Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546494
22 SEPT. 12, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED nior cornerback Leonard Moore, and it almost resulted in an interception. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 27, WISCONSIN 13 Top Moment: Fifth-year cornerback DJ McKinney capitalized on an errant Joseph throw and went 55 yards the other way for a pick six. That gave Notre Dame some much-needed breathing room with a 27-10 lead. Feature Performers: The rest of the Notre Dame secondary stepped up, too. Shuler had 3 solo tackles, while Moore had 1. Moore tackled Wisconsin run- ning back Abu Sama III on a key third down, forcing the Badgers to settle for a field goal. Stats: Wisconsin chewed up 10:09 of the quarter but had only 3 points to show for it. Meanwhile, Notre Dame ran only 10 total plays but gained 96 yards. Junior running back Aneyas Williams had a 3-yard rushing touchdown. Items: Notre Dame ruled out junior safety Brauntae Johnson and sixth-year defensive lineman Jason Onye due to in- juries. Both exited early in the first half. FOURTH QUARTER NOTRE DAME 41, WISCONSIN 13 Top Moment: Carr scanned the field and, after seeing all his wide receivers covered, hit Nolan James Jr. on the side- line for a checkdown. The sophomore running back did the rest, making mul- tiple defenders miss on his way to a 28- yard touchdown. Feature Performers: The Notre Dame offensive line came to life, helping pave the way for the Irish to rack up 66 rushing yards on 12 carries (5.5 yards per carry). Notre Dame totaled 45 rushing yards on 20 carries (2.3 yards per carry) through the first 3 quarters. Stats: Carr finished his night strong, completing 5 of 7 passes for 53 yards with 1 touchdown. The Irish held the ball for 10:18, compared to Wisconsin's 4:42. Items: James scored his first career touchdown … Head coach Marcus Free- man improved to 7-3 against Big Ten teams. ✦ Junior running back Aneyas Williams carried the ball 20 times for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns, doing most of his damage in the second half to help the Irish pull away from the Badgers. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER WIS ND FIRST QUARTER WIS Lahm 27-yard field goal 6:32 3 0 Drive: 9 plays, 28 yards, 4:25 ND Porath 52-yard field goal 1:31 3 3 Drive: 11 plays, 48 yards, 4:56 ND Flanigan 3-yard pass from Carr (Porath kick) 0:22 3 10 Drive: 4 plays, 13 yards, 1:06 SECOND QUARTER WIS Coleman 28-yard pass from Joseph (Lahm kick) 12:36 10 10 Drive: 2 plays, 48 yards, 0:33 ND Porath 26-yard field goal 8:53 10 13 Drive: 8 plays, 67 yards, 3:43 THIRD QUARTER ND Williams 3-yard run (Porath kick) 10:23 10 20 Drive: 9 plays, 70 yards, 4:31 ND McKinney 55-yard interception return (Porath kick) 8:52 10 27 WIS Lahm 36-yard field goal 0:14 13 27 Drive: 14 plays, 47 yards, 8:38 FOURTH QUARTER ND Williams 5-yard run (Porath kick) 10:48 13 34 Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:26 ND James 28-yard pass from Carr (Porath kick) 1:51 13 41 Drive: 12 plays, 88 yards, 6:06 WIS ND Total First Downs 16 20 Rushing 5 8 Passing 10 10 Penalty 1 2 Rushing Attempts 31 32 Yards Gained Rushing 87 119 Yards Lost Rushing 20 8 Net Yards Rushing 67 111 Net Yards Passing 217 239 Passes Attempted 30 29 Passes Completed 19 19 Had Intercepted 1 0 Percent Completion 63.3% 65.5% Yards Per Attempt 7.2 8.2 Yards Per Completion 11.4 12.6 Total Offensive Plays, 61 61 Total Net Yards 284 350 Average Gain Per Play 4.7 5.7 Fumbles: No.-Lost 1-1 1-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 6-43 4-41 Punts: No.-Yards 5-225 3-108 Average Per Punt 45.0 36.0 Average Net Punt 38.6 35.0 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 1-3 1-12 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 3-51 2-42 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 1-55 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 28:24 31:36 Third-Down Conversions 5-13 3-9 Percentage 38.5% 33.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 1-1 Percentage 100.0% 100.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 1-8 2-12 NOTRE DAME 41, WISCONSIN 13 Sept. 6, 2026 ✦ Attendance: 75,939 Lambeau Field ✦ Green Bay, Wis. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Wisconsin 3 7 3 0 13 Notre Dame 10 3 14 14 41