Notre Dame Football Pulls Away From Wisconsin for 41-13 Win at Lambeau

Notre Dame needed a half to find itself in its 2026 opener, but then stepped on the gas in the second half, beating Wisconsin 41-13 on Sunday night at Lambeau Field to open the season 1-0. The fourth-ranked Irish carried a 13-10 lead into the break. After halftime they outscored the Badgers 28-3, and every second-half possession ended in the end zone.

The setting carried its own weight. Lambeau had not hosted college football in a decade. The last one was 2016, when Wisconsin took down a fifth-ranked LSU team 16-14.

Early Mistakes Keep Wisconsin in It

Wisconsin’s opening points came off Notre Dame’s own mistakes. Sebastian Cheeks got home on third down and knocked the ball loose. One snap later Liam Danitz got a hand on Jasper Scaife’s punt, and the Badgers had it at the Notre Dame 37. Gavin Lahm turned the short field into a 27-yard field goal, his first career make, for a 3-0 lead.

Notre Dame answered with an 11-play, 48-yard drive and Spencer Porath’s 52-yard field goal, the Purdue transfer’s first make in an Irish uniform. Wisconsin muffed the ensuing kickoff, Notre Dame recovered at the Badger 23, and four plays later C.J. Carr found James Flanigan for a 3-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left in the quarter. The recovery went to review and looked for a moment like it was going to be overturned, but the call stood and the Irish cashed it in. Flanigan makes his home in Green Bay, and the Packers ties run two generations back – his father and his grandfather share his last name and, between them, the first name Jim. Both spent time in this building.

Wisconsin’s answer came off the best play of the Badgers’ night. Sean West hit one 70 yards and it died at the Notre Dame 1. The Irish went three-and-out, Wisconsin took over past midfield, and Colton Joseph found Malachi Coleman for a 28-yard touchdown with 12:36 left in the second quarter to tie it at 10. Irish corner Jayden Sanders bit on a double move and left Coleman with nobody near him.

The Badgers would not draw even again. Notre Dame moved 67 yards on the next possession and settled for a 26-yard Porath field goal with 8:53 on the clock, then went into halftime up three as a three-touchdown favorite.

Williams and McKinney Break It Open

Aneyas Williams opened the second half by capping a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown on second-and-3, pushing the lead to 20-10 with 10:23 left in the third. On Wisconsin’s next possession, Joseph’s throw went to Irish corner DJ McKinney instead. The Colorado transfer had a clear lane and took it 55 yards the other way for a 27-10 lead.

Wisconsin got three back on Lahm’s second field goal, at the end of a 14-play drive that ran out the third quarter. Notre Dame kept adding after that. Williams scored from 5 yards to finish an eight-play, 75-yard drive, and Carr found Nolan James Jr. from 28 yards with 1:51 left to cap a 12-play, 88-yard march.

The Run Game Took Three Quarters to Show Up

Notre Dame finished with 350 total yards, 111 rushing on 32 carries and 239 passing. Only 29 of those rushing yards came in the first half, on 16 attempts, and that is a number Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and Marcus Freeman will dissect all week. Williams ran 20 times for 90 yards and scored both rushing touchdowns in his first career start, the first Notre Dame game since Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price went in the opening round of April’s NFL draft.

Carr went 19-of-29 for 239 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Jordan Faison led the receivers with four catches for 81 yards. James Jr. worked as both a receiver and a runner, catching four passes for 67 yards and the touchdown while adding seven carries for 19 yards. Porath scored 11 points by himself, going 2-for-2 on field goals and 5-for-5 on extra points. Set that against last season, when the Irish went the entire back half of the schedule without converting a field goal — their last one came Oct. 11.

Wisconsin finished with 284 yards, 67 rushing and 217 passing. Joseph was 19-of-30 for 217 with the touchdown and the interception, and his 12 carries netted 3 yards against a defense that sacked him twice. The Badgers turned it over twice. Notre Dame did not turn it over.

Injuries and the Next Test

Notre Dame played without star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who did not dress. The linebacker, a preseason second-team AP All-American, is still working his way back from the knee injury that cut his 2025 short. Safety Brauntae Johnson, another preseason second-team pick, left in the second quarter for the locker room and turned up on the sideline after halftime wearing a boot. Defensive lineman Jason Onye exited late in the first half and did not return.

Rice is up next on a short week. The Owls should not give Notre Dame anything close to what Wisconsin gave them Sunday night, but the turnaround itself is a real test. The NBC broadcast relayed that the staff expects Viliamu-Asa to be available against Rice. Johnson and Onye are less certain.