Notre Dame kicked off its highly-anticipated 2026 season in style at Lambeau Field on Sunday night. The Irish battled through a shaky start against a stingy Wisconsin team, breaking open the game in the second half to win 41-13.
Despite a slow start for the offense, CJ Carr appeared comfortable under center against the Badgers, going 19-29 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. While the running game struggled overall, there were signs of progression for Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr., who combined for three touchdowns
On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s defense avoided the slow start that plagued the Irish in 2025, grinding down the Wisconsin offense over the course of 60 minutes. D.J. McKinney broke the game open with a pick-six, and Leonard Moore maintained his standard with five tackles and a pass breakup.
The Irish defense was especially stout against the Badger run game, allowing just 67 yards on the ground on 31 attempts.
Notre Dame’s quest for a national title started as an early grind in Lambeau as the Badgers attacked the Irish head-on with a physical playstyle that had the offense stuck in the mud for much of the first half.
The first drive was a sign of the kind of start Notre Dame was in for as it went three and out, and was lucky that was all that happened. Freshman left tackle Will Black was beat clean off the edge on third down, resulting in Carr fumbling after a hit on his blindslide, luckily for the Irish they were able to recover the loose ball.
Things didn’t turn around for the better after an ugly opening series as Wisconsin’s Liam Danitz tipped Jasper Scaife’s punt, setting the Badgers up in Notre Dame territory.
The Irish defense came as advertised through much of the first half, holding Wisconsin to 10 points and 143 yards. The Badgers did capitalize on the short field with a field goal, but Ash’s unit was able to get off the field at a good rate in the first 30 minutes.
Despite still sloshing through the mud that was the Wisconsin defense, Carr did get the offense down the field enough for the Irish to highlight its new kicker a handful of times in the first half. Transfer Spencer Porath was 2-for-2, including makes from 52 yards and 26 yards.
Wisconsin’s one true slip up came when Harrison Bortolotti muffed a kick off, and Notre Dame’s Kahuna Kia came sprinting down the sideline to pounce on the ball. The recovery was upheld after a lengthy review.
Carr delivered off the short field, tossing his first touchdown of the year off of a nice play action fake, hitting James Flanigan, a Green Bay native, for a three-yard score to put Notre Dame up 10-3.
Later in the second, special teams once again seemed to dictate the game as the offenses struggled. Wisconsin punter Sean West delivered a beauty down the field, trickling out of bounds at the one.
Pinned deep, Notre Dame’s rushing game was put to the test, and it didn’t hold up throughout the entire first half. The Irish featured a new backfield for the first time in years, and Williams, James and Kedren Young couldn’t get the run game rolling. The rushing attack mustered just 28 yards, good for an average of 1.8 yards per run in the entire half.
Forced to punt out of its own end, Notre Dame set up Wisconsin with prime field position and it delivered. Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph hit a wide open Malachi Coleman for an easy 28-yard score to even the game.
Notre Dame would find three more points to take a 13-10 lead into the half, and Carr seemed to unlock the offense by stretching the field with connections to Micah Gilbert and Jordan Faison to set up Porath, but its performance certainly left a little wanting to kick off a season with sky-high expectations.
The second half told a much different story for the Irish, and it was one that was much needed to quell any early worries for Marcus Freeman’s team.
Notre Dame’s offense came out with much better tempo and urgency, especially from the backfield. Williams set the Irish up with a good return and crossed midfield with an 11-yard catch and run, and James flashed some explosiveness with a 28-yard scamper.
The Irish quickly found the endzone after a nine-play, 70-yard march ended with Williams crossing the goal line with a three-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 20-10.
Ash’s defense continued to open the season strong with some playmaking of its own in its first drive of the second half. Transfer corner McKinney took an interception to the house for a 55 yard pick-six as Notre Dame went up 27-10.
The game quickly became out of reach as the Irish offense was now wide awake later into the night. Carr continued to look as advertised under center, hitting as favorite target in Faison for 29 yards over the middle. Williams also appeared to firmly have his legs under him now as a pair of runs sent him into the endzone for his second score of the game, giving Notre Dame a 34-13 advantage.
Carr flashed one more time with his backfield, hitting James in garbage time, who once again showed his ability to make a defender miss, walking the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown and a 41-13 lead.
The Irish will open up their home slate in South Bend next Saturday against Rice at 3:30 p.m.
