Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 SEPT. 19, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT It actually happened early Tuesday. That's when Notre Dame coach Marcus Free- man decided to have the team practice in full pads for "Bloody Tuesday." The Irish carried that mentality over to Notre Dame Stadium, where they played a punishing brand of foot- ball. Senior safety Adon Shuler headlined it with his bone-crushing hit on the second play of the game. Shuler's tackle caused the first of five Rice fumbles, four of which the Irish recovered, and senior defensive end Boubacar Traore scooped it up and scored. The rout was on from there. Behind a physical performance from Notre Dame's offensive line, the Irish offense fol- lowed Traore's touchdown by scoring on its first three drives. They also kept all three of Notre Dame's quarterbacks — junior CJ Carr and freshmen Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard — upright, not allowing a sack. The Irish gave "Leave No Doubt" a whole new meaning with the way they beat up Rice. STATS OF THE GAME Besides the 5 forced fumbles and 4 fumble recoveries, Carr delivered another highly ef- ficient performance. Notre Dame's second-year starting quarter- back was in a groove, completing his first 9 passes for 123 yards with 2 touchdowns. Se- nior wide receiver Jordan Faison was on the receiving end of both Irish scores. Yet, Carr con- nected with four other wideouts: senior Jaden Greathouse and juniors Micah Gilbert, Mylan Graham and Matt Jeffery during that sequence. For the game, Carr hit on 16 of 20 throws for 253 yards with 4 touchdowns. Notre Dame outgained Rice 478-128 and had 24 first downs compared to the Owls' seven. The Notre Dame defense was equally domi- nant. In addition to pitching a shutout, it held Rice to just 1.9 yards per carry after the Owls averaged 6.6 yards per run last week. Rice only had 64 passing yards. CARR-GREATHOUSE CONNECTION HEATS UP For anyone still worried about Carr's chemis- try with Greathouse, don't be. Three of Carr's first eight passes went in the senior pass catcher's direction. He caught every one of them for 48 yards with just 6 yards after the catch. The second was his best, a confident sideline catch on a well-placed thrown from Carr. In four games last year playing with Carr, Greathouse only had 4 catches for 73 yards, including two games in which he did not catch a pass. While he only has 4 catches for 54 yards so far this year, Carr and Greathouse were clearly on the same page against Rice. They're just getting started. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY KYLE KELLY QB CJ CARR The numbers amassed in barely more than a half in No. 3 Notre Dame's 52-0 domination of Rice at Notre Dame Stadium were impressive. The process behind those numbers for Irish junior quarterback CJ Carr matched that excellence. "His decisions are impeccable," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "Last week he made the right decision 99% of the time. This week it felt like he was making the right decision and getting us in the right protec- tions, the right checks — all those different things that he does." Freshman Noah Grubbs relieved Carr on the second offensive series of the second half after the junior completed 16 of 20 passes for 253 yards with 4 touchdowns, tying a career high. His 252.3 pass efficiency mark was the third best of his career. Grubbs went 7-of-11 for 78 yards in his college debut. Fellow freshman Teddy Jarrard got a series in the fourth quarter and completed both of his pass attempts for 29 yards. LB JAIDEN AUSBERRY The senior from Baton Rouge, La., has displayed a knack for thriving against triple-option offenses, and he did so again on against Rice's version that the Owls call "gun choice." The 6-foot-1, 226-pounder accrued 5 tackles against the Owls (1-1), tying Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa for the team high in the game. Ausberry is now Notre Dame's leading tackler on the season with 12. One of his stops versus the Owls was a tackle for loss. He was also one of four Irish players who recovered a Rice fumble. Notre Dame recorded its first shutout since a 44-0 victory over Boston College in 2022, and held Rice to 128 total yards, the best showing by an Irish defense in 18 years. The Owls came into the game No. 3 in the nation in rush offense after rolling up 465 rushing yards (6.6 per carry) in a 31-3 win over Houston Christian in their season opener. Against the Irish, they only mustered 64 rushing yards on 34 carries (1.9 yards per carry). Ausberry played 26 out of a possible 47 defensive snaps as Notre Dame deployed its depth in the one- sided game. DE RODNEY DUNHAM This is more of a composite selection, given how many of Notre Dame's young players shined when given an opportunity in the rout of Rice, but freshman defensive end Rodney Dunham's performance certainly got the attention of starting senior defensive end Boubacar Traore. The former five-star prospect collected 3 tackles during his 19 snaps on defense, and recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter during a drive in which Rice was in the red zone and threatening to score for the first time all day. Senior linebacker Kahanu Kia jarred the ball loose from Rice quarterback Jacurri Brown and Dunham pounced on it. "Rodney Dunham went in there and played well in all phases," Traore said. "It doesn't matter if he was on kickoff [coverage] or on the field on defense. I mean, he was just hitting anything moving." GAME BALLS BY ERIC HANSEN Junior quarterback CJ Carr connected on 16 of 20 throws for 253 yards with a career-high-tying 4 touchdowns in just more than a half of action against Rice. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER