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This Saturday afternoon, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the 1-0 Rice Owls in their home opener inside of Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish are fresh off of a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin in a game where the offense put up 350 total yards and 34 points against a pesky Badgers defense. This weekend, the task isn't as tall, but their level of focus will have to remain steady. The Irish have the clear-cut advantage on paper, but in order to play the way we believe this unit is capable of, winning these matchups will be of the utmost importance. 

WR MYLAN GRAHAM / WR JADEN GREATHOUSE

The slot receiver has historically played a key role in Mike Denbrock led offenses. We've seen it at Notre Dame. Senior Jaden Greathouse had a national level breakout in the 2024 College Football Playoff semi-finals but his 2025 season was hampered with injuries. The Irish looked to the portal to add depth to a young and talented room and elected to bring in Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham. Both Greathouse and Graham has the ability to be game wreckers in the bigger games of the season but both players has quiet season openers. This Saturday will be a perfect opportunity to get the slot receiver position going. 

Matchup To Watch: If there was a matchup for the Irish offense to take advantage of, it's against the slot defensive backs for Rice. Safeties Koa Akui and Ahran Ogbor are both 5-10 secondary defenders that have struggled in coverage. Both safeties will play, but Greathouse and Graham have the size advantage and athletic advantage. This should be a matchup the Fighting Irish offense wins and wins convincingly. 

NOTRE DAME OFFENSIVE LINE

It was an up and down start for the Notre Dame offensive line in their season opener against Wisconsin. The Badgers had a very stout offensive line, yet the Irish were still able to rush for over 100 yards against Mike Tressel's defense, something even Ohio State and Indiana couldn't say last season. This week, the Fighting Irish offensive line will be going against a much smaller defensive line when Rice travels up north. Seven offensive lineman played in the opener including Will Black, Anthonie Knapp, Ashton Craig, Styles Prescod, Guerby Lambert, Sullivan Absher and Joe Otting. Whatever combination Joe Rudolph elects to roll out on Saturday afternoon should dominate. 

Matchup To Watch: On par with several other G6 schools, the Owl's defensive line is relatively undersized. Their starters go 6-2, 271-pounds, 6-1, 286-pounds, 5-10, 286-pounds and 6-2, 246-pounds. That's a significant difference from the 324.5-pound average of the Wisconsin interior defensive line the Irish faced this past Sunday. Notre Dame's offensive line is the much bigger group and should dominate in the run game and keep CJ Carr's jersey clean in the pass game. 

TE COOPER FLANAGAN

Athletically and physically, the Rice defense doesn't have anyone on paper that can match up with 6-6, 255-pound tight end Cooper Flanagan. The California native caught two passes for 13 yards in the season opener, but wasn't a focal point in the Fighting Irish passing attack. Last season, we saw the tight end position become a very prominent factor in the pass game with Eli Raridon recording six games last season with at least 40 yards receiving including a 97-yard, 85-yard and 109-yard performance. Saturday is the perfect opportunity to get Notre Dame's TE1 involved in the passing attack. 

Matchup To Watch: Rice doesn't have a linebacker that can run with Flanagan, nor do they have a safety that can match the size of Flanagan who's Notre Dame's biggest tight end on the roster at 6-6, 255-pounds. Look for the California native to work the seams and make some impact players over the middle of the field. 

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