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Notre Dame vs. Temple Review: Defense

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Just when I thought (or hoped rather) we were going to have a game where we could breathe easy for a bit, Temple happened. But fortunately, it wasn’t the defense who was causing all of the heart attacks on Saturday for Notre Dame fans. So how did the Notre Dame defense perform against the Temple Owls? Let’s take a look!

Notre Dame's Joe Schmidt (38) reaches out to tackle Temple's John Christopher(7), Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. SBT Photo/BECKY MALEWITZ

Notre Dame’s Joe Schmidt (38) reaches out to tackle Temple’s John Christopher(7), Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. SBT Photo/BECKY MALEWITZ

The Notre Dame defense held the Temple offense to 17 first downs, and the Temple offense was only able to convert on third down 5-of-14 times (0.357), and 2-of-2 times on fourth down (1.000). The Fighting Irish rush defense was pretty solid on Saturday versus Temple, holding them to 123 net yards rushing. The Notre Dame pass defense didn’t look to shabby either, holding Temple to 188 net yards passing. The Notre Dame offense didn’t help the defense much, turning over the ball twice. And with Notre Dame trailing Temple twice in this game, once in the first half and once in the second half, KeiVarae Russell once again sealed the win with a huge fourth quarter interception, his second of the season (his first being two weeks ago against USC).

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly had an interest in presenting two game balls, noting Russell who made a gargantuan play in the waning moments in the second straight game. (Yet Kelly couldn’t ignore Kizer: “He had that 79-yard run and he led a big drive when we needed it,” Kelly told his team.)

Team Totals ND Temple
First Downs 20 17
Net Yards Rushing 168 123
Net Yards Passing 292 188
Total Offense Yards 460 311
Fumbles: Number-Lost 0 – 0 1 – 0
Penalties: Number-Yards 8 – 74 6 – 79
Punts – Yards 4 – 136 5 – 208
Possession Time 32:22 27:38
Third-Down Conversions 7 of 13 (0.538) 5 of 14 (0.357)
Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 1 (0.000) 2 of 2 (1.000)
Sacks By: Number-Yards 2-4 1-4
Field Goals 1-1 (1.000) 2-2 (1.000)

Individually how did the Notre Dame defense perform? Jaylon Smith had a huge night with seven solo tackles and three assists. Romeo Okwara had four solo tackles, three assists and one sack, Sheldon Day had four solo tackles, two assists and one sack, Isaac Rochelle had two solo tackles and four assists, KeiVarae Russell had three solo tackles, one assist and one huge fourth quarter interception, Cole Luke had three solo interceptions, and Max Redfield had one solo tackle and two assists.

Notre Dame   Solo  Ast  Total  TFL/Yds  FF  FR-Yds  Int-Yds  BrUp  Blkd  Sack/Yds  QBH 
9   SMITH, Jaylon   7  3  10  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
45  OKWARA, Romeo   4  3  7  3.0/8   .  .   .   .  .  1.0/2   . 
91  DAY, Sheldon   4  2  6  2.5/9   1  .   .   1  .  1.0/4   . 
90  ROCHELL, Isaac   2  4  6  0.5/2   .  .   .   1  .  .   . 
6   RUSSELL, K.   3  1  4  .   .  .   1-0   .  .  .   . 
36  LUKE, Cole   3  .  3  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
10  REDFIELD, Max   1  2  3  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
22  SHUMATE, Elijah  2  .  2  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
38  SCHMIDT, Joe   2  .  2  .   .  .   .   1  .  .   . 
17  ONWUALU, James   2  .  2  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
75  CAGE, Daniel   1  1  2  1.0/3   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
59  GRACE, Jarrett   1  .  1  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
61  DALY, Scott   1  .  1  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
1A  JONES, Alize   1  .  1  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
41  FARLEY,Matthias  1  .  1  .   .  .   .   1  .  .   . 
29  BARATTI, Nicky   .  1  1  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 
98  TRUMBETTI, A.   .  1  1  .   .  .   .   .  .  .   . 

This coming Saturday the Fighting Irish head back to Pennsylvania, this time to the western end of the state to play at 6-2 Pittsburgh in a noon kickoff (a full national telecast on ABC Sports, as was announced minutes after Notre Dame’s win in Philadelphia). It will be another challenging road game for the Irish, but if Notre Dame can get off to a quick start and the defense can continue playing at the level they did the past Saturday against Temple, they should have no problem taking care of business against Pitt. They need to make certain they are taking it one game at a time and not looking too far down the line to games in the future. I was very pleased with what I saw on Saturday versus Temple. The defense, especially the secondary, is really starting to gel well together and play as a cohesive unit. I feel very confident in their ability to play tough for the remainder of the season and be significant playoff contenders. What say you?

Cheers & GO IRISH!

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Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.

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