Rice (1-0) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (1-0)
Notre Dame Stadium | 3:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -44.5 | Total: 54.5
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Five Players To Watch
Notre Dame LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa
The junior linebacker is expected to make his season debut on Saturday afternoon. We fully expect KVA to be on a pitch count as there is no reason to overwork him and one can make a solid case for sitting him another week. But regardless, if KVA takes the field, then it’ll be interesting to see his impact.
Rice QB Jacurri Brown
Brown started his career at Miami before transferring to UCF and then Rice. He’s a massive quarterback at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, so the Irish will need to come with physicality when they tackle him. It’s anyone’s guess what he can provide with his arm, as he only has 906 passing yards in his career.
Notre Dame WR rotation
The Irish can’t continue to play just Jordan Faison at field and Micah Gilbert at boundary. It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame rotates before mop up time.
Rice DE Chibby Nwajuaku
It might have been against Houston Christian, but Nwajuaku recorded two sacks last weekend. The 6-foot-2, 246-pounder is also a captain, so Notre Dame’s tackles will need to make sure they handle business.
Notre Dame S Luke Talich
With Brauntae Johnson out, Talich steps into a starting role. It’s likely he would have had a bigger workload this week regardless given the offense. Talich will also be counted on to communiate at a high level as captain Adon Shuler was in New Jersey this week for his father’s funeral.
Quotes of the Week
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
“I think that's the biggest thing is how do we make sure we're disciplined? We want to be aggressive in what we do, but we still have to be disciplined in terms of our eyes and having great eye discipline. Then you've got to play football. You got to defeat blocks. You got to be aggressive and physical. If we're not disciplined and we're not sound in making sure somebody’s accounted for the dive, the QB and the pitch, then it's going to lead to some big plays.”
Notre Dame QB Coach Gino Guidugli
“We've got a great head coach. You get an opportunity to work with great players. The community of Notre Dame is great and the expectations are high. You're playing big-time games. If you're in coaching, those are all things that are pluses when you want to go take a job. I’ve thoroughly enjoy my time here. I love working with the staff, and the players here are fabulous. Super happy. I think it's had a positive impact on my life and looking forward to continuing.”
Notre Dame RB Nolan James Jr.:
“That's what the coaches told us. They were like, trust the big guys up front. They're going to get their job done. They're going to lean on them. We trust them against any team in the country. It was everybody's first game. We have a lot of young guys up front who haven't played a lot of snaps. Once everybody got in the rhythm and the group of things, it naturally took its course.”
Notre Dame CB DJ McKinney:
“I invite it. I never duck from the competition, never duck from the smoke. I invite it and I'm ready.”
Notre Dame LB Jaiden Ausberry:
“They're obviously gonna try and come here and beat us as any team would. We just have to make sure everybody understands you can't treat them like they are just Rice. You gotta treat them like they're one of the top teams. I feel like that's something that has to be talked about in the locker room.”
For Your Nerves
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under Armour Irish Wear Green Football Twill Replica Jersey
