Notre Dame had to wait a half before showing why it came to Lambeau Field as the No. 4 team in the country.
Wisconsin kept things tight early, but the Irish took control after halftime and rolled to a 41-13 win Sunday night in Green Bay. CJ Carr threw for two touchdowns, Aneyas Williams scored twice on the ground and ran for 90 yards, and Notre Dame finished the game with authority after leading only 13-10 at the break.
Marcus Freeman said all week he expected more resistance than the records might have suggested, especially given his familiarity with Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell.
“Human nature is maybe you look at somebody else’s record last year - and everybody has expectations on what you should be this year - to think this is how this game should go,” said Freeman, who played for Fickell at Ohio State and coached alongside him at Cincinnati. “I don't know how they thought it would go, but I wanted to make sure at halftime they knew it was going to be a babble and going to be a struggle.
I told them that all week. Sometimes you don't believe it until you're in it.”
The first college football game at Lambeau Field since 2016 had some of the same feel for a while. That year, Wisconsin stunned No.
5 LSU 16-14. This time, the Badgers hung around as a three-touchdown underdog while trying to turn the page after back-to-back losing seasons.
Notre Dame’s first touchdown came on a 3-yard catch by Green Bay native James Flanigan, whose father and grandfather - both named Jim Flanigan - each played for the Packers.
“There's three generations of Flanigans who have been on that field and made some plays,” Flanigan said. “That's really special.”
Carr finished 19 of 29 for 239 yards. He also hit Nolan James Jr. on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 1:51 remaining. Notre Dame’s offense, after a sluggish start, found its rhythm in the second half and scored touchdowns on all three of its possessions after the break.
The early concern for the Irish came on the ground. Notre Dame entered the season saying it wanted to remove any doubt about its College Football Playoff case after being left out last year despite winning its final 10 regular-season games by double digits.
But with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price gone, the running game looked shaky at first. Notre Dame managed just 29 yards on 16 carries in the first half and finished with 111 yards on 32 attempts.
Freeman’s team still found a way to separate once the game flipped.
Williams opened the second half with a 3-yard touchdown run to finish a 70-yard drive. Then Colorado transfer DJ McKinney picked off Colton Joseph and returned it 55 yards untouched for a score that pushed Notre Dame ahead 27-10. Gavin Lahm answered with his second field goal for Wisconsin to trim the margin to 27-13 late in the third quarter, but Williams punched in another 5-yard touchdown and James added the final touchdown in the closing minutes.
“We prepared for a battle,” Carr said. “We got a battle in the first half.
We were really excited, I think, coming out of the second half because Free talks about there’s nothing great that comes from something that’s easy. We knew it was going to be a struggle.
It's what we wanted, and (we) ended up finishing really strong."
Fickell said he didn’t have much of an answer for what changed after halftime.
“I don’t have a great explanation for the second half,” Fickell said. “I give them a lot of credit.
We kind of held the energy and created a lot of momentum in the first half. In the second half, we could do none.”
Wisconsin’s transfer-heavy roster, with 34 additions, looked improved, but the Badgers couldn’t afford mistakes and still have a chance at the upset. Instead, two turnovers became Notre Dame touchdowns.
Notre Dame also had injury concerns on defense. Preseason Associated Press All-America second-team safety Brauntae Johnson and defensive lineman Jason Onye were injured during the game, and Freeman had no update afterward. Preseason AP All-America second-team linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa did not play as he continues to recover from a knee injury that ended his 2025 season early.
One bright spot for Notre Dame came from Purdue transfer Spencer Porath, who made field goals of 52 and 26 yards in his Irish debut. Last season, Notre Dame did not make a field goal after Oct. 11.
Wisconsin hosts Western Illinois on Saturday.
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