The Irish were also effective running the ball. USC transfer Amir Carlisle was most impressive with 68 yards on only seven carries. His number of carries need to go up. His first carry electrified the crowd with a 45 yard gain. Cam McDaniel was also impressive with 68 yards on 12 carries. He seems to be the power runner of the group. George Atkinson was a little disappointing with only 34 yards although he did have the only rushing touchdown. I was happy that he didn't fumble. Perhaps it is time to consider making him more of a third down specialist than a featured back.
The Irish have a good group of receivers led by TJ Jones who had six catches for 138 yards. Davaris Daniels had 3 catches for 69 yards and two of them were long touchdowns. He may have had a third one if he didn't cramp up on a long bomb. Chris Brown should get a bigger role as the season progresses as well. Tight End Troy Niklas only had one catch but it was 66 yard touchdown.
After having such a dominant defense last year, it was disappointing to see them give up over 70 rushing yards in the first half. I expected Louis Nix and Stephen Tuitt to just dominate that Temple line. It didn't happen and that is a concern going into Michigan. Last year, the Irish only gave up four rushing touchdowns and gave one up in the first half.
The defense did play better in the second half but they still did not look as dominant as we are used to. No takeaways is a concern as well.
The Kicking game was just a disaster. Two missed field goals and two punts that went through the endzone are things that have to get corrected now. TJ Jones did show potential on punt returns but still did not produce great results.
The win is nice but the Irish definitely have to play better against Michigan.
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