Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: WISCONSIN WISCONSIN PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE About that Indiana game mentioned earlier. Jo- seph ran 10 times for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns against the eventual national champions. He also completed 11 of 22 throws for 96 yards with 3 of his 10 interceptions on the season. The transition from the Sun Belt to the Big Ten will be Joseph's biggest challenge this season, and Wisconsin's schedule throws him directly into the buzzsaw that is Notre Dame's secondary. Joseph's 2025 stat line shows a sub-60 comple- tion percentage and 9.0 yards per attempt. That's a clear indication that he likes to chuck it deep, and sure enough, Joseph's average depth of target of 13.3 yards led all qualified quarterbacks in college football. Generally speaking, that's not a bad way to live if you're a middling Big Ten team that needs explosive plays. It is an extremely bad way to live against a secondary that led the Power Four in interceptions per game with 1.75. Led by cornerback Leonard Moore (5) and safety Brauntae Johnson (4), the Irish return those re- sponsible for 19 of their 21 picks from a year ago. To make matters worse, Joseph is unlikely to find many open receivers against Notre Dame. While a disastrous quarterback situation certainly didn't help, Wisconsin's top three returning wide receiv- ers combined for 244 yards last year. Eugene Hilton Jr. had 91 of those yards as a true freshman, and he's a name to watch. Otherwise, Joseph is counting on transfers like Shemar Rigby (351 yards at Oklahoma State) and Jaylon Dom- ingeaux (857 yards at Southeast Louisiana) to get open against the likes of Moore, Christian Gray and Colorado transfer DJ McKinney. Particularly if the Irish force the Badgers into situations where they know they're passing, this could get ugly. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. WISCONSIN RUN DEFENSE Run defense was Wisconsin's only true strength a year ago. The Badgers finished 18th in oppo- nent yards per carry at 3.40. Enough playmakers returned that if Notre Dame has any problems on its offensive line, Wisconsin should be able to expose them. The conversation has to start at inside linebacker, where Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano starred as true freshmen after the Badgers dealt with in- juries ahead of them on the depth chart. Posa was a Freshman All-American who made third-team All-Big Ten and earned an 85.7 PFF run defense grade in 2025. Posa and Catalano were Wisconsin's two lead- ing tacklers. They finished with 61 and 56, re- spectively, and combined for 8.5 tackles for loss. Logic dictates they're in for breakout sophomore seasons on a national scale, if they get enough help up front. The Badgers' defensive line is a combination of solid rotational players getting their shot at a Last season, middle linebacker Cooper Catalano started for Wisconsin as a true freshman and finished second on the team in tackles with 56. PHOTO COURTESY WISCONSIN ATHLETICS OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR-X 13 Eugene Hilton Jr. 6-2 204 So. 9 Jaylon Domingeaux 6-3 211 Sr. WR-SL 0 Tyrell Henry 6-0 184 Sr. 12 Zion Kearney 6-3 210 Jr. LT 71 PJ Wilkins 6-6 335 R-Jr. 72 Lucas Simmons-Johansson 6-7 323 R-Jr. LG 78 Colin Cubberly 6-6 325 R-So. 73 Blake Cherry 6-5 310 So. C 51 Austin Kawecki 6-4 310 Gr. 50 Ryan Cory 6-4 310 R-So. RG 75 Emerson Mandell 6-5 325 R-So. 60 Nolan Davenport 6-6 308 R-Fr. RT 55 Kevin Heywood 6-9 320 R-So. 70 Barrett Nelson 6-6 308 R-Sr. TE 89 Jacob Harris 6-6 265 R-Jr. 85 Grant Stec 6-6 258 R-So. WR-Z 2 Chris Brooks Jr. 6-2 224 R-Sr. 7 Sharmar Rigby 6-4 198 Jr. QB 1 Colton Joseph 6-2 215 R-Jr. 8 Deuce Adams 6-2 207 R-So. RB 3 Abu Sama III 5-11 211 Sr. 6 Darrion Dupree 5-11 218 Jr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LOLB 15 Sebastian Cheeks 6-3 243 Gr. 0 Justus Boone 6-5 278 R-Sr. NT 91 Hammond Russell IV 6-4 320 R-Sr. 95 Jacob Anderson 6-4 305 Gr. DT 97 Junior Poyser 6-2 331 R-Jr. 30 Charles Perkins 6-2 333 R-Sr. ROLB 7 Tyreese Fearbry 6-4 255 R-Sr. 12 Nicholas Clayton 6-5 247 So. WLB 8 Mason Posa 6-3 235 So. 59 Aaron Witt 6-6 241 Gr. MLB 44 Cooper Catalano 6-1 232 So. 43 Taylor Schaefer 6-3 242 Jr. SLB 28 Jon Kamara 6-4 243 R-So. 19 Thomas Heiberger 6-4 230 R-So. LCB 2 Javan Robinson 5-11 184 R-Sr. 24 Jai'mier Scott 6-1 192 R-Fr. SS 29 Matthew Jung 6-3 213 R-Sr. 16 Grant Dean 6-1 200 So. FS 4 Marvin Burks Jr. 6-2 210 Sr. 11 Carson Van Dinter 6-2 207 R-So. RCB 1 Eric Fletcher Jr. 6-1 193 R-So. 3 Cai Bates 6-3 200 R-So. NB 5 Bryce West 5-11 200 R-So. 27 Raphael Dunn 6-4 220 R-So. WISCONSIN TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 97 Gavin Lahm 6-1 218 Gr. 91 Sean West 6-2 205 R-So. KO 97 Gavin Lahm 6-1 218 Gr. 91 Sean West 6-2 205 R-So. P 98 Ethan Tranel 6-1 225 R-Jr. 91 Sean West 6-2 205 R-So Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 46 James Roe 6-0 219 Jr. 48 Andrew Goodman 5-11 223 R-Sr. H 98 Ethan Tranel 6-1 225 R-Jr. 91 Sean West 6-2 205 R-So. PR 0 Tyrell Henry 6-0 184 Sr. KR 13 Eugene Hilton Jr. 6-2 204 So. SPECIAL TEAMS