Notre Dame Football Stats: Week 1 Review of Win over Wisconsin

Another Notre Dame college football season opener is in the books and there are two constants for me:

Dealing with the traditional, emotional first game roller coaster despite how much I convinced myself this time would be different

Stumbling through how to tell an analytics story without any real points of reference

Fortunately, the Irish delivered a big win that made all of the Week 1 stress worth it.

The final score for the game was 41-13 and Notre Dame had a solid handle on things from beginning to end. Most of the not fun moments for ND fans were concentrated in the game's first half.

Notre Dame outscored Wisconsin 10-3 in the first quarter and the Badgers flipped the script with a 7-3 run to close out the second quarter. But the Irish recorded 14 points in each of the remaining quarters while Wisconsin was only able to score three in the third quarter.

The Irish were +66 in total yards earned during their Week 1 matchup, tallying up 350 yards compared with the Badgers' 284 yards. And they had the advantage in both the passing and rushing categories.

Mike Denbrock's offense was +22 in passing yards, edging out Wisconsin 239-217. The details behind both team's passing performances were pretty similar. They both logged 19 pass completions, though Wisconsin made 30 attempts and Notre Dame made 29 attempts. One of the biggest passing blemishes for the game landed on the Wisconsin side, with one interception thrown late in the third quarter.

Notre Dame had a substantial rushing advantage. They beat out Wisconsin with a +44 differential, out earning their opponent 111-67 on the ground. But neither squad was particularly efficient in terms of rushing. The Irish had 32 rush attempts and finished with an average of 3.5 yards per attempt. The Badgers closed out things with 31 carries and averaged 2.2 yards per carry.

C.J. Carr got the 2026-27 season started in a solid way, picking up where he left off from last year's standout freshman performance. Carr threw the ball more in the season opener than he did on average last season but all the other stats held mostly the same. He completed 19 of his attempts for a 66% completion rate. He logged 239 yards and also threw two passing touchdowns.

Notre Dame continued the recent tradition of utilizing a rushing committee, with three running backs carrying the load in Week 1.

Junior running back Aneyas Williams led the group with 20 carries for 90 yards. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry and was responsible for both of the team's collective rushing touchdowns.

Senior Jordan Faison led the receiver room during Week 1 with four catches for 81 yards.

Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. stood out as the Irish's most prominent dual threat. James Jr. had seven rush attempts for 19 yards but produced significantly more in the receiving category. He closed out the Wisconsin game with four catches for 67 yards and one touchdown through the air.

Junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert logged three receptions for 34 yards and senior tight end Cooper Flanagan pulled down two catches for 13 yards.

Notre Dame's defense got off to a slow start but turned things around.

Senior linebacker Kahanu Kia recovered a fumble on special teams and senior cornerback DJ McKinney was responsible for a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The Irish defensive unit finished Week 1 with two sacks, six tackles for loss and five pass deflections.

Senior defensive lineman Boubacar Traore knabbed three solo tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss.

Junior defensive lineman Francis Brewu closed out the Wisconsin game with three tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss.

Sophomore cornerback Jayden Sanders led the secondary with two pass deflections.

The remaining deflections were spread across cornerbacks DJ McKinney and Leonard more as well as safety Brauntae Johnson.

One of the most reassuring things about how Notre Dame won their season opener was the offensive stability that emerged as the game progressed.

The team's first scoring drive was capped off with a field goal and took four plays spanning 48 yards. They scored a passing touchdown built on a four-play, 13-yard drive to close out the first quarter. But the rest of the Irish's points resulted from long, relatively efficient drives:

It was a solid start to the 2026-27 CFB season for Notre Dame. Would it have been great if my stress levels were just a smidge lower during the first half? A resounding yes.

But we've got a long fall of football ahead of us and this performance has me feeling pretty optimistic about what the Irish can deliver.