Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2026 43 GAME PREVIEW: WISCONSIN larger role and legitimate question marks. Edge rushers comprise the former; Sebastian Cheeks is an experienced edge setter, while Tyrese Fearbry had 7 run stops in just 32 run defense snaps last year. The concern is on the interior, where Charles Perkins (who made his name at UT Martin before playing sparingly last year) and West Virginia trans- fer Hammond Russel IV are the projected starters. That's not a bad group on its surface, but it's not as toothsome as the one that came before it. This is a big game for Notre Dame left guard An- thonie Knapp and center Ashton Craig (if he plays), who should be able to move people at Lambeau Field. The same goes for behemoth tackles Guerby Lambert and Will Black. Can they keep Catalano and Posa away from running back Aneyas Williams enough to power a successful rushing attack? We shall see. Advantage: Even NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. WISCONSIN PASS DEFENSE Wisconsin took a blowtorch to its 2025 second- ary, whose ineptitude led to the 120th-ranked pass efficiency defense in college football. Three trans- fer additions are projected starters, and they're led by a new position coach in Robert Steeples (who coached Gray in high school). One of Steeples' first decisions in Madison, Wis., was elevating cornerback Jai'mier Scott — who didn't play a single snap as a freshman — to the starting lineup. That says a lot about Scott's talent, but if he finds himself on the field side, you can expect Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr to target wideout Jordan Faison early and often. As for the transfers, the two key names to know are cornerback Javan Robinson (Arizona State) and safety Marvin Burks Jr. (Missouri). They were both full-time starters at Power Four schools last sea- son, and they join returning starter Matthew Jung to form one of the most experienced defensive backfields the Irish will face. The power of wily veteran leadership, however, is probably not stopping Carr this season. If he plays like Notre Dame expects, he could wind up packing his bags for New York in December. Carr is an elite pocket passer, and the No. 1 way to slow down elite pocket passers is pressuring them with a four-man rush. The Badgers have some options, most notably Cheeks (27 pressures last season), whose experience will test Black and Lambert. The X-Factor here is Posa, who had 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles as a freshman. Much like Viliamu- Asa, the 6-foot-3 Posa is tall and bendy enough to thrive as a sub-package edge rusher. You can bet Wisconsin will move him all over the place to put him in position to attack Carr, but as long as he's contained, the Irish should have little issue throw- ing on the Badgers. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS During spring practice, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said Purdue transfer Spencer Porath had been "as consistent as any kicker we've had." That's good news for the Irish, who experi- enced unmitigated disaster on extra points and field goals last season. Porath connected on 15 of 17 field goals and 24 of 24 extra points as a sophomore, with a long of 53. Contrast that to projected Wisconsin kicker Gavin Lahm, who has never attempted a field goal or extra point in four years of college football, and you can see why the Irish have the kicking advan- tage (Lahm was the Badgers' kickoff specialist from 2022-24 and redshirted in 2025). Neither side has a proven punter, though the Irish are high on Australian import Jasper Scaife's ceiling, or a standout kickoff or punt returner. The presence of Porath and its penchant for trickery is all Notre Dame needs. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Freeman built his staff at Notre Dame in no small part by raiding Fickell's at Wisconsin. Quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and wide receivers coach Mike Brown both worked for Fickell at Cincinnati and followed him to Wisconsin, only to be poached by Freeman's Irish a short time later. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock was also on that staff, though he opted to follow Brian Kelly to LSU after its disillusion. Additionally, while he never worked with Fickell, offensive line coach Joe Rudolph is a lifelong Bad- ger. He played for Wisconsin from 1991-94 and coached there from 2008-11 and 2015-21. The point here is, there are several assistants Fickell would love to work for him but instead work for Freeman. The two last worked at Cincinnati together in 2020. Freeman left for Notre Dame in 2021 and became head coach in 2022, while Fickell joined Wisconsin in 2023. Since then, their tenures have taken wildly different paths. Fickell is 17-21 with the Badgers, faced "Fire Fickell" chants at Camp Randall Stadium and may be coaching for his job this season. Freeman, meanwhile, is 43-12 and practically bulletproof. Fickell has dealt with horrible injury luck at Wis- consin, especially at the quarterback position. But OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 0 Quincy Porter 6-4 207 So. 14 Micah Gilbert 6-2 205 R-So. WR 3 Mylan Graham 6-1 192 R-So. or 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 R-Jr. LT 74 Will Black 6-7 316 R-Fr. 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 298 R-So. LG 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-5 304 Jr. 55 Chris Terek 6-5 321 R-Jr. C 70 Ashton Craig 6-5 310 R-Sr. 64 Joe Otting 6-4 305 R-Jr. RG 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 320 R-Jr. or 58 Matty Augustine 6-8 310 R-Fr. RT 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 325 R-So. 58 Matty Augustine 6-8 310 R-Fr. TE 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 250 R-Jr. 88 James Flanigan 6-6 251 R-Fr. or 7 Ty Washington 6-4 253 R-Sr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr. 17 Elijah Burress 6-1 190 R-Fr. QB 13 CJ Carr 6-2 215 R-So. 12 Blake Hebert 6-2 216 R-Fr. or 10 Noah Grubbs 6-4 209 Fr. RB 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 212 R-Fr. or 21 Kedren Young 5-11 234 R-So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LDE 95 Bryce Young 6-6 260 Jr. 11 Keon Keeley 6-5 275 R-Jr. DT 47 Jason Onye 6-5 295 R-Sr. 88 Armel Mukam 6-3 296 R-Jr. or 56 Elijah Hughes 6-3 295 Sr. NT 7 Francis Brewu 6-1 285 Jr. 0 Tionne Gray 6-5 330 R-So. RDE 5 Boubacar Traore 6-5 253 R-Jr. 44 Rodney Dunham 6-4 242 Fr. MLB 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 232 Sr. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 230 Jr. WLB 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-1 226 R-Jr. 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 227 R-Sr. BCB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 197 Jr./2 12 Jayden Sanders 6-0 195 So./3 FCB 2 DJ McKinney 6-1 185 R-Sr. 24 Mark Zackery IV 5-10 184 So. NB 29 Christian Gray 6-0 186 Sr. 1 Dallas Golden 6-0 191 So. BS 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 202 R-Jr. 28 Luke Talich 6-4 204 Sr. FS 9 Tae Johnson 6-2 200 R-So. 22 Ethan Long 6-2 204 R-Fr. NOTRE DAME TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 35 Spencer Porath 6-0 200 Jr. 36 Micah Drescher 6-5 196 Fr. KO 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 211 So. P 39 Jasper Scaife 6-6 215 Fr. or 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 211 So. LS 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 231 So. 49 Andrew Kros 6-4 227 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 39 Jasper Scaife 6-6 215 Fr. PR 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr. 3 Mylan Graham 6-1 192 R-So. KR 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 212 R-Fr. SPECIAL TEAMS