Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the Irish offense stalled the next three series. The Owls reached the end zone for the first time with 1:01 remaining in the first half on running back Kenneth Harper's one-yard touchdown blast to conclude a nine-play, 78-yard drive. In 2012, Notre Dame's defense did not surrender a rushing score until the fourth quarter of the eighth game, when Oklahoma's Blake Bell bulled his way into the end zone. Fortunately for the Irish, Temple failed to take advantage of its opportunities. Owls kicker Jim Cooper Jr. missed two field goals, and his extra point was blocked by Irish sophomore defensive lineman Jarron Jones. "Our defense does not surrender big plays and keeps the points down, and really makes you work to sustain drives and get it into the end zone," Kelly said. "We're suffocating in that sense defensively." Notre Dame encountered kicking issues of its own. Fifth-year senior Nick Tausch missed a 39-yard attempt, and last year's starter, junior Kyle Brindza, could not convert a 44-yard try. Following Harper's score — Temple's only one — Rees found Troy Niklas across the middle and the junior tight end scampered 66 yards to the end zone in what amounted to a crushing blow to the Owls' hopes. The play marked the longest in both players' respective careers and handed Rees a stellar stat line for the first half: 11-of-16 passing for 268 yards with three touchdowns. "I saw some really good things, and some things that we're going to have to get better at," Kelly said. "We had six possessions in the first half, and I think we missed a couple of throws that he'd like to have back. … But I think we had four or five chunk plays of over 30 yards. Obviously, a lot of the questions coming in [were whether we could] push the ball down the field. "I think we answered a lot of those questions right away with his ability to push the ball down the field. I thought his patience was better, and it will continue to get better. I was pleased with his performance, and he knows he can play better." Temple opened the second half with a 14-play, 53-yard drive that stalled at the Irish 6-yard line. Four Connor Reilly incompletions — the Owls went for it on fourth down with a 15-point deficit after their first-half kicking issues — turned the ball over to Notre Dame's offense. "When your back's against the wall, you play it a little differently," fifth-year senior linebacker Dan Fox said. "We just stuck together pretty much. We knew we had each other's backs, and we needed that to be successful." Junior running back George Atkinson III scored the first rushing touchdown of the season with a two-yard rumble to cap off a seven-play, 94-yard drive following the red-zone stop. Sophomore wide receiver Chris Brown sparked the offense with a 33-yard reception — his third catch of the game after notching just two in 2012 — that put the Irish in the red zone. After junior Cam McDaniel's 16-yard rush, Atkinson completed the drive with his two-yard plunge. A comfortable victory certainly contributed to Notre Dame's offen-