Dakota Crawford

IndyStar

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame football tallied a 49-16 win over visiting Temple on Saturday to open the season.

Here are three reasons the Irish won.

1. That incredibly quick start

It was the fastest offensive score in a Notre Dame opener since at least 1963. After the kick return started them at their own 30-yard line, Brandon Wimbush hit Equanimeous St. Brown for a 33-yard pickup. Next play: Josh Adams ran 37 yards untouched behind the stacked left side of Notre Dame's offensive line.

It was 7-0 after 33 seconds, and the Irish piled on through most of the first half. Four of their first five drives resulted in a touchdown as Adams racked up 130 yards — marking his ninth career 100-yard game — by halftime.

Chip Long's offense was efficient, with mixed chunk plays and short, timing passes that helped Wimbush restart after the offense picked up 12 yards on its second drive. The Irish's 422 rushing yards were the most in a season opener since at least 1999.

The entire stable of backs got it done. Adams led the way with 161 yards, while Dexter Williams added 124 and Tony Jones Jr. added another 19.

2. Brandon Wimbush did it both ways, and got help

The quarterback's first start was a bit of a tune up for next week, when Notre Dame hosts Georgia. He used it as well as he could have.

Wimbush made plays with his legs in the open field (106 yards, 1 TD rushing), threw a bomb off his back foot to St. Brown early that set up a touchdown and checked down to tight ends when he needed to.

Head coach Brian Kelly said this year's receiving corps would do it by committee. After eight players caught at least one pass and a trio caught at least three, that assessment seems fair.

Mistakes were rare for Wimbush, but his interception in the third quarter is not to be overlooked. He was confident in delivering a 25-yard pass, but it floated on him and Temple returned it inside the 20-yard line. The defense had his back, though, and didn't give up any points despite the tough field position.

The good news for Notre Dame? He bounced back. Kelly wanted to see that.

"He’s made some mistakes in camp, but he can put them behind him and move to the next play," Kelly said recenlty. "He’s going to have that in the first couple of weeks and I’m OK with that.”

Temple didn't record a sack until the fourth quarter, when it quickly recorded two. The offensive line looked solid up to that point, and Wimbush showed an ability to evade tacklers with speed and shrug them with strength.

3. The defense proved opportunistic

There were definite flaws in the Notre Dame defense. It gave up big plays and struggled to slow down Temple running back Ryquell Armstead, who would have received more carries if the score wasn't so lopsided from the beginning.

The secondary, multiple times, left receivers uncovered who simply missed receptions. One that stood out was in the first quarter, one play after Julian Okwara tallied the game's first sack. A receiver dropped a pass in the red zone that killed Temple's momentum.

But there were bright spots, too.

The Irish racked up 11 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble in the fourth quarter that set the offense up at the Temple nine-yard line.

Daelin Hayes was again active in the backfield, with a sack and four total tackles. One of the biggest plays of the game was by Te'Von Coney, who caused a loss of 10 yards with a sack to force a Temple field goal. It went wide and erased Wimbush's interception.

Find IndyStar reporter Dakota Crawford on Twitter: @DakotaCrawford_.