Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2017 69 BY BRYAN DRISKELL TEMPLE RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Temple's rushing attack is hard to define simply by looking at numbers. The Owls ranked 61st na- tionally in rushing yards per game (176.1) last fall and 70th with an average of 4.4 yards per carry. Despite its so-so final rankings, the Owls had some brilliant moments on the ground, rushing for at least 189 yards nine times and topping out with a 319-yard performance in a 46-30 win over South Florida. A 38-yard performance against Penn State brought down Temple's overall numbers, but not nearly as much as the minus-20 yards it put up against Wake Forest — which was led by defensive coordinator Mike Elko, who is now in charge of the defense at Notre Dame. Temple returns three starting offensive linemen, and redshirt freshman center Matt Hennessy is expected to be an immediate standout. Junior running back Ryquell Armstead is poised for a breakout season after rushing for 919 yards (5.9 average) and 14 touchdowns last fall. Elko's Wake Forest defense ranked 33rd nation- ally last season, and its dominance of the Temple ground game was without question its best per- formance. He has been tasked with overhauling a Notre Dame rush defense that is coming off its worst three-year stretch in school history. The Irish yielded averages of 171.2, 175.6 and 182.4 rushing yards per game from 2014-16. Notre Dame enters with an inexperienced de- fensive line, but the linebackers are skilled and experienced. If Elko can get the line up to speed quickly, and if the young safeties can tackle ef- fectively, the Irish defense could end up having a much-improved run defense. The silver lining in Notre Dame's rush defense was how it played after Brian VanGorder was fired. GAME PREVIEW: TEMPLE On PaPer Junior running back Ryquell Anderson is expected to have a major jump in production after rushing for 919 yards and 14 scores in 2016. PHOTO BY JOSEPH V. LABOLITO/COURTESY TEMPLE