Notre Dame’s Win Over Wisconsin: What Went Right and Wrong

No. 4 Notre Dame started the season with a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.

It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it counts as a four-touchdown win over a Big Ten team with a very strong defense.

What did Notre Dame do right on Sunday night? And what needs work or reconsideration?

A couple of both for you this Labor Day.

Good: Sticking to Game Plan

Maybe its the Notre Dame football program showing maturity under fifth year head coach Marcus Freeman.

Boy, when you struggle to run the ball and protect like Notre Dame did in the first half, you leave a lot to be desired on offense. It would have been easy to rip things up at halftime, but instead Notre Dame seemed to largely stay with the same plan: just go full tilt with a veteran offensive lineman who played his rear end off in the second half.

Sullivan Absher has seen his fair share of ups and downs at Notre Dame. There is no question the Fighting Irish offense took off when got the majority of snaps in the second half. That wasn't a coincidence as he was doing more than his fair share in helping Aneyas Williams get going, and giving CJ Carr a bit more time to throw.

O-line opens the door & Aneyas charges through 💪#GoIrish☘️ | @AneyasW

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/sZSSxcFMbu
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 7, 2026

I don't know if this will stay for Absher, but on this Labor Day morning, I really don't care. He was a difference-maker for Notre Dame on Sunday and deserves high praise.

Bad: Downfield Passing Game

You can go ahead and cancel CJ Carr's Heisman Trophy campaign if Notre Dame's downfield passing game is going to be anything like it was Sunday night. Jordan Faison on short routes felt like the only option when the game was still in doubt.

I'm not saying it's a foregone conclusion that this is what Notre Dame's passing attack will look like in 2026, but it felt far too much like the same Fighting Irish receiver groups we've seen in years past.

FYI: Jaden Greathouse had one reception on one target for six yards on Sunday.

Good: Disciplined Defense

It was clear that Notre Dame's defensive plan was to keep everything in front of it and make Wisconsin go on extended drives to score. That's exactly what it did, with Wisconsin's only touchdown coming when DJ McKinney was juked out on a great route by Malachi Coleman.

Even with that, Wisconsin was only able to muster 13 points on the night.

Shoutout to McKinney for making up for that with a pick-six that essentially sealed the deal early in the second half.

Bad: Explosive Runs

After two years of having the most dangerous running back in college football, Notre Dame had a return-to-Earth feeling Sunday night. After having Jeremiyah Love capable of scoring from literally anywhere on the field, Notre Dame was able to muster a long run of just 16 yards on Sunday night.

The Wisconsin defense was very good up front, and that didn't come as a surprise.

Rice will provide an opponent where this shouldn't be as evident, but I'm suddenly very much looking forward to seeing how Notre Dame is able to run the ball at North Carolina in a month.

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