Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546555
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 19, 2026 27 KYNGSTONN VILIAMU-ASA IS BACK— AND LOOKS AS IF HE NEVER LEFT During a brief study-abroad trip to It- aly in May, it's safe to assume Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa didn't learn how to say "easing back into things" in Italian. And very early in the junior preseason All-American's season debut, in the home opener against Rice, it became apparent that term isn't in his English vocabulary, either. During just 17 snaps in Notre Dame's 52-0 pulverizing of the visiting Owls, Viliamu-Asa recovered a fumble in the second quarter on the Rice 6-yard line to set up one of Notre Dame's six first- half touchdowns. He also amassed 5 tackles, tying a team high. Among those 5 stops, the 6-foot-3, 234-pounder was credited with 1.5 tackles for loss. And the one he made early in the first quarter — dropping slot man Ben Grice for a 7-yard loss on a completed pass — looked like it had the ferocity and velocity to count for 1.5 tackles for loss on its own. "I don't know what down it was," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman offered af- ter his No. 3-ranked Irish pushed their record to 2-0, "but I kind of just chuck- led a little bit. I said, 'He's back.'" Viliamu-Asa's body language said as much in his first game action since suf- fering a torn ACL in his left knee in a 70-7 romp over Syracuse on Nov. 22, 2025. His actual language was a bit more blunt. "I feel like I've been here the whole t i m e ," h e d ea d pa n n e d d u r i n g h i s 129-second press conference. And then he broke into a big smile. Maybe that feeling comes partly from the way Viliamu-Asa treated the second ACL tear in his left knee — the first came in high school — more like an inconve- nience than a crisis. The other reason it felt as though he'd never left was the dominant defense surrounding him. The 128 yards allowed by the Irish defense against Rice (1-1) were the few- est in 18 years. In 2008, Notre Dame held Washington to 124 in a coaching matchup of Notre Dame's Charlie Weis against his Irish coaching predecessor, Tyrone Willingham. Washington fired Willingham two days later, effective at the end of that season. Viliamu-Asa's recovery was only one piece of the defensive havoc versus the Owls. Notre Dame forced four Rice turnovers, including Boubacar Traore's 24-yard scoop-and-score just 14 sec- onds into the game. Viliamu-Asa wore a message etched into his eye black — the word "Free" under his right eye and "Nine" under his left. He explained it was a tribute to injured teammate Brauntae Johnson, a starting safety for the Irish who wears uniform No. 9 and who suffered a foot injury in Notre Dame's season-open- ing victory against Wisconsin Sept. 6 that will keep Johnson out for multiple weeks. The linebacker said it gave him extra motivation — as if he needed it. Notre Dame already had enviable linebacker depth, and showed it while regularly deploying three at a time against Rice's modernized triple-option attack. Viliamu-Asa's return, though, is dif- ferent. It doesn't merely make a deep position deeper. It returns an All- America-caliber difference-maker to the middle of a defense that didn't ex- actly look as though it needed rescuing against the Owls. "He's a great player," Freeman said. "It's great to have his energy, his pres- ence, the skill set, the playmaking abil- ity. It's great to have him back on that field where he belongs." — Eric Hansen ADON SHULER DELIVERS LEADERSHIP WITH FORCE When Notre Dame's field goal unit jogs off the field after a successful kick, head coach Marcus Freeman is usually the first to greet them. Not this time. This time, after Spen- cer Porath drilled a 36-yarder to put the Irish up 52-0 in the third quarter against Rice, it was senior safety Adon Shuler. With his helmet off but his shoulder pads — and the captain's 'C' — still on, Shuler stepped onto the field, Shuler stepped out onto the field and ex- changed high-fives with his teammates RICE GAME NOTES BY ERIC HANSEN AND JACK SOBLE Viliamu-Asa recorded 5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery in his return from a torn ACL PHOTO BY MICHAL MILLER