Here's How Wisconsin Can Spark its Passing Game Against Notre Dame's Elite Secondary

The Badgers' offense faces a tall task against Notre Dame's shutdown corners.

Wisconsin TE Jacob Harris. | Christian Borman.

It's no secret that Notre Dame's secondary is top-notch.

Their headliner is cornerback Leonard Moore, the consensus All-American who notched five interceptions, seven pass-breakups and a forced fumble last fall. He's considered a potential top-10 NFL Draft selection in April.

Across from him, Colorado transfer DJ McKinney is no slouch himself. He has over 2,000 career snaps at the Power Four level to his name, and last season, both corners surrendered a reception percentage of under 60%.

Notre Dame's secondary as a whole, which also returns its boundary and field safety from last season, notched 1.8 interceptions per game last fall, tied with Southern Mississippi for tops in the nation.

Clearly, the Badgers are going to have their hands full with one of the most talented secondaries in the nation. Matters are made worse by the fact that Wisconsin's wide receiver room, at least on paper, still leaves a lot to be desired. Despite several players flashing intriguing individual talent, no one emerged as a true, go-to option or the deep threat that Jeff Grimes specifically wanted to see.

When you watch Notre Dame play defense, they love to play man coverage and they're quite suffocating at it. Couple that with the Badgers' weakness at receiver, and Wisconsin would be unwise to simply bank on its wideouts creating separation against one of the nastiest secondaries in the nation.

I expect Notre Dame to play a lot of single-high man-to-man vs Wisconsin. #Badgers WRs need to separate and force the Irish to drop more bodies into coverage.

Otherwise…… pic.twitter.com/iB9LVtKuoH

— Seamus (@seamus_rohrer) September 4, 2026

Does Eugene Hilton Jr suddenly blossom into one of the Big Ten's best young receivers? Does a slept-on transfer like Shamar Rigby immediately emerge in the Badgers' passing game? That would obviously be just what the doctor ordered for Wisconsin, but barring a truly unexpected wide receiver breakout Sunday night, Colton Joseph and the Badgers' offense is going to need to get the passing game going with help from others.

Wisconsin must get its TEs and RBs involved as pass-catchers

Wisconsin tight end Jacob Harris. | Christian Borman.

It's going to be hard for the Badgers to find mismatches against and separate from Notre Dame's cornerbacks. Thus, Joseph and play-caller Jeff Grimes might have to turn to other pass-catchers, and find creative ways to get them the ball.

Tight end Jacob Harris immediately comes to mind. The 6-6, 265-pound target has soft hands and is surprisingly fluid in open space once he gets the ball. Physically, he has the ability to cause all kinds of mismatch problems. Especially if he's lined up tight to the line of scrimmage, where he can get a free release against a linebacker or safety, Harris could do some damage even if it's simple, underneath routes.

Another player that comes to mind is Darrion Dupree. He's a gifted pass-catcher out of the backfield, and Grimes can line him up all over the formation to draw a matchup he likes.

Wisconsin can't simply let the Irish cornerbacks shut down their receivers man-to-man. They need to force linebackers and safeties to cover as well while distributing the ball to a wide variety of eligibles.