Adon Shuler Played With a Heavy Heart and Delivered for Notre Dame Football

Adon Shuler played Notre Dame’s season opener at Lambeau Field on Sunday night, six days after his father died. He finished the 41-13 win over Wisconsin with seven tackles. When it was over, he jumped into the stands for a customary Lambeau Leap.

Asked afterward how the night had gone for him, Shuler did not separate it from the week that came before it.

“Definitely have had a heavy heart,” Shuler said. “But, you know, throughout the week, just having the support of my teammates, the staff, everybody in the building, you know, it was really a blessing to have them.”

Don Shuler died on August 31 at just 47 years old. His son, a senior safety coming off a 52-tackle season and a captain for the second straight season, kept his scheduled media availability during the week and said his father would have wanted him on the field Sunday. He had never treated the game as something he might miss.

He had also never seen Lambeau Field in person.

“I’ve been watching, you know, Green Bay games my whole life. So, just to be in this environment was just truly a blessing. And to do it with my teammates and my brotherhood was, you know, the biggest experience,” he said.

A First Half Nobody Wanted

Notre Dame’s opening drive went three plays for no yards and ended with a blocked punt. Wisconsin took the short field and turned it into a 27-yard field goal. Penalties ended drives after that. A busted coverage by the Irish secondary gave the Badgers a walkin touchdown, and the Irish went into the locker room ahead 13-10 as a 20.5-point favorite.

The Halftime Message

Freeman’s instruction at the break was to stop measuring the night against the one they had imagined all offseason.

“Whatever you thought going into this game it was going to be, let it go. It was going to be a struggle,” Freeman said. “And don’t assume the future is going to go in any direction. Just focus on what you have in the moment.”

Shuler put it in his own terms.

“Yeah. I would just say we just have to take it one play, one life,” Shuler said. “We have a whole another half, and let’s play like Irish football in the second half and just eliminate the mistakes, especially on defense, that we have to eliminate.”

The offense answered with touchdowns on each of its first three possessions of the second half, starting with Aneyas Williams from three yards out. Freeman was asked afterward to rate what he saw.

“And when touchdown, first drive, touchdown, second drive, touchdown, third drive. Three drives, three touchdowns. It’s pretty good. Pretty efficient,” Freeman said.

“Today Was Like a Message”

The defense went with it. DJ McKinney returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-10, and Wisconsin managed a field goal the rest of the way. Notre Dame outscored the Badgers 28-3 after halftime. Drayk Bowen led the Irish with nine tackles; Shuler and Jaiden Ausberry each had seven.

Shuler was asked about the physicality he played with.

“Yeah. I feel I play with physicality every game. But I feel like it’s just more so for the defense. Like everybody sets a tone,” he said. “So, it’s just about us playing Notre Dame football. And, you know, today was like a message.”

The Leap

Notre Dame finished the night with a line of players doing Lambeau Leaps into the student section. Shuler was among them, in the stadium he grew up watching, in his first game since his father’s death. He and Bowen had settled it beforehand.

“Yeah. Me and Drayk, we talked about it before and we was like, ‘Yeah, we jump in as soon as we can,'” Shuler said. “I feel like, you know, that’s what makes Notre Dame so special to people.”