Temple must play with confidence, Rhule says

On a handful of costly plays Saturday, Matt Rhule saw something from his Temple players on defense that he did not like: a lack of confidence.

When Notre Dame struck for three touchdowns in the first half of a season-opening 28-6 victory against the Owls, Rhule saw players second-guessing themselves and making decisions that for the better part of the afternoon they did not make.

"The big thing for me is not to beat yourself," Rhule said Monday during his weekly teleconference with reporters. "Go play with confidence. We wouldn't put you in bump-and-run if we didn't think you could do it. But you can't do it if you don't think you can do it."

Notre Dame gouged the Owls for 543 total yards. However, 230 of them came on seven plays that took up 2 minutes, 45 seconds and yielded touchdown passes of 32, 32 and 66 yards.

Rhule said there were communication mistakes in coverage and the scheme that resulted in two first-quarter touchdowns by Notre Dame's DaVaris Daniels. He said his players second-guessed themselves right up to the snap on the Irish's last touchdown of the first half, a 66-yard completion from Tommy Rees to tight end Troy Niklas 43 seconds before halftime.

"We played very well on 55 of the 62 plays they ran," Rhule said. "So I think the thing for us this week is to come back and make those 55 to 70 plays a game. . . . It's the simple things that we do in practice every day that we didn't do in the heat of battle."

Rhule and his staff began looking at film of Houston as early as Sunday. The Cougars (1-0) travel to Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday for a noon game that marks the first meeting between American Athletic Conference teams.

Houston pounded lightly regarded Southern, 62-13, Friday at Reliant Stadium. The Cougars, who averaged more than 32 points per game last season, gained 627 yards against Southern, including 372 rushing yards.

"They have players that when you watch them on film their talent jumps off the screen at you," Rhule said.

Rhule made special mention of running back Ryan Jackson. Jackson carried the ball 10 times for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Southern.

From an offensive standpoint, Rhule would like to kick-start Temple's running game. Against Notre Dame, quarterback Connor Reilly led the Owls' rushing attack with 65 yards in 12 carries.