Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 SEPT. 11, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED N otre Dame kicked off the 2017 season with an impressive 49‑16 win over Temple, the de‑ fending American Athletic Confer‑ ence champions. Here is a look at what went right and what didn't in the Irish victory. What Worked Dominant Run Game Performance: The num- bers for the Notre Dame offense were staggering, especially when it came to the ground game. The Irish racked up 422 rushing yards (9.6 per carry) and five touchdowns against a Temple defense that ranked 25th in the nation in rushing defense (130.4 yards allowed per game) a season ago. The Owls brought a lot of pressure, and their safeties were heavily involved near the line of scrimmage. The Irish had to chip away at Temple, but in the end it paid off. Eighteen of Notre Dame's 31 carries by its running backs went for three or fewer yards, although two of those carries were one-yard rushing touchdowns. The Irish backs continued to pound away at Tem- ple, and when they got creases they took advan- tage. Five of the running back carries went for at least 22 yards, including a 66-yard run from junior Dexter Williams and a 60-yard run from classmate Josh Adams. Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long mixed in enough running by junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush to keep Temple off balance. The Irish signal-caller added a career-high 106 yards on the ground, although not all were designed runs. Defensive Pressure Proves Impactful: There is still plenty to improve upon with the Irish defense, which is to be expected after just one game in new coordinator Mike Elko's system. However, the increased pressure that Elko wants to bring was obvious — and impactful. Notre Dame sacked Temple quarterback Logan Marchi three times, with one each coming from sophomore defensive ends Julian Okwara and Dae- lin Hayes. It marked the first career sacks for both players. Notre Dame had just one sack from its ends in 12 games last season and only 14 for the entire 2016 campaign. Although the sacks were a welcome sight, the Irish defense consistently pressured the Temple quarterback, adding four pressures and three passes broken up to the final tally. Even when the defenders weren't getting hits on Marchi, they were forcing him to rush throws or make attempts off his back foot. That pressure was a key reason why Marchi com- pleted just 19 of 35 passes, an accuracy rate of 54.3 percent, well below the 61.7 percent mark the Irish allowed in 2016. Irish Play Good Situational Football: Big issues for Notre Dame in 2016 were its struggles on third down — on both sides of the ball — and its offen- sive failures in the red zone. Notre Dame converted six of its 13 third-down opportunities (46.2 percent), and it held the Tem- ple offense to just 5 of 17 on third downs (29.4 percent). The Owls were also stopped on both of their fourth-down chances. The Irish saved their best football for the red zone, converting all six of their trips into touchdowns. It marked the first time they achieved that since a vic- tory over North Carolina on Oct. 14, 2014. What Didn't Work Communication Issues And Missed Assignments Prove Costly: There were some positives for the young Notre Dame secondary, but continued im- provement will be needed quickly with Georgia coming to town Sept. 9. A mistake by sophomore cornerback Julian Love opened up the outside for Temple redshirt junior wide receiver Brodrick Yancy to score from 11 yards out in the fourth quarter. That came a play after sophomore safety Jalen Elliott left a Temple tight end wide open in the end zone, only to see the pass get dropped. In addition, a misalignment on the outside al- lowed Temple wideout Isaiah Wright to convert a third-and-11 with a 29-yard gain on a screen play in the second quarter. Wimbush Plays Well, But Improvements Are Needed: The junior quarterback from Teaneck, N.J., performed laudably in his first start. He passed for 184 yards, added another 106 on the ground, accounted for three touchdowns and showed off his playmaking ability. As expected, first-game snafus also were pres- ent. Wimbush locked in on his first receiver too often, which is exactly what he did when he threw a pass that fifth-year senior Temple cornerback Mike Jones intercepted. Wimbush missed too many open targets and also put a little too much extra sauce on some of his throws, making them difficult to catch. Notre Dame's coaches will likely be quite pleased with his first start, but there is plenty of room for improvement. ✦ Temple Game: What Worked And What Didn't CLOSER LOOK BRYAN DRISKELL Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com. Notre Dame's improved pressure — which included a first-quarter sack from sophomore defensive end Julian Okwara (42) — kept Temple off balance all game. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA