Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546494
28 SEPT. 12, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED downs and those short, quick, late routes to those backs can be very helpful against this team who kind of wants to drop back into zone," Carr said. "Being able to use them late in that second half, they created a bunch of explosives with short passes and make my life easier." James and Williams combined for 4 receptions for 71 yards and 1 touchdown in the second half. James scored Notre Dame's final touchdown on a 28-yard reception, which he caught four yards downfield on third-and-4. His ability to make plays after his receptions was obvious. He ran through a tackle at- tempt on the sideline on his touchdown reception, and he made two defenders miss on his previous 28-yard reception. The Irish don't have a pair of 2027 first-round NFL Draft picks playing run- ning back in the same way that Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price manned the po- sition last year. But talent shouldn't be an issue in Notre Dame having success with its running backs this season. "There's moments in the game to- night that they showed to be the backs that we expected," Freeman said. "I don't expect to replace J-Love and JD with just one guy or two guys. It's go- ing to be a committee. It's going to be NOTRE DAME VS. WISCONSIN QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 7:53 8:34 4:51 10:18 16:27 15:09 31:36 Third-Down Conversions 0-3 0-3 1-1 2-2 0-6 3-3 3-9 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 Average Field Position ND-42 ND-15 ND-28 ND-12 ND-26 ND-22 ND-25 Wisconsin 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 7:07 6:26 10:09 4:42 13:33 14:51 28:24 Third-Down Conversions 1-4 1-3 2-4 1-2 2-7 3-6 5-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average.\ Field Position WIS-38 WIS-35 WIS-30 WIS-24 WIS-36 WIS-27 WIS-33 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND WIS Nega ve 1 6 0-5 39 32 6-9 9 13 10-19 7 7 20-29 3 2 30-39 1 0 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 4 3 1 0 Wisconsin 2 0 2 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 WIS43 Carr pass to Faison for 30 yards to WIS13 • 1-10 WIS34 Carr pass to James for 28 yards to WIS6 • 1-10 ND25 Carr pass to Faison for 29 yards to WIS46 • 3-4 WIS28 Carr pass to James for 28 yards and a touchdown Wisconsin • 1-10 ND28 Joseph pass to Coleman for 28 yards and a touchdown MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Notre Dame now has a 10-6-2 record in its series with Wisconsin. The Irish are 3-2 against the Badgers at neutral sites. However, this marked just the second meeting between the two schools since 1964. The Irish won both of those contests by identical 41-13 scores at neutral sites (Chicago and Green Bay). • Notre Dame is also now 320-170-22 (.646 winning percentage) against Big Ten teams and has gone 20-9-3 in Big Ten neutral site matchups. • Nine unique venues have now hosted a Shamrock Series game, with Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., joining the list this season. The others are AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; the Alamodome in San Antonio; Al- legiant Stadium in Las Vegas; FedEx Field in Landover, Md.; Fenway Park in Boston; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Soldier Field in Chicago; and Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y. • The Fighting Irish improved to 13-0 in Shamrock Series games. Marcus Freeman has been the head coach in the last three victories, defeating Wisconsin 41-13 at Lambeau Field in 2026; Army 49-14 at Yankee Stadium in 2024; and No. 16 BYU 28-20 in Allegiant Stadium in 2022. • With his 3-yard touchdown pass to sopho- more tight end James Flanigan in the first quarter, junior quarterback CJ Carr has now thrown a touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games dating back to his first career start. His two-touchdown effort versus the Badgers marked his 10th career game with multiple touchdown tosses. Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. reeled in 4 receptions for 67 yards and 1 touchdown against the Badgers. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER