Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546555
20 SEPT. 19, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER JAMES AND KYLE KELLY I f Rice had any doubt how seriously Notre Dame football planned to handle its home opener in Notre Dame Stadium Sept. 12, Irish safety Adon Shuler provided physical evidence on the second play from scrimmage. Shuler, a senior captain, leveled slot re- ceiver Davis Lane Jr. with perfect tackling form, which forced the football to bounce loose. Senior defensive end Boubacar Traore picked up the football and scurried 24 yards for a fumble return touchdown just 14 seconds into the game. "We had to set a presence with our physicality," said head coach Marcus Freeman. "That's really a game changer because it sets the tone, and it's really good to see that." No. 3 Notre Dame's defense kept up the intensity and recovered four fum- bles in a 52-0 blowout win in Notre Dame Stadium. Rice fumbled the ball five times and Notre Dame (2-0) pounced on all but one of those. Senior linebacker Jaiden Aus- berry recovered a fumble to end Rice's second drive of the game. Junior line- backer Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa covered up the third lost fumble of the first half. Senior linebacker Kahanu Kia forced one last fumble on Rice's final offensive play of the game, and freshman defensive end Rodney Dunham recovered it. "Something we emphasize in prac- tice is ball disruption, because turnover margin — a lot of times that leads to who wins and who loses games," said Viliamu-Asa, who played for the first time this season after recovering from a November ACL injury to his left knee. "The practice reps, what we do in prac- tice to emphasize getting the ball out, showed up today." Notre Dame's offense might not have needed the excellent field position the defense repeatedly provided, but it took advantage of each turnover before half- time. Junior quarterback CJ Carr hit senior wide receiver Jordan Faison on a 25-yard touchdown pass on a three- play, 38-yard drive following Ausber- ry's fumble recovery in the first quar- ter. Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. accounted for all 6 yards of a two-play touchdown drive, capped by a 1-yard plunge, following Viliamu-Asa's fumble recovery in the second quarter. The first-team Irish offense hummed so well, regardless of advantageous field position, that freshman quarterback Noah Grubbs took over for his college debut with 9:22 left in the third quar- ter and Notre Dame leading 49-0. Carr threw as many touchdown passes as in- completions — 4 — while completing 16 of 20 attempts for 253 yards. "His decisions are impeccable," Free- man said. "Last week he made the right decision 99 percent of the time. This week it felt like he was making the right decision, and getting us in the right protections, the right checks, all those different things that he does." Faison, who tallied 4 receptions for 54 yards, caught two of Carr's touch- down passes. His first came on a deep post, and his second took advantage of solid blocking by fifth-year tight end Ty Washington and senior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse on an 11-yard screen pass. Faison made one defender miss while Washington and Greathouse each blocked a defender. "We have to finish our blocks, and that's the culture of our program," Free- man said. "We emphasize it all through fall camp, and it was good to see them put that on film. That screen does not go for a touchdown unless Ty finishes his block, J.G. finishes his block." Junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert and senior tight end Cooper Flanagan caught the other touchdown passes from Carr. Gilbert's came on a 39-yard deep ball from Carr, who encouraged Gilbert to adjust his route and keep go- ing before throwing the ball to him in the end zone. Flanagan's 2-yard touch- down reception came uncontested in the end zone following a run fake to end the first drive of the second half, which proved to be Carr's last. Rice managed just 52 yards on 8 drives in the first half, and it didn't get much easier in the second half. Its run-heavy gun-choice offense finished with 64 yards on 34 carries by game's end. Notre Dame's defense smothered Rice's gun- choice attack with strong play from its defensive line and linebackers. Ausberry and Viliamu-Asa were tied for a team- high 5 tackles before the backups took over in the fourth quarter. Junior defen- sive end Bryce Young led the Irish with 2.5 tackles for loss, including 1 sack. COOKED Notre Dame overwhelms Rice 52-0 with a complete team performance