SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 31, 2013
No. 11 Notre Dame 28, Temple 6: Tommy Rees passed for a career-high 346 yards and three touchdowns as the Fighting Irish easily dispatched the visiting Owls in their season opener.
Rees went 16-for-23 and found T.J. Jones six times for a career-high 138 yards as Notre Dame piled up 543 yards of total offense. DaVaris Daniels pulled down the first two touchdown passes of his career and George Atkinson III added a rushing score for the Irish.
Connor Reilly went 23-for-46 for 228 yards passing and added a team-high 65 yards rushing in Templeกฏs debut for the American Athletic Conference.
Notre Dame wasted little time jumping on the Owls, using nearly identical drives on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. Both drives needed only three plays to cover at least 77 yards, and each ended with Rees firing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Daniels.
Temple missed a pair of field goals before finally getting on the board with 1:01 left in the first half, but Rees hit Troy Niklas with a 66-yard scoring strike to make it 21-6 at the break. Atkinson capped a 94-yard drive with a 2-yard score in the third and the defense took care of the rest for the Irish.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The victory marked the 200th of head coach Brian Kellyกฏs college career, making him the 14th active coach to hit that mark across all divisions. กญ The Owls fell to 2-76 against ranked teams since 1974. กญ Amir Carlisle led Notre Dame in rushing with 68 yards on seven carries. Cam McDaniel added 65 yards on the ground.