but head coach Brian Kelly removed him from action in favor of starting Miscellaneous Notes • Notre Dame rolled through almost its entire two-deep lineup on both sides of the ball before halftime. Seventeen non-starters played on offense and defense in the first two quarters of Saturday's game. "I think we've got a lot more depth than we've had at any time coming into the season at this point," head coach Brian Kelly said five days before kickoff. • The win over Temple improved Notre Dame's winning percentage to .852 in season openers. The Irish have started five of the last six years with a victory. Their only loss during that stretch came against South Florida in 2011. • Senior wide receiver TJ Jones led all receivers with six catches for 138 yards. The 100-yard performance was the first of his career. In 2012, the only wide receiver to top 100 yards in a single contest was DaVaris Daniels against Alabama (115) in the BCS National Championship Game. "TJ Jones is going to be in the mix every single week, because he's one of the best wide receivers in the country," Kelly said. • The Irish were flagged nine times in Saturday's game for a total of 63 yards. Senior nose guard Louis Nix III was flagged three times, twice for jumping offsides and once for a roughing-the-passer personal foul. Notre Dame gave the Owls two first downs via penalty on Temple's lone scoring drive. The Irish offense was penalized on the first play of the game for illegal substitution. "We had some penalties in the first half that we didn't duplicate in the second half, and that was key," Kelly said. • Rees' three first-half touchdown passes marked the third time during his career that he had at least that many scoring throws in a half. He had three touchdowns against Tulsa in his first extensive playing time in 2010. He threw for a career-high four touchdowns in the first half against Air Force in 2011.