The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came very close to making the College Football Playoff in the 2015 season, so when the 2016 season began with a lot of familiar faces returning from the previous year, optimism reigned in South Bend. The Fighting Irish were supposed to make another strong run at gridiron glory. Instead, their season fell apart. Close losses to Texas and Michigan State in September created a sense of doom and doubt in and around the program. The team lost confidence and was never able to get it back. Notre Dame was rarely blown off the field, but just the same, the Irish never played with much confidence. The team continued to lose close game after close game, and by the end of 12 contests, the Irish had suffered a disastrous 4-8 record. Head coach Brian Kelly survived, though, and he knew he had to make changes. The test of those changes begins Saturday against the defending champion of the American Athletic Conference, the Temple Owls.
Details
Odds: Irish -17.5
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd – 3:40 PM ET
Location: Notre Dame Stadium
Broadcast: NBC
Reasons To Bet On The Temple Owls
Notre Dame is breaking in new people at various important positions. The Irish have a new offensive coordinator, Chip Long, and a new defensive coordinator, Mike Elko. They have a new quarterback, Bandon Wimbush, who has very little previous collegiate game experience. So many moving parts exist at Notre Dame, to the point that the Irish are a mysterious team right now. Last year, Notre Dame entered the season with two established veteran quarterbacks vying for the starting job. The coordinators were coming off a strong 2015 season in which the team and the game plans came together and meshed well on a weekly basis. This is a much more fragmented situation for the Irish to deal with.
Temple is a team known for its defense. The Owls played Notre Dame close in 2015 when the Irish were very strong, and they remain a team which is strong on defense, especially at linebacker. Temple’s linebackers are excellent in run support. This is a physical team which is fundamentally sound in terms of tackling in the open field. New head coach Geoff Collins is a smart defense-oriented head coach from his days at the University of Florida. Temple has a chance to limit the effectiveness of what Notre Dame tries to do on offense.
Reasons To Bet On The Notre Dame Fighting Irish
If Notre Dame has a new quarterback, it doesn’t feel like a crisis. Temple, on the other hand, is in a much worse situation under center.
Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush might be young and relatively untested, but people in South Bend think he has the upside and natural talent to become a very productive and successful collegiate quarterback. Playing at home, he’ll be in a comfortable position in this game. What should help Wimbush is that he won’t be asked to operate outside his comfort zone. Temple will be the uncomfortable team because of its quarterback situation.
Philip Walker has started the last 47 games for Temple, but he is now gone. Frank Nutile or Logan Marchi will start for the Owls. Neither man has thrown more than six passes in live game action in college. Notre Dame’s defense has a chance to feast on the Owls, removing a lot of pressure from the Irish offense to perform.
Outlook
Temple’s offense could grind to a halt in this game. It is hard to see where or how the Owls will find enough playmakers to threaten the Notre Dame defense. Even if the Irish fail to score 30 points, they can still win a lopsided game, because Temple might never develop any sort of rhythm on offense. We’re looking at a big line here but keep in mind that only one of the two teams will be doing the scoring. Laying such a big number in Week 1 can be risky but this looks like a solid play. The Fighting Irish will win, 27-7.
Prediction: Fighting Irish -17.5
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