No. 3 Notre Dame tries to avoid another early season stumble in home opener against Rice

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — When No. 3 Notre Dame faces Rice in its home opener Saturday, the Fighting Irish won't just be facing the Owls.

They'll be trying to rewrite their early season script.

Over the past five seasons, Notre Dame (1-0) has lost home games to Cincinnati, Marshall, Stanford, Ohio State, Northern Illinois and Texas A&M — four of those coming in September. Last year's 0-2 start, which included the 41-40 loss to the 16th-ranked Aggies, eventually sealed Notre Dame's playoff fate.

And if the Irish are going to produce their first perfect home season since 2020 or win their first national championship since 1988, they must take care of business at Notre Dame Stadium first, starting this weekend against Rice (1-0). Coach Marcus Freeman has made it a point of emphasis.

“I know this has been a sense of urgency for me, especially last year and the previous years before that,” Freeman said of reasserting their home-field dominance long before last week's season opener. “I do feel very confident in the enhancements we’ve made. But everything we do, we have to challenge everything. When you continue to just rinse and recycle and repeat, I think you’ll get passed by.”

Notre Dame (1-0) certainly understands the stakes.

Two years ago, it managed to rebound from an embarrassing 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois to become the first school to host a College Football Playoff game. But finishing last season with 10 straight wins and being one of the hottest teams in the nation still wasn't good enough to make the 12-team playoff field.

This year could be different because the Irish are guaranteed a playoff spot — if they finish in the CFP selection committee's final top 12 ranking. But Freeman has consistently stressed the need to leave no doubt.

Getting there, though, could still be tricky. The Irish overcame a sloppy first half Sunday night to roll past Wisconsin 41-13 in Green Bay. Most teams improve dramatically from Week 1 to Week 2, but Freeman also recognizes that's not a given.

“When you said that, it made me think that in 2024 we didn't improve from Week 1 to Week 2," Freeman said Tuesday in response to a question about improvement while making a subtle reference to the Northern Illinois loss. ”It's a great reminder we have work to do, and there's a lot of areas for improvement we have to focus on."

And that began immediately after Sunday's victory.

While CJ Carr went 19 of 29 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and Aneyas Williams rushed 15 times for 90 yards and two scores in his starting debut, most of Notre Dame's productivity came during a second half in which the Irish outscored the Badgers 28-3.

So the Irish are looking for a faster start and more consistent play through four quarters.

Defensively, the Irish will be without two starters — safety Brauntae Johnson, an Associated Press second team preseason All-American, and defensive tackle Jason Onye. Each injured his left foot against Wisconsin and have been ruled out for the Rice game.

And even though they're back on their home turf, where they've gone 29-6 over the past five seasons and have an all-time winning percentage of .795, Freeman has spent the offseason looking for ways to help his team strengthen its home-field advantage.

“It’s a January through August issue, right?” Freeman said. “And it’s, how do you evaluate everything you’re doing from the minute the last game ends to the minute the first game begins. We’re not changing everything we’ve done, but we’re evaluating everything we’ve done, and we’re enhancing little things we’ve done.”

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