Ten straight wins that counted for nothing
Notre Dame closed last season with ten consecutive victories and still watched the College Football Playoff from home. The committee gave the place to Miami, who had beaten the Irish in the opener. One September afternoon erased everything that followed it.
Marcus Freeman has not moved on from that. “We didn’t earn that opportunity,” the Notre Dame coach said this week, framing the exclusion as something his program owns rather than disputes. The Irish lost their first two games in 2025 and never recovered the margin, which is why the opener carries the weight it does.
The fourth-ranked Fighting Irish play Wisconsin on Sunday night at Lambeau Field, listed as the home team in Green Bay.
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Carr returns, the backfield resets
CJ Carr is back for his junior year after completing 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions in 12 starts. Jordan Faison caught 49 balls for 640 yards and four scores last season. Jaden Greathouse, held to four games by a hamstring injury, produced 42 receptions for 592 yards in 2024.
Running back is the open question. Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price both left as first-round draft picks. Aneyas Williams inherits the job carrying 58 attempts, seven touchdowns and an average of 7.6 yards a touch. Small sample, large number.
The defense needs no such caveat. Safety Brauntae Johnson, cornerback Leonard Moore and linebackers Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa all picked up preseason All-American recognition.
Fickell meets his old assistant
Luke Fickell went 57-18 across six seasons at Cincinnati. He is 17-21 in three at Wisconsin after finishing 5-7 and 4-8, and the Badgers responded by adding 33 transfers while losing 25.
The numbers behind those records are stark. Wisconsin scored 12.8 points and gained 253.1 yards per game last season. A program once nicknamed Running Back U managed 116.7 rushing yards a game at 3.3 per carry. Its six takeaways ranked last in the country.
Colton Joseph arrives from Old Dominion to run the offense. The 2025 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year threw for 4,251 yards and 32 touchdowns over two seasons as a starter and ran for 1,654 more with 24 scores. Freeman spent four years as Fickell’s defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and expects a Wisconsin team that stays physical for the full 60 minutes.
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