Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 12, 2026 21 stacking on top of each other. He urged them at halftime to drop their expecta- tions and just play football, and they did. "Whatever you thought going into this game, it was going to be, let it go," Freeman said. "It was going to be a challenge. They're a good team. Well- coached. And I think we just had to re- ally focus on execution." There were times Freeman may have wanted to channel his predecessor, Brian Kelly, after a different Sunday night season opener in 2021. Notre Dame began the game with a false-start penalty on fifth-year center Ashton Craig. The operation did not get cleaner from there. A new group of tail- backs and a remade offensive line took "three yards and a cloud of dust" to the extreme, rushing 16 times for 29 yards in the first half. The Irish also gave Wisconsin a short field after their first possession, as a blown assignment resulted in a blocked punt. They only scored 13 points before the break, with seven of them stem- ming from a short field of their own af- ter a muffed kickoff, recovered by senior linebacker Kahanu Kia. "The first half is a little sloppy," Free- man said. "The first punt's blocked. Miscommunication with what the coach called and the punter heard and certain things like that, we can't allow to happen. When you look at probably the drives that we didn't sustain, we had a big penalty." After the break, though, the Irish fixed most of the issues that plagued them early. They outscored the Bad- gers 28-3 in the second half, ironically winding up with the same final score as their first Shamrock Series victory over Wisconsin, back in 2021 at Soldier Field in Chicago. The run game train finally left the station, and it wasn't stopping. In his first start in place of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, junior running back An- eyas Williams finished with 20 carries for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sopho- more running back Nolan James Jr. was heavily involved in the passing game, catching 4 passes for 67 yards and 1 touchdown. Junior quarterback CJ Carr didn't put up an auspicious stat line in his season debut, hitting 19 of 29 attempts for 239 yards with 2 touchdowns. He was, how- ever, a significant part of the offensive solution. "Excellent," Freeman said when asked to evaluate Carr's performance. "Excel- lent. The things that probably the naked eye doesn't see is what, again, is what impresses me the most. The ability to check plays, the ability to keep our of- fense out of negative situations." Wisconsin took a cautious approach offensively. It worked for a time, and it created opportunities like a wide-open touchdown from senior quarterback Colton Joseph to senior wide receiver Malachi Coleman in the second quarter. But McKinney's pick six was the one thing it could not afford. It also got Notre Dame's defense fired up, and the Badgers rushed for just 1.4 yards per carry throughout the second half. "It's contagious," senior safety Adon Shuler said. "One person gets it, then the next person, and that's kind of how we look at defense. Somebody's gonna make a play. It just doesn't matter who it is. You just have to be ready for your time." The Irish left Green Bay with a con- vincing victory, even if the film room won't convince Freeman that they're a finished product. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 10, WISCONSIN 3 Top Moment: The hometown kid, Green Bay (Wis.) Notre Dame de la Baie Academy's James Flanigan, scored his first career touchdown. Junior quarter- back CJ Carr found the sophomore tight end from 3 yards out to give the Irish their first lead of the game, 10-3. Feature Performers: Flanigan also had a 7-yard grab, his first career re- ception, for a first down. Senior safety Adon Shuler played inspired football with 2 tackles and had a key coverage play against Wisconsin tight end Em- mett Bork in the end zone to prevent a touchdown. The Badgers settled for a field goal. Stats: Notre Dame was 0 of 3 on third down, including a three-and-out on its opening series. The Irish also had just 11 rushing yards on 8 carries. Items: Junior kicker Spencer Porath hit a 52-yard field goal, Notre Dame's first 3-pointer since Oct. 11, 2025, dur- ing a 36-7 win over North Carolina State. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 13, WISCONSIN 10 Top Moment: Senior wide receiver Jordan Faison hauled in a 30-yard strike from Carr that put the Irish on Wiscon- sin's 13-yard line. It was Notre Dame's longest play of the first half. Feature Performer: Senior line- backer Drayk Bowen was all over the field with 4 tackles, including 1 stop for loss. Stats: Notre Dame's struggles on third down and in the run game contin- ued. The Irish were 0 of 3 again on third down and had only 18 rushing yards on 8 carries. Wisconsin outgained Notre Dame 102-84. I te m s : W i s c o n s i n q u a r te r b a c k Colton Joseph finally targeted Irish ju- Fifth-year cornerback DJ McKinney's 55-yard interception return for a touchdown helped Notre Dame pull away from Wisconsin in the second half en route to a 41-13 win. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER