Notre Dame 24 Temple 20

Notre Dame eked out a win against a tenacious Temple team with only minutes left on a laser pass from Kizer to Fuller. It was a come from behind victory and a key KeiVarae Russell pick ended the game.

Kizer had 1 TD pass and 2 red zone picks, but also ran for 143 yards (79 TD run) and clearly was the only reason ND won this game. ND had a total of 168 rush yards against a small Temple defense. But they had one Big player in LB Tyler Matakevich who was clearly the best linebacker on the field last night.

Temple’s roster is full of no star or maybe a few one star players, but they sure as hell know how to play this game. It was ND that looked like a bunch of losers or should I say privileged under performers.

This team simply does not have anywhere near the killer instinct that champions have and this game knocks them out of contention for the final four.

ND continuously shot themselves in the foot in what should have been a roll game. The massive ND OL can’t block and they really have a problem at RG (3 yr starter). They cannot straight drive worth a damn – these guys are all 4 and 5 star recruits, so what the hell is the problem? When short yds are needed ND runs right side while the strongest side is left – Stanley and Nelson.

ND guys that showed up: Kizer, Fuller, A. Jones, Tori Hunter and Chris Brown. On Defense it was Sheldon Day and Isaac Rochelle.

Temple stand outs were Tyler Matakevich, HC Rhule and DC Phil Snow.

Regarding Snow: 37 years coaching and he’s coached everywhere including the Pros. I’d swap him for VanGorder in a second. He actually runs a more complicated D than VanGorder.

The fact that no subs ever play in any games outside of the UMASS game came back to bite them when Nicky Baratti replaced Shumate (ejected) and whiffed badly on a Temple score. Baratti hasn’t played in 3 years.

At 7-1 and looking ahead – Pitt, Wake, BC and Stanford I see 2 losses.