No. 4 Notre Dame opens the year under the lights at Lambeau Field on Sunday night against Wisconsin, and the first big questions are simple: can the Irish corral a dangerous quarterback, and can a reshaped offense find its footing fast enough?
The quarterback issue starts with Wisconsin’s Colton Joseph, a dual-threat runner who piled up 1,097 rushing yards at Old Dominion last season and already flashed that same kind of damage in the opener against Indiana. He ran for 182 yards and two touchdowns in that game, with a 78-yard burst serving as the headline play.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash knows exactly what kind of stress Joseph can put on a defense.
"Making sure we're assignments sound, and we're always aware that the quarterback's the main priority for us," said Ash of Joseph and mobile quarterbacks in general. "And then in the pass game, when he drops back to pass, making sure that we make him throw from the pocket and stay in the pocket and not let him get out…
( "Of course) he's going to get out," Ash continued. "Most athletic quarterbacks in the course of the game do get out, but we've got to limit those opportunities, and then just make sure that we're doing a great job on the coverage part of this. So if he does get out, you know we can rally and pursue and make sure that we take care of our coverage."
The challenge is real. Last season, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green got loose for a 54-yard gain against the Irish, even though Notre Dame handled the Razorbacks over 60 minutes in Fayetteville. Joseph has already shown the same kind of after-contact toughness, forcing 26 missed tackles last season and generating 529 yards after first contact, nearly half of his rushing total.
On the other side, Notre Dame’s backfield is in a different place than it was a year ago. The Irish have lost the nation's best running back and the nation's second-best running back, which leaves this group looking a lot less like "Lightning and Lightning" and more like "Rolling Thunder."
Aneyas Williams is the centerpiece. The junior enters the opener with only modest wear on his legs, but with a strong 2024 line behind him: 655 yards from scrimmage on 79 touches, an 8.3 yards-per-touch average, and seven touchdowns. His scoring runs last year came from 58, 54, 30, and 51 yards in late-game moments against Army, Navy, Syracuse, and Stanford.
"Well, it starts with confidence. He's done it in a big game," said second-year running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider.
"Hell, I was on the other side of the sideline (Penn State) and saw him make one of the biggest catches ever, sent my ass home crying. You've seen it over and over, and then there were moments last year he made those plays - over-the-shoulder catch versus Stanford.
Like, that's what you love about him, because there's no moment too big for him."
Nolan James and Kedren Young are next in line, and both are set for the first meaningful carries of their careers. Young has not played in a game since September 2024.
Freshman Jonaz Walton could also make his debut, while fellow freshman Javian Osborne is a little behind after major wrist surgery in March. Osborne is still on the official depth chart, which at least shows he’s been back in varsity practice.
That ground game matters even more because CJ Carr is working with a receiving group that is still learning him, and he is still learning them. Several rotation receivers - Mylan Graham, Matt Jeffery, and Elijah Burress - have never caught a pass from Carr in a college game.
The same is true for possible rotation options Bubba Frazier, Jerome Bettis Jr., and Cam Williams. Micah Gilbert, the starting boundary target, has caught a few already, including two passes that could have helped Notre Dame beat Miami.
Carr said the timing issue is part of the process.
"I think it's a good question," Carr noted of a game including so many new sets of hands. "I'd say that because of the comfortability I have with some of these guys that have been around for a while, it's easy to understand who I need to focus on. I've thrown a 12-yard out to Jordan Faison 150 times, so when Bubba Frazier gets in there, or Mylan Graham gets in there, he might be with a different group, but I've got to step in there and take that rep.
"We get so many reps out here that it eventually works itself out and you understand the body type and the position that that specific receiver brings to the field. So it works itself out pretty well."
The Irish may lean on their backs in the passing game early while the wideouts continue to settle in. That would fit the recent pattern in Notre Dame’s biggest games, when Carr has usually targeted only a handful of receivers.
Personnel usage is another clue to how this one may unfold. Notre Dame typically opens the season with a tighter rotation, especially on offense. In recent season openers, the Irish have used 19 offensive players and 24 defensive players at Miami in 2025, 18 and 22 at Texas A&M in 2024, 17 and 22 at Ohio State in 2022, 19 and 23 at Florida State in 2021, 19 and 25 against Duke in 2020, 18 and 21 at Louisville in 2019, and 20 and 20 against Michigan in 2018.
That’s a different feel from some later-season games, when the offense has spread things around much more widely. Notre Dame averaged 23 contributors over the 12-game regular season last year, but this weekend should look more streamlined.
And there’s one more backdrop to all of this: Notre Dame has not exactly been a reliable bet as a favorite in season openers against power-conference teams. The Irish have been favored in those games 16 times over the last 30 seasons and have covered only twice, with wins against Kansas in 1999 and Texas in 2015. They have won 21 of their last 30 openers overall, but the list of losses is long enough to be memorable.
That history points one way, but the expectation for Sunday night is another. Look for that trend to end at Lambeau.
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