Overview
- Notre Dame will play Rice at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC with bookmakers making the Irish roughly 44.5-point favorites.
- Coach Marcus Freeman has ruled out safety Brauntae Johnson and defensive tackle Jason Onye after injuries in the opener, while linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa was removed from the inactive list and is expected to play.
- Rice will be without leading 2025 rusher Quinton Jackson, who suffered a significant knee injury in the Owls’ 31-3 season-opening win, leaving Jacurri Brown to lead a run-heavy attack.
- The matchup is a clash of styles: Notre Dame’s balanced attack and power at the line must stop Rice’s modern shotgun/pistol triple-option, an offense that aims to control clock and gain yards on the ground.
- How Notre Dame starts and how its front seven defends the interior will shape the game and its broader stakes, since the program has focused all offseason on fixing September home slips that have hurt its College Football Playoff hopes.