Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 19, 2026 29 Shuler looked for the first available skull to crack. He found it in fifth-year slot man Davis Lane, who ran a jet sweep to the right on the Owls' second play from scrimmage. Shuler bolted through the alley from his single-high safety posi- tion and slammed into Lane, jarring the ball loose in the process. By the time the Notre Dame crowd registered the crunch of Shuler's im- pact, senior defensive end Boubacar Traore was off and running with the football. The Irish took their first lead 14 seconds into the game, and Shuler's violence gave it to them. "You know Adon," Traore said. "He's gonna set the tone every game." "It was unbelievable," junior quar- terback CJ Carr said. "For him to go out and start us off on a game like that, it was unbelievable." Replay showed that Shuler's hit was not only clean but textbook. He kept his head out of the contact entirely while strik- ing Lane's midsection, planting his right shoulder pad on the football and separat- ing it from the ball carrier. That is exactly what defenders are taught to do, and it's difficult to do it better than Shuler. It wasn't a one-off, either. "He's playing extremely physical, which is a choice," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "You guys watch football, you watch teams around the country, man. Not everybody plays the way Adon Shuler plays, and it's a choice to play with that type of veloc- ity and violence that he does. As a head coach, you appreciate that." Shuler played the role of a tactical bal- listic missile several times throughout Notre Dame's Week 1 win over Wisconsin, often inflicting punishment on Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph. He's third on the Irish with 9 tackles so far this season, but that's not the point. Shuler is playing out of his mind right now, for reasons that go well be- yond the stat sheet. "You appreciate the way he plays, the intensity and the focus he plays with," Freeman said. "He knows he's got room to improve. Want to clean up some missed tackles and those type of things, but everybody does. And man, he is just play- ing with some velocity right now and causing some big plays because of it." Shuler is doing this after los- ing his father, Don, less than a week before the season began. He re- turned to the team less than 48 hours after announcing his dad's passing, be- cause he knows how much his presence means to his teammates. He has em- braced the responsibility of setting the tone for the Irish like he did against Rice. It does not go unnoticed. "A captain who just puts it all out there and lets it fly every play and is giving his all for his brothers," Carr said. "And you see it in the way he plays." — Jack Soble NOTRE DAME VS. RICE QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 6:51 5:27 11:09 8:51 12:18 20:00 32:18 Third-Down Conversions 2-2 1-2 3-6 1-2 3-4 4-8 7-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-2 Average Field Position ND-47 RICE-41 ND-30 ND-16 RICE-47 ND-27 ND-42 Rice 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:09 9:33 3:51 6:09 17:42 10:00 27:42 Third-Down Conversions 0-3 2-5 0-2 0-2 2-8 0-4 2-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 0-0 2-2 2-2 Average Field Position RICE-25 RICE-24 RICE-25 RICE-9 RICE-24 RICE-20 RICE-23 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND RICE Nega ve 3 7 0-5 34 29 6-9 12 5 10-19 9 4 20-29 5 0 30-39 1 1 40-49 0 0 50 or more 1 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 6 4 1 1 Rice 1 0 0 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 RICE25 Carr pass to Faison for 25 yards and a touch- down • 2-11 RICE39 Carr pass to Gilbert for 39 yards and a touch- down • 1-10 ND38 Carr pass to Bettis for 56 yards to RICE6 Rice • 1-10 RICE9 Brown pass to B. Jackson for 30 yards to RICE39 Shuler set the tone against Rice on the second play of the game, forcing a fumble that was recovered and return for a touchdown by the Irish for 7-0 lead 14 second into the contest. PHOTO BY MICHAL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • The Fighting Irish notched the 21st consec- utive sellout (77,622) at Notre Dame Stadium. They have now sold out 26 of the last 28 home games coached by Marcus Freeman. • Notre Dame now has a 110-21-5 all-time record (.827 winning percentage) in home openers. • Notre Dame improved to 6-0 all time against Rice, which includes a 4-0 mark at Notre Dame Stadium. • The Fighting Irish have scored at least 48 points in four of those wins over the Owls: 55-2 at Houston in 1915, 54-11 at South Bend in 1988, 48-17 at South Bend in 2014 and 52-0 at South Bend in 2026. The only exceptions were a 28-0 win at Rice in 1973 and a 10-3 win in South Bend in 1974. • Notre Dame now has a 142-23-5 all-time record (.850) against current American Confer- ence members. • Junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert set a career high with 47 receiving yards against the Owls, while sophomore Jerome Bettis Jr. set career highs with 2 receptions and 61 re- ceiving yards. • Freshman defensive end Rodney Dunham notched a career-high 3 tackles and recovered 1 fumble.