Notre Dame’s latest on-field success came with a side benefit that’s hard to ignore: a massive television audience.
The Fighting Irish’s Shamrock Series matchup against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field on Sunday night finished as NBC Sports’ third-most-watched Notre Dame football game since 2005, averaging 8.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, according to official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
The viewership climbed to its highest point during the second quarter, when 9.7 million people were watching from 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET.
At that moment, Notre Dame was ahead 13-10 in what became a 41-13 win for the No. 4 Irish.
In terms of full-game audience, the broadcast from 7:43-11:02 p.m. ET trails only a pair of recent Notre Dame blockbusters on NBC since the network’s 2005 “Bush Push” game against USC.
The Wisconsin game comes behind 10.6 million viewers for No. 6 Ohio State at No.
9 Notre Dame in 2023 and 10.4 million for the No. 1 Clemson vs.
No. 3 Notre Dame double-overtime game in 2020.
The Irish are also riding a dominant start on the field. After the 52-0 win over Rice, Notre Dame hasn’t given opponents much to work with.
The defense has forced six turnovers this season, and the offense has yet to give the ball away once. That’s the kind of clean early-season edge that championship teams tend to build.
There was also good news on the women’s soccer side. Notre Dame picked up its third win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Clemson, improving to 3-0-5.
The Irish are still unbeaten, but with a string of draws already on the ledger, the next step is turning those into wins. Friday’s result was at least a move in that direction.
In Other News...
Notre Dame May Have Seized Early Control In A Huge Recruiting Fight
Notre Dames 52-0 win over Rice did more than pad a season opener, it also gave the Irish another chance to make an impression on one of the more important underclassmen in the country. Wyatt VanBoening, a 4-star offensive tackle in the 2028 class, was among the visitors taking in the atmosphere, and it was the latest stop in a recruiting relationship that has already included multiple trips to South Bend. With major programs already involved, Notre Dame has at least put itself squarely in the mix.
For a program always trying to build its future in the trenches, VanBoening is the kind of prospect worth tracking closely. The repeated visits suggest real mutual interest, and performances like the one against Rice can only help the Irish with recruits weighing early impressions as much as long-term fit. No commitment has been made, but Notre Dame appears to have positioned itself well in a fight that could still go a long way. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Finally Looked Like The Team Fans Were Waiting For
Notre Dames home opener against Rice was the kind of performance that had been missing in the early part of the season, a clean, commanding statement in a 52-0 win that never really gave the visitors a chance to breathe. The Irish were sharp from the opening series, with quarterback CJ Carr settling in quickly and the rest of the roster following suit in a game that looked more like the standard Notre Dame had been trying to establish than the stumble fans had been waiting to shake off.
Carrs efficiency set the tone, while safety Adon Shuler and wide receiver Jordan Faison both turned in notable performances in a rout that showed how complete this team can look when it is in sync. The bigger question now is whether this was the one-off release fans needed to see or the first sign that Notre Dame has finally found the version of itself it was supposed to bring into the fall. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Is Suddenly In The No. 1 Debate After Week 2
Week 2 delivered the kind of shakeup that can redraw the entire AP Top 25, with Texas knocking off No. 1 Ohio State late and leaving the top of the poll suddenly up for grabs. The ripple effects go well beyond Columbus, because the national conversation now has to sort through a crowded group of contenders, with Notre Dame and Georgia both in the mix as the rankings get rebuilt after a chaotic Saturday.
For the Irish, that puts a clean opening-week performance in a much brighter spotlight than it had before. Other contenders are still trying to survive the fallout from losses of their own, including Oregon and Oklahoma, which only adds to the uncertainty at the top. However the voters sort it out, Notre Dame has unexpectedly landed in the middle of the No. 1 debate, and the next set of rankings will say plenty about how much weight the Irishs start carried. [Read more 🡒]