College football is weirder than ever. It’s always been the weirdest sport in the country, and it’s why there are so many crazies out there that worship the game. Now with the transfer portal, it really does make these early season games tougher to predict.
Notre Dame was a 20.5 point favorite going into the game against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, and as the first half unravelled, fans and media alike were wondering what was happening with the Irish. Notre Dame held a 13-10 lead going into halftime
and they were getting the ball first in the second half — but the struggle was so real in the first 30 minutes that it was hard to imagine this game turning into the blowout it became.
So yeah — it took a half for the Irish to find out what team they could be in week one. There have been bigger crimes in the sport over the years than a slow-bulldozer. This wasn’t the coming out party for CJ Carr and the Heisman, and that needs to be okay.
On some of the most hallowed grounds in sports, Notre Dame lost the narrative for 2026, but regained the plot. They struggled, and slipped, and fell down — and then rose back up by just being who they are as a team.
Marcus Freeman said he didn’t go into too much detail about 2nd half changes for the team, and Adon Shuler provided an answer with even more brevity. This game didn’t go the way they thought it would, so they had to change that for themselves.
Everything else is just fluff for week one. How good can you be when things don’t work out how you planned? At least for tonight, Notre Dame found out that they can still be good in that situation, which will serve them well down the stretch. This was a 41-13 win after all… it’s not like they stole the win and ran out of the stadium. They grinned Wisconsin down and then took a massive leap.
