ESPN College GameDay 2015: TV Schedule and Predictions for Week 9 Location
Philadelphia will be the center of the college football universe Saturday.
Yes, you read that right. Temple, and not a marquee program in the SEC, Big Ten or Pac-12, will host Week 9’s biggest showdown. The undefeated Owls welcome traditional powerhouse Notre Dame in a showdown with College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowl implications.
As if that wasn’t enough for arguably the biggest game in Temple’s program history, ESPN’s traveling pregame show, College GameDay, will be there to set the stage. The show shared its decision to host from Philadelphia:
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The clash between the No. 9 Fighting Irish and the No. 21 Owls is the only game featuring two ranked teams in Week 9. Here is a prediction for the marquee contest as well as everything you need to know about College GameDay’s schedule.
ESPN College GameDay: Week 9 Info
Date: Saturday, Oct. 31
Time (ET): 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Watch: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Preview and Prediction
Temple has come full circle under coach Matt Rhule. His first game with the program was a 28-6 loss to Notre Dame in 2013 that highlighted just how far behind the nation’s elite his team was that year. Now, the Owls have the opportunity to prove their worth against that same Fighting Irish program.
There is more than just a marquee win at stake for Temple. The highest-ranked team outside of the Power Five conferences earns an automatic bid to a New Year’s Six bowl, and the Owls are in a tight battle with two fellow American Athletic Conference members and a MAC squad.
Houston and Memphis are both undefeated in the AAC, and the Owls don’t play the Cougars in the regular season. What’s more, the Tigers already have a marquee win over Ole Miss from the SEC boosting their resume. Temple did beat Penn State, but that doesn’t carry as much weight as the victory over the Rebels. A win over a Top 10 Notre Dame would.
The Owls still play Memphis and could meet Houston in a conference title clash, so they control their own destiny in the AAC race. However, Toledo is undefeated and ranked No. 20 and has an easier path to a perfect season in the MAC. Toledo also beat Arkansas and Iowa State earlier this year, but a Temple win over Notre Dame would likely propel it over the Rockets.
As for the Fighting Irish, they are battling for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff, and a win over Temple would provide a quality victory over a ranked team in a game many thought would be a pushover before the season started.
The key matchup pits the Notre Dame offense against the stingy Temple defense.
The Fighting Irish’s list of playmakers begins with wide receiver Will Fuller and running back C.J. Prosise. Fuller is averaging 100.3 receiving yards a game and has eight touchdown catches. What’s more, he posts 21.9 yards per catch (seventh-best in the nation), which is a testament to his big-play ability.
As for Prosise, he’s tallied 922 rushing yards and 11 scores this season and already has five games with more than 100 yards on the ground under his belt.
The Temple defense does rank 14th in the country in yards allowed per game (308) and eighth in points allowed per game (14.6), but these are likely the best playmakers it will face all season.
Star linebacker and team leader Tyler Matakevich will be up for the challenge given the description from Bill Evans of Scout.com’s Owls Daily:
"They were really good last year and brought everybody back. So I thought they should be good again. It starts in the middle with linebacker Tyler Matakevich. He might be as good as it gets nationally at the position and this is a very good run defense overall (No. 6 nationally, 91.9 yards per game). Matakevich can go sideline-to-sideline, maybe he gets a little lost against the pass, but he’s made four interceptions this year and they’ve been big ones. If that’s his weakness, he’s still pretty good there.
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Despite Matakevich’s diverse talents, the Owls are vulnerable in the secondary (57th in the country in passing yards allowed per game), which means Fuller should have a big day.
The other matchup pits a struggling Notre Dame defense (85th in the country against the run and 35th against the pass) against an unimpressive Temple offense (109th in the country with 346 yards per game).
However, the Notre Dame front seven that features Jaylon Smith, Sheldon Day and Joe Schmidt will provide a physical challenge for the Temple ground attack that relies so heavily on running back Jahad Thomas.
Thomas has 822 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns and controlled games against Penn State (135 yards and two touchdowns), Cincinnati (193 yards and a score) and Central Florida (199 yards and three touchdowns). If Notre Dame plans on walking out of Philadelphia with a victory, it has to win the line of scrimmage and prevent Thomas from hitting so many holes.
That will, in turn, force the Owls to air it out, which is not their usual recipe for success.
Outside of the actual on-field matchup, every game Notre Dame plays is an event. It is one of the historically marquee programs in the sport, and opponents circle the Fighting Irish on their calendar every time they come to town. The extra attention with College GameDay and a sold-out crowd will not be anything new for Notre Dame, but it will be for Temple.
Look for the Fighting Irish to jump out to an early lead while the Owls are still adjusting to the bright lights.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly even alluded to the fact Temple may need some time to settle in, per the Associated Press (via FoxSports.com): “They will have to settle into the game and they will. They have played in some big venues. They understand that there's going to be some excitement about it. And I'm sure they will be excited, but they are going to have to settle into the game.”
An early lead for the Fighting Irish will mean Temple must turn away from Thomas in comeback mode during the second half. That, combined with Notre Dame’s offensive weapons, will be too much for the upstart Owls to handle in their first loss of the season.
Prediction: Notre Dame 27, Temple 17
*Stats and national rankings as of Wednesday.
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