Before we officially turn the focus to Michigan, let’s burn out the DVR and take a much closer look at yesterday’s game. While we can expect to see quite a few different wrinkles next week against Michigan, let’s roll out our first good, bad and ugly of the season.
THE GOOD
Getting off to a quick start: We can bemoan the lull that followed the Irish’s jet-propelled start, but let’s not bury the lede. It was a picture perfect start for Notre Dame (if you just decide to forget the illegal substitution penalty that kicked the game off).
From the opening snap, Tommy Rees was dialed in, changing a call at the line of scrimmage before handing the ball to Amir Carlisle who exploded for 45 yards down the left sideline, sprung by great blocking both up front and down field.
After George Atkinson gained five tough yards before getting stung by a big hit by safety Abdul Smith, the Irish took advantage of Temple’s secondary creeping up when they hit DaVaris Daniels deep over the middle on a perfect post route for the touchdown.
Next the Irish got off the field in three plays on defense and took the ball back at their 13-yard line. After getting the field flipped on them because of a punt rolling out for 51 yards, TJ Jones took a short pass and burst 51 yards on a quick screen, sprung loose thanks to perfect blocking by Daniel Smith and Troy Niklas, who were both split wide on the left side, joining Jones in the slot. Again, Atkinson picks up a decent gain before the Irish take a shot downfield, this time Rees hitting Daniels with a perfect throw on the post-corner, with the defensive back over committing to the middle of the field after being beat the series before on a post.
That’s textbook offense right there, and aggressive downfield playcalling by Chuck Martin.
TJ Jones: Jones had the best game of his career and has ascended nicely into No. 1 wide receiver status. Never looking like a leading man, Saturday’s performance showed a different versatility to Jones, who managed positive yardage as a punt returner and made things happen after catching the ball.
“We know that not having the Michael Floyd or the Tyler Eifert to lean on, you need to make plays any way that you can,” Jones said after the game.
It’s hard to make any concrete judgments against a young defense like Temple’s, but Jones has now played back-to-back big games against Temple... and Alabama. So it’s safe to say while he might not be the physically dominant player that Floyd or Eifert were, Jones is going to be a productive member of this offense, especially as he hears his number called more often.
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Explosive Plays: Again, this one plays big with the Temple caveat, but this team did a much better job of creating big plays, with four receivers making catches of 30-plus yards and four backs gaining 10-plus yards on a carry.
It’s obvious there’s game-breaking ability with guys like Jones, Daniels, and Chris Brown out wide, and it’s going to be mighty interesting to see how the running back position develops, considering the one back that struggled to get something going was Atkinson, the guy we already know is a homerun threat.
Tommy Rees: A truer test will come next Saturday in Ann Arbor, but Rees did everything asked of him yesterday. His numbers were immaculate, not just hitting the obvious deep throws to Daniels early, but throwing a confident strike to TJ Jones on a post pattern in traffic while doing a nice job controlling the offense.
Rees looked very comfortable in the pistol formation, and was particularly deadly with playaction, a good sign heading into the more difficult portion of the schedule.
Davaris Daniels (and his groin): Doubly good news for Daniels, who scored the first two touchdowns of his career on Saturday on his first two catches. His three catches for 69 yards -- and a near circus catch on the sideline where he was ruled just out of bounds -- solidify his role as the homerun hitter of the wideouts.
Daniels was open for another long touchdown catch that Rees just over-shot, likely because a twinge in Daniels’ groin slowed him down. We didn’t see the junior receiver again, but Kelly said he’d be full-go for practice on Tuesday.
Wide Receiver play (both catching and blocking): It was an impressive Saturday for the depth at wide receiver, with youngsters Corey Robinson, Will Fuller and James Onwualu all getting action, with Chris Brown having a nice day as well. But if you’re looking for the biggest step forward, it was the excellent downfield blocking by the receiving corps, helping to spring big runs and short throws for nice gains.
Credit goes to Mike Denbrock‘s group for doing the little things right.
Second Half Defense: After getting a little loose in the first half, the Irish defense straightened up, giving up just 3.9 yards-per-play while holding the Owls to just 131 yards and had five drives end on two turnover on downs and three punts.
Quick Hits:
* Nice job by Isaac Rochelle in limited snaps. Got some good pressure on the quarterback on one snap in the second quarter. (He was pancaked on his next snap, showing you life as a freshman defensive lineman.)
* Prince Shembo might not have gotten a sack, but he got five hits on the quarterback.
* He might not have filled the stat sheet, but Jaylon Smith was all over the field, playing in coverage and at the line of scrimmage .
* Great job by Troy Niklas. Not just for his 66-yard touchdown catch, but for excellent blocking on the perimeter and at the point of attack.
THE BAD
Quarterback Scrambles: It’s not hard to wonder what Devin Gardner will do to the Irish defense if Connor Reilly was able to lead the Owls in rushing. The Irish were burnt multiple times by scrambles, the product of man coverage downfield and pass rushers going in out of control. (See Ishaq Williams’ run by Reilly early in the second quarter.)
Those scrambles don’t just fall on the heads of the pass-rushers, but also the linebackers who need to do a better job of keeping their eyes on the quarterback and a better sense of timing. Expect that to be something the Irish work on this week with Gardner, who averaged 7.2 yards a carry against Central Michigan.
Linebackers in pass coverage: Kelly categorized the Temple offense as “dink and dunk,” but it was a tough first half in coverage for the linebacking corps, who gave up quite a bit underneath on Saturday. The Irish held the Owls to just 4.9 yards per attempt, but Reilly’s 230 yards of passing came primarily on underneath throws.
Nick Tausch’s field goal attempts and Kyle Brindza’s pooch punts: We talked about this yesterday so I don’t want to be overkill, but Tausch likely wants a mulligan on his first field goal attempt from yesterday, an ugly snap hook that barely cleared the line of scrimmage.
There’s a lot of pressure on Tausch to win this job and he’s likely feeling that, but that’s no excuse for a guy that’s a fifth-year player and was brought back to compete and win a job.
Likewise, Brindza’s directional punting was brutal, missing badly on his two attempts to pin Temple deep in their own territory. Kelly talked about letting Alex Wulfeck be the short punter, but it’s clear he wants this to be Brindza’s job.
Both guys need to improve this week -- though I’m betting you see Brindza kicking field goals in Ann Arbor.
Free Releases: Don’t expect to see tight ends get free releases off the line of scrimmage next week. Temple killed the Irish with that both in playaction and the quick passing game Saturday.
It’s not a new problem for the Irish defense, and you can expect Al Borges to take note.
Elijah Shumate needs to have a better day in coverage. He was caught flat-footed on a slant route that went for 26 yards on Temple’s only scoring drive. Then he extended Temple’s touchdown drive with a sloppy pass interference penalty, giving the Owls the ball at the two yard line.
Louis Nix’s penalties: Notre Dame’s All-American defensive tackle needs to do a better job keeping his head. Frustrated after constant double-teams and giving chase to a quarterback he couldn’t quite catch, Nix had a silly personal foul penalty, and also jumped offsides twice.
Hail Mary Defense: Give credit to Connor Reilly for having an absolute cannon arm, but the Irish need to do MUCH better knocking down a long heave to the endzone. Especially walking back into The Big House, where nobody will forget how successful Denard Robinson was with 50-50 arm punts throws.
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THE UGLY
Let’s keep this section empty for now. There was nothing too ugly in this game, the 200th win for head coach Brian Kelly.
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