Notre Dame’s defense forced another punt on the next Rice drive, aided by a chop block penalty that backed the Owls up to their own 14. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, in his first action of the season, pushed Rice back even further with a seven-yard tackle for loss.
Carr and the offense went back to work. An eight-yard pass to Micah Gilbert and a 23-yard strike to Greathouse moved the chains into Rice territory. Carr hit Faison for nine on third-and-six then finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown to Faison — his second scoring catch of the quarter.
Carr opened the game six-for-six before his first incompletion which is the best start to a game of his career (previous best: five-for-five, twice in 2025). The two touchdowns extended his streak to 14 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, tied for the third-longest active streak in the FBS entering this weekend’s action behind Darian Mensah (19) and Julian Sayin (15).
The Irish picked up in the second quarter where they left off. On first down from the Notre Dame 47, Carr hit Greathouse for 19 yards, then found Matt Jeffery for 18 yards to the Rice 16. After an incompletion, Nolan James Jr. burst through the middle for 15 yards to the one-yard line. James punched it in on the next play for his first career rushing touchdown.
Rice’s next drive ended in familiar fashion for the visiting Owls. Brown scrambled for 10 on a third-and-7 conversion, but a false start and a run-heavy approach couldn’t sustain the drive. On third-and-11 from the Rice 12, Brown was stripped on a keeper and Viliamu-Asa recovered the fumble at the Rice six-yard line.
Two plays later, James scored again from a yard out for his second rushing touchdown of the game and first career multi-touchdown performance.
After a Rice punt, Carr opened a drive with a 20-yard completion to Mylan Graham and later hit Faison for nine yards on a third-down conversion. A personal foul on Jack Larsen wiped out a 12-yard Williams run and stalled the drive, forcing a punt.
Rice went nowhere on its next drive. Faison returned the punt 37 yards to the Rice 38. Two plays later, Carr rolled to his right after great protection and chucked it to Micah Gilbert running across the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown.
