While the service academy offenses can be a headache for some, Adon Shuler has found comfort in the chaos they can bring.
The sophomore safety posted his best outings in 2024 against Navy and Army with 15 combined tackles, and the New Jersey native is looking to replicate those performances as the Midshipmen come into South Bend.
Shuler believes his downhill playing style relates well to what he’ll go up against on Saturday night.
“It's just downhill and it's a physical game,” Shuler said. “We have to be on our keys. And I feel like that's where I was last year, being on my keys and making sure that I knew where I was going, and just finding the wall.”
In 2024, Notre Dame recovered five fumbles in its 51-14 win over Navy in the Meadowlands. Shuler snagged up one of those for a fumble recovery.
“They went into the game with like three turnovers total and to see them kind of give us a few - we capitalized off of it,” Shuler said. “It was a great team win. We definitely have kind of been harping on the same things this year. They went into the game last year with not a lot of turnovers and they had more in that one game than they had the whole season.
“We just got to continue to just harp on the details and make sure that we're sound on everything because they look for any little thing for you to not be in the game.”
Up to this point, the Irish have only forced five fumbles all season. Shuler has two of those with one coming against No. 18 USC. Despite the low total in 2025, Shuler believes it's only a matter of time before Notre Dame starts knocking balls loose.
“I just feel like definitely with the game, how it goes, we're definitely punching at the ball and that's something that our coaches emphasize every week,” Shuler said. “We start the day off with ball disruption because that's how you change the game. Yes, we have two or a few, but we're definitely going to get more. We're definitely going to keep punching at the ball and definitely have to keep taking the ball away.”
Now this doesn’t mean the Irish aren’t forcing takeaways, it’s actually the opposite. The Irish lead the nation with 16 interceptions to their name. Shuler came up with a big pick against Boston College to keep the Eagles at bay.
“Just trusting the process and doing what the coaches tell us to do,” Shuler said. “Trusting the game plan, trusting the guys around you and just credit to the D-line because without them, it's hard to guard a person all across the field. With them getting pressure and getting to the quarterback and causing him to make decisions that he doesn't want to make is really crucial.”
Heading into Saturday against Navy, Shuler believes the Irish don’t have to do anything differently to come up with more turnovers. They just have to play their style of football.
“Just playing our style of football and that's the kind of defense that we've created,” Shuler said. “We've created turnovers every week and no matter who we play, our goal is to obviously take the ball away. Just emphasizing that and knowing that they have so much misdirection that they may not know where the ball is going themselves. We just have to use what they have to our advantage.”
But going up against a Navy offense that is more dynamic this season than in years past, Shuler knows the defense can’t overreact or try to force anything.
“I would say doing your job,” Shuler said. “That's kind of the emphasis this week. You have to do your 1/11. The big plays will come when they come, and when they come, you've got to execute on them. That's kind of the name of the game this week.
“Your 1/11 is the most you can do. The minute you try and step out of that and do something more, they get big plays and they are able to create big plays. Just kind of honing in and focusing on what we have to do on each play.”
