Notre Dame's Biggest Potential Weakness Wisconsin Football Must Attack

Across the board, Notre Dame appears to have the superior talent over Wisconsin at just about every position.

Inside linebacker and potentially running back are two units where I'd push back on that notion, but as the Badgers prepare for Notre Dame, one thing has become abundantly clear; there's a reason the No. 4 Fighting Irish are favored so heavily.

This is an experienced, productive group of mostly returning players who are very comfortable playing alongside one another. Take a look at Notre Dame's two-deep, and you'll be hard pressed to find any question marks or positions of uncertainty, let alone a true weakness.

There could be one, however, and it's at a critical position.

Notre Dame's offensive tackle situation

Offensive lineman Will Black during a Notre Dame football practice. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

If the Fighting Irish can keep their star quarterback CJ Carr upright, that'll go an immensely long way in helping them stave off an upset bid from the Badgers. But in order to do that, it'll need to get good play out of its offensive tackles. And for, again, as few questions as Notre Dame has across its two-deep, their two projected starting tackles aren't exactly known quantities.

At right tackle, Guebry Lambert is penciled in as the starter. He has 737 career snaps and was a full-time starter last fall — at right guard. He was largely excellent in pass protection, allowing just one sack and 10 pressures. While he's had all offseason to rep at tackle, he has less than 70 career snaps at right tackle, the vast majority of which came two years ago.

Meanwhile, at the blindside tackle spot, the Irish are set to deploy sophomore Will Black. He was one of the top offensive linemen in the class of 2025, even earning a five-star rating on On3/Rivals. Still, he's never played left tackle in his college career and has just 27 total snaps to his name, 16 at left guard and 11 at right tackle.

Black, in particular, is way less of a known quantity.

"Like any freshman, he had a bumpy road that first year," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. "It's extremely high, if you look at his ceiling. He's doing a really good job at the left tackle position going against really good players," he said.

Clearly, the Irish have high hopes for the 6-7, 316-pound Black, and understandably so; he oozes talent and potential. But what happens when he faces a fast, twitchy and experienced pass-rusher like Sebastian Cheeks, who's already been in countless battles with great offensive tackles in his college career?

Wisconsin's pass-rush is somewhat unproven as well, especially behind Cheeks. But if there's an area the Irish lack positional experience, it's offensive tackle. And if the Badgers can exploit what looks like a potential weakness waiting to get exposed, they could crank up the heat on Carr and make this game a whole lot more interesting.

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