Irish give a hoot and avoid being stunned
PHILADELPHIA — DeShone Kizer hit Will Fuller with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 2:09 left in the game, KeiVarae Russell picked off a pass to end the last threat and No. 9 Notre Dame escaped with a 24-20 victory over No. 21 Temple on Saturday night.
The biggest game in the history of Temple football lived up to the billing. The Owls (7-1) pushed the Fighting Irish (7-1) to the brink and took the lead with 4:45 left on a 36-yard field goal by Austin Jones. But Kizer came right back with a long scoring drive, capped by the touchdown to his star receiver.
Then the Notre Dame defense stepped up.
Temple’s P.J. Walker went deep down the right side, but Russell cut underneath the throw and made a diving interception.
Not until the very last play, when Kizer dropped the ball, picked it up and then threw it away to kill the clock, did the Irish get to celebrate.
Kizer finished with 299 yards passing and 143 yards rushing, including a 79-yard touchdown run.
The Fighting Irish had chances to distance themselves from the Owls, but four red-zone trips produced only 10 points in the first three quarters against a defense that ranked eighth in the country.
The Owls entered the fourth quarter down seven, all they could have wanted. After a targeting penalty in the end zone by Notre Dame’s Elijah Shumate gave Temple a new set of downs, the Owls got it down to the 1 on fourth down. Coach Matt Rhule decided to go for it and Jahad Thomas made a crisp cut to turn the corner and tie the score with 10:51 left.
And there it was: Temple, laughingstock for so long, tied with the most famous college football team in the world. With 5:12 left in the game and Temple in fieldgoal range, security at Lincoln Financial Field started lining up metal parade barricades behind the end zone to keep the Temple student section from rushing the field.
Soon afterward, Jones’ boot gave Temple its first lead, and a result that just a few years ago would have been unimaginable, Temple beating Notre Dame, was an Owl stop or two from becoming a reality.
Notre Dame would not let it happen.
Kizer hooked up with Alize Jones on a 45-yard completion that got Notre Dame into the red zone again, first down at the 17. Two plays later, Fuller got behind the secondary in the end zone and Kizer fired a 17-yard strike to make it 24-20.