Notre Dame seemingly dodged the nightmare scenarios with both Brauntae Johnson's and Jason Onye’s injuries. They won’t play on Saturday afternoon against Rice, but the Fighting Irish shouldn’t need them to beat the Owls. And then there’s Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who missed the Irish opener but will almost certainly make his season debut against the Owls.
If and when the linebacker does make his season debut in South Bend this afternoon, it will be the first game he’s appeared in since he suffered a torn ACL in the blowout Senior Day win over Syracuse. That he’s coming back well inside of a year is impressive, and it’s unlikely Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa will get a ton of snaps this weekend. His obvious goal is to get up to speed when the schedule gets much tougher, starting with BYU.
“Yeah, Kyngstonn’s done a great job. He’s practiced well. Again, he’s been working to the point where he can play,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said when asked how Viliamu-Asa had practiced this week. “So he had a really good week of practice. Right now, we’re optimistic that he’ll be able to go on Saturday and be able to help us some.”
Viliamu-Asa, in his third season on the roster, put up 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 pass breakups, and an interception in 2025, a jump from the 38 tackles and three tackles for loss he recorded in 2024. He was a preseason All-American, and there are more than a few NFL analysts who believe he could be a first-round 2027 NFL Draft selection. To do that, he needs to get to the end of the regular season plenty healthy.
Notre Dame football expects Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa back while Johnson and Onye remain out
Because it’s been such a quick recovery for Viliamu-Asa, Notre Dame will be more cautious than they might have been with someone who had sat out more time. The last thing they need is to put him in a game against Rice and see him hurt himself again. Still, getting on the field at all is a big first step.
For Johnson and Onye, there’s only the certainty that they won’t play on Saturday and likely won’t play next week either. So far, Freeman has barely commented on what's keeping the star safety and the star defensive lineman out of action. Both clearly have foot or ankle injuries, as they were spotted in walking boots in the second half of the opener against Wisconsin.
So far, Notre Dame has said it will be “a couple of weeks” before either can return. Like Viliamu-Asa, the goal will be to get them back, healthy and 100% by BYU week.
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