Junior defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio no longer listed on Notre Dame’s football roster
Notre Dame football no longer lists junior defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio on their 2024-25 roster. A Notre Dame football spokesperson confirmed his absence as he tends to a personal matter.
On Monday, Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer also reports Rubio intends to return to campus in March in time for spring ball.
Rubio is one of two Irish football players not accounted for in the latest roster release. Notre Dame also no longer lists graduate student offensive lineman Andrew Kristofic as a member of the program. Neither Kristofic nor Rubio made a public statement to disclose their status with the team.
The 6-foot-5¼, 306-pound Rubio appeared in nine games for the Irish last season. In those outings, he registered 11 tackles (9 solo), 5 quarterback hurries, 1 pass broken up and 1 forced fumble.
Rubio missed games against Tennessee State (Sept. 2), North Carolina State (Sept. 9) and Central Michigan (Sept. 16) due to a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery. He sustained the injury in Week 0 during Notre Dame’s 42-3 victory against Navy.
Rubio also missed Notre Dame’s Week 6 game against Lousiville Oct. 7. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman never revealed if Rubio’s unavailability was due to his knee injury earlier in the season.
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Rubio totaled 136 defensive snaps for the Irish in 2023. His heaviest workload came against Southern California Oct. 14 (23 snaps) and Stanford Nov. 25 (24 snaps). He had a season-high 3 tackles and a forced fumble against Clemson Nov. 4.
Before the 2023 season, Rubio played in 12 games as a sophomore. He recorded 17 tackles (6 solo) and 4 stops for loss in his second season with the team. Rubio redshirted during his freshman season in 2021. He made his collegiate debut in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State on Jan. 1, 2022.
A product of Lutheran High School of St. Charles County in St. Peters, Mo., Rubio was a four-star high school prospect. The On3 Industry Ranking — a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services — considered him the the No. 2 prospect in Missouri, and the No. 15 defensive lineman and No. 120 overall player in the nation.
Rubio had about 20 offers. He signed with the Irish over Kentucky, Iowa, Louisville, Ohio State and Nebraska. Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas A&M also offered him a scholarship. He was the top-ranked defensive lineman in the state.
