Notre Dame football dominated Rice in its 2026 home opener, defeating the Owls 52-0 with a furry of points scored early and often.
The Irish improved to 2-0, and will most likely make a move up in both polls. No. 1 Ohio State
lost a 20-point halftime lead to No. 3 Texas, who surged in the second half to a 24-23 victory. No. 6 Oregon lost to unranked Oklahoma State as well, so Notre Dame could creep close to the top spot.There was plenty to be happy about, and after having a night to think about the Irish’s blowout win, here are my lasting thoughts on Notre Dame’s impressive performance against Rice.
Was this is College Football Playoff-level effort from Notre Dame?
That makes 56 pts in the last two first quarters of @NDFootball home games. 35 against Syracuse in '25, 21 against Rice. That the the second-best
back-to-back first quarter total in school history (1921, 69 vs. Kalamazoo - 35 - and DePauw 34). https://t.co/HIzOMHOdDB
— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) September 12, 2026
Short answer yes. The offense looked like it was a well oiled machine, scoring touchdowns on six of seven drives with the first-team. Some of them were short due to the defense, which was a team effort. The kicking game was solid, as Spencer Porath hit his long attempt. It was domination from the start to finish, and this is what a top-level CFP team looks like. Mission accomplished in Week 2 for the Irish.
Notre Dame’s offense has found its scoring groove
#NotreDame offense has reached the end zone on five straight series, dating to halftime vs. Wisconsin.
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) September 12, 2026
Sure the streak was eventually broken, but it didn’t matter much. The offense controlled the tempo, did whatever they wanted, and found the end zone consistently. There is a complaint that I’ll touch on below, but what we’ve seen while the first-team has been in the last two quarters against Wisconsin and the first two plus one drive against Rice is elite production. Notre Dame has to do it against top competition, but what we are seeing is very positive.
Notre Dame rotated its receivers well
Jerome Bettis Jr. with the JUKE. 😱
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 12, 2026
📺 Notre Dame Football on NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/S4B2KjnHas
Twenty-five passes were completed on the day, with nine receivers getting at least one touch. Jordan Faison was the star, with 54-yards and 2 touchdowns, Micah Gilbert added 47-yards and a score with Jaden Greathouse chipping in 48-yards. The starters did well, as a backup, Jerome Bettis Jr. led the team with 61-yards on two receptions. This might be the deepest Notre Dame wide receiver room we’ve seen in the last decade.
Is Notre Dame’s run game still an issue?
Notre Dame FR RB Jonaz Walton finishing runs pic.twitter.com/d1DVjRmfSR
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) September 13, 2026
There was one issues that was glaring with the offense, the run game. It looked like the Irish had fixed the issues in the second half against Wisconsin, but it wasn’t pretty against a undermanned Owl team. Five backs got 32 total carries, averaging just 3.7 yards-per-attempt, which is not great. Nolan James Jr. did score two times, but not much else. Aneyas Williams got nice carries, but only gained 29-yards. Jonaz Walton was a positive, with 48-yards on 8 carries, so maybe he needs to see the field more. Either way, the Irish need to figure out the run game soon.
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa’s return is massive for Notre Dame
“I feel like I’ve been here the whole time. I never left. Yeaaaaaa”
— Talia Baia (@taliaontv) September 13, 2026
-Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa on his debut today 😂 pic.twitter.com/UhHFMe3d0a
After being held out of the opener, KVA was healthy enough to return to the field and immediately made an impact. He’d tie for the team lead with 5 tackles, had 1.5 tackles-for-loss and recovered a fumble. Viliamu-Asa was all over the field, and impacted plays where he wasn’t finishing them. It was a warm welcome back for the star linebacker.
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Day after: Lasting thoughts on Notre Dame’s impressive win over Rice
