Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 SEPT. 12, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: RICE finished second with 5.76. Brown is significantly big- ger and more explosive than Jenkins, whose longest run last year was 34 yards. His successor produced a 60-yard run in each of his two seasons at UCF. Up front, Rice runs a somewhat unique system of flip-flopping its guards and tackles. Instead of a right side and a left side on their depth chart, the Owls have a tight side and a split side. Rice's line wrinkle doesn't necessarily operate the same way, but think of it like Notre Dame's boundary/field system at cornerback and wide receiver — shifting based on the formation design and where the Owls are on the field. Rice has returning starters in tight tackle Luke Miller and split guard Patrick Valent. The rest of its line skews young in spots, with two sophomores projected to step into starting roles. Similar to Navy's system, Rice's offense is designed to neutralize the strength gap between its offensive line and its opponent's defensive line. Maintaining discipline and tackling well will be paramount, but if the Irish check those boxes, they should be just fine. Advantage: Notre Dame RICE PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE If Notre Dame wants a three-word mantra for Rice week, here's a good one: "Plug the leak." Rice loves leak concepts, most often using its slots. So if one of them looks like they're block- ing, Notre Dame's linebackers and defensive backs must be extremely careful because there's a chance they're actually not — which is how the Owls like to generate explosive plays. How successful was Rice through the air in 2025? Not very. Option teams often rank near the top of college football in yards per attempt, because low volume often comes with high efficiency. For exam- ple, Air Force was No. 1 last season, Navy was No. 5 and Army was No. 21. Rice went in the other direc- tion; the Owls ranked 130th in yards per attempt with 5.7, ahead of only Coastal Carolina, Northern Illinois and UMass. Only Army generated fewer pass plays of 10-plus yards in 2025 than Rice's 44. Brown's track record as a passer is not exactly promising. Throughout his career, he has com- pleted 85 of 148 throws (57.4 percent) for 906 yards (6.1 yards per attempt) with 6 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Rice hopes its unique system can bring out the best in Brown and he does have a strong arm, but this is a "we'll believe it when we see it" situation. As for Brown's weaponry, transfers Davis Lane (Virginia) and Ben Grice (Wake Forest) will fill the slot roles. Neither brings much production from their previous schools. Wide receiver Payton Mat- thews caught 4 passes for 93 yards last season as a true freshman, and he's gearing up for a starting role. The Owls got very little production out of the tight end position last season, but they hope to change that in 2026 with a familiar face: former Notre Dame linebacker/defensive end/special teams workhorse Preston Zinter. OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. TE 9 Preston Zinter 6-2 254 Sr. 86 James Falk 6-6 250 Sr. TT* 53 Luke Miller 6-5 304 Jr. 67 Luke Needham 6-5 320 Jr. TG* 50 Patrick Valent 6-3 330 Sr. 60 Leo Bluhm 6-4 315 5th C 56 Nate Bledsoe 6-4 315 Sr. 68 Scott Becker 6-2 309 5th SG* 71 Cole Principe 6-4 310 So. 77 Ian Bothwell 6-3 325 Fr. ST* 73 Justin Michaelis 6-4 321 So. 58 Peyton Farmer 6-6 300 Sr. QB 11 Jacurri Brown 6-4 227 5th 4 Gael Ochoa 6-2 197 Jr. RB 26 Tyvonn Byars 5-10 217 So. 28 D'Andre Hardeman Jr. 5-8 197 So. WR-Z 6 Ben Grice 6-0 194 Jr. 5 Davis Lane 6-1 201 5th WR-X 81 Braylen Walker 5-10 181 5th 7 Barry Jackson Jr. 5-11 198 Sr. Slot 10 Quinton Jackson 5-7 175 5th 19 Jordan Clark 5-10 187 So. or 8 Colin Leahey 6-0 192 So. * Tight/Split designations referencing the tight end/ split end rather than left/right DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 8 Joseph Mutombo 6-5 271 Sr. 98 Robert Rooks 6-1 291 So. DT 96 Dillan Botts 6-1 286 Sr. 11 Christopher Clark-Jolivet 6-1 295 Sr. NT 57 Aquantis Clemmons 5-11 286 Sr. 15 Matthew Aribisala 6-2 308 5th RUSH 16 Chibby Nwajuaku 6-2 246 5th 13 Tariq May 6-4 244 5th MIKE 44 Cooper King 5-10 211 Sr. or 33 Stone Combs 6-1 227 5th WILL 54 Austin Harnetiaux 6-2 228 5th 14 Beau Barton 6-2 205 Sr. VIPER 2 Jo Chavez 6-0 194 Jr. 25 Caden VerMaas 6-0 190 So. SS 0 Daveon Hook 5-11 190 5th 7 AJ Brown 6-0 188 5th FS 3 Koa Akui 5-10 193 5th 18 Ahran Ogbor 5-10 205 So. RCB 12 Jamir Benjamin 5-10 185 Jr. 20 Bailey Fletcher 5-11 190 Jr. LCB 10 Kyren Condoll 6-2 186 Jr. 1 Zach Cody 6-0 172 Jr. RICE TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 28 Enock Gota 6-0 209 5th 49 Tommy Bauchiero 5-11 197 Fr. P 29 Charlie Durkin 6-0 190 5th 49 Tommy Bauchiero 5-11 197 Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 48 Phoenix Derichsweiler 6-2 216 So. or 52 Morrow Evans 6-1 227 Jr. PR 6 Ben Grice 5-11 194 Jr. 10 Quinton Jackson 5-7 175 5th KR 10 Quinton Jackson 5-7 175 5th 6 Ben Grice 5-11 194 Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS Fifth-year defensive end Chibby Nwajuaku ranked second on the Owls with 17 total pressures and was tied for second with 12 hurries, while notching 2 sacks. PHOTO COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS