A Tale of Two Halves: Notre Dame Cruises Past Wisconsin After First Half Mishaps

Photo via Notre Dame Athletics

The anticipation and excitement leading up to this game after how last season ended was at an all-time high. It felt like a lifetime ago we last saw Marcus Freeman lead this team onto the field with the famous “Here Come The Irish!” signature line from the TV booth. For months we heard the national media gas Notre Dame up at every turn in what seemed like their weird way of trying to atone for their sins against Notre Dame in doing everything they could to help keep them out of the playoffs last season. Was it legitimate praise for a team with high National Championship aspirations, or was it just rat poison all along meant to psych this team out? That question we may never have the answer to, but we did get some answers on where Notre Dame football is to start the 2026 season.

Flash forward to last night at Lambeau with a sea of blue and red in the stands and fans pumped for the season to kick off. The game started, and Wisconsin received the ball. The Irish defense came out with their hair on fire and made easy work of the Badgers offense on a quick 3-and-out. Confidence was at an all-time high, and it appeared this season was gonna be different in terms of not starting off rough in September under Marcus Freeman.

That was until the offense and special teams made their first appearance of the game. The offense stumbled and hiccuped early, with major concern over the play of the offensive line in particular. After short work of the Irish offense by Wisconsin resulting in a quick 3-and-out that resulted in -5 yards, the punting unit stepped on the field, as the thought was that couldn’t have gone any worse to start off the 2026 season for the Irish offense.

As that thought creeps into your head, the punting unit allows a blocked punt in what felt like a lifetime for Punter Jasper Scaife to get the ball off, resulting in just a 21-yard punt setting up the Badgers inside the 40-yard line of Irish territory. If you’ve been following this team as long as I have (the Holtz’s days), you probably were saying to yourself, “Oh boy. Here we go again.”

The Irish struggled in the first half with bad offensive line play and what seemed like a million short throws and screenplay calls by Denbrock. However, there was a major positive coming out of the first half, and that is Notre Dame: after suffering some rough FG kicking the past few years, they finally have an accurate kicker. Spencer Porath was two for two in field goal attempts in the first half, with one being an impressive 52-yarder right down the middle.

As halftime came, you knew if Notre Dame wanted to escape Lambeau Field without another early-season loss, they were gonna have to have big time adjustments in the second half. Halftime is where coaches earn their paychecks and if there is one thing Marcus Freeman really excels at that former Head Coach Brian Kelly could never figure out is making halftime adjustments. Notre Dame was outstanding last season in making halftime adjustments and dominating in the second half of games so you just knew Marcus Freeman would do whatever he had to do to fix it, and that he did.

The second half opened with Notre Dame methodically driving down the field on 9 plays for 70 yards, capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run by Aneyas Williams. Marcus Freeman had once again successfully made the halftime adjustments he’s become famous for. He made substitutions in personnel on the offensive line and in the defensive backfield, resulting in positive play for the Irish. They looked poised, confident, and ready to take over the game. They went on to score 3 touchdowns in the second half on 3 long methodical drives, and the defense put on a clinic, holding Wisconsin to just one field goal in the entire second half, highlighted by a 55-yard interception for a touchdown by cornerback DJ McKinney.

This game truly was a tale of two halves, and Marcus Freeman proved once again he’s one of the best in the business at making adjustments when needed at the half. Although there were some things to be concerned about in the first half, it was just the first game of the season after a very long off-season. They played a decent opponent at a neutral site and struggled early but found the problems, made the adjustments, and dominated the second half.

Anytime you go on the road against a decent opponent and cover the spread, it’s a big win. If anything this team showed us last year, it was that they get better and better as the season goes on, and if this is the worst they play all season, then lookout as they may truly be a major threat to win it all this year. But with Rice coming to town next week, you cannot allow them to become a trap game and look past them. It’s one game at a time, and as head coach Marcus Freeman likes to say, “leave no doubt for the moment in front of you.”

Onward to Rice….

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