After a forgettable offseason for the Fighting Irish, Notre
Dame welcomes the Temple Owls to South Bend for the 2013 season opener. The
Irish will try to repeat last year’s magical 12-0 season, but that may be tough
to accomplish. Manti Te’o, Tyler Eifert, Everett Golson, Theo Riddick, and
Cierre Wood are all gone, so Head Coach Brian Kelly will have to “reload” his
roster if they want to make another BCS bowl appearance.
Despite all the departures, the Irish are still a very
talented bunch. Offensively, veteran quarterback Tommy Rees will reassume the
starting role in-light of Golson’s suspension. Rees was used as the “closer”
last season, so his experience in close, big games will be valuable. The
running back position would seem to be an issue with losing Riddick and Wood,
but George Atkinson III, Greg Bryant, and Amir Carlisle highlight an explosive
group of athletes. Wide receiver is probably the best position for the Irish
with T.J. Jones, Davaris Daniels, and Chris Brown figuring to be one of the
better receiving corps in the country. The offensive line welcomes a few new
starters, but their size should allow the Irish to run right over several of their
opponents.
Defensively, the Irish lost four starters from last season,
but they still have a bunch of experience and a ton of talent. Louis Nix,
Stephon Tuitt, and Sheldon Day are arguably the nation’s best defensive line.
The massive and athletic trio should stop most of their opponents’ run games
and be able to pressure the quarterback without blitzing. When the Irish do
decide to blitz, they have two playmakers at outside linebacker. Prince Shembo
returns for his senior season and is an elite pass rusher from the outside
linebacker position. On the other side, true freshman Jaylon Smith is stepping
in for retired Danny Spond, and he has the potential to be an absolute monster.
Veterans Carlo Calabrese, Dan Fox, Jarrett Grace, and Kendall Moore all should
see some playing time at the two inside linebacker positions, with Calabrese
and Fox seeing the bulk of the duties. With the amount of talent Notre Dame has
around them in the front seven, the inside linebackers should be left
relatively free to run around a make plays. The secondary was a major area of concern
all of last season, but it could prove to be a strength in 2013. Defensive
backs KeiVarae Russell, Bennett Jackson, and Mathias Farley all gained valuable
experience during Notre Dame’s undefeated campaign last season. Defensive
Coordinator Bob Diaco did a tremendous job at “hiding” the Irish secondary and
preventing the young players from being exposed. Now that they are all a year
older, Diaco should be more creative and aggressive in his defensive play
calling.
I realize this was supposed to be a game preview, but I
really don’t have a ton to say about Temple. Now, as a Notre Dame fan I have
learned not to underestimate any team, but I honestly don’t know anything about
Temple. Notre Dame enters the season opener as 29.5 point favorites, and that’s
right about how I see this game going. The Irish should be able to run the ball
up and down the field on Temple, just like they have against weaker opponents during
the last two seasons under Brian Kelly. Don’t be surprised if the Irish
struggle a bit offensively to start the game, but I expect this one to be over
midway through the third quarter. If everything goes as planned, Kelly will be
able to empty his bench and get some of his younger players some playing time
before the schedule gets tough. This is really just a tune-up for the big clash
at Michigan next Saturday night.
Prediction: Notre
Dame 37, Temple 6
-Eric Tichelbaut
Follow me on Twitter
@etichel07
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