Rice Owls vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Match Player Stats On Aug 30, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 30, 2014

No. 17 Notre Dame 48, Rice 17: Everett Golson rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more in his first game in 600 days as the host Fighting Irish rolled over the Owls.

Golson, who missed the 2013 season because of an academic violation, was 14-of-22 for 295 yards as Notre Dame improved to 105-16-5 in season openers. William Fuller and C.J. Prosise each caught a touchdown pass as the Fighting Irish gained 330 of their 576 yards in the first half en route to a 28-10 lead at the break.

Driphus Jackson was 13-of-24 for 163 yards and a touchdown for Rice (0-1). After Golson's 11-yard touchdown run opened the scoring, Jackson connected with Zach Wright for a 26-yard TD before Golson and Fuller hooked up for a 75-yard TD on the next play from scrimmage to give Notre Dame the lead for good 14-7.

Golson's 14-yard touchdown run on third-and-8 with 2:33 left in the second quarter put the Fighting Irish ahead 21-10 before he found a wide-open Prosise for a 53-yard TD with five seconds left in the first half. Prosise dropped a 55-yard pass in the end zone earlier in the period which would have given Notre Dame a 21-7 lead.

After the Owls turned it over on downs at its own 34, Golson burst into the end zone six plays later for a 4-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the third quarter to cap his first multi-rushing TD game and increase the lead to 38-10. Rice sophomore Tyler Stehling replaced Jackson midway through the fourth quarter and his first career pass was a 53-yard TD to freshman James Mayden - his first reception - which made it 41-17 with 4:57 remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Fighting Irish were missing five suspended players - including WR DaVaris Daniels (49 catches, seven touchdowns in 2013) - in connection with an academic fraud investigation while S Austin Collinsworth (strained MCL) did not play after he was injured in practice Thursday. ... Sophomore Malik Zaire replaced Golson with 4:57 remaining and ran 56 yards on his first play from scrimmage, setting up Greg Bryant's 17-yard touchdown run two plays later. ... The Fighting Irish allowed their first touchdown to the Owls after winning all four previous meetings by a combined 147-16.