Marcus Freeman Reveals Halftime Speech to CJ Carr, Notre Dame Players amid Blowout vs. Wisconsin

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman to set aside all of their preseason expectations when they went into the locker room at halftime of Sunday's win over Wisconsin.

The Fighting Irish led by just three before outscoring the Badgers 28-3 in the second half.

"Sometimes, you don't believe it till you're in it," Freeman said, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg . "Like, I can sit here and tell you, 'You have to struggle to achieve what we achieved tonight,' but until you're in the middle of it, it's hard to understand it. So, I wanted to remind them that at halftime. ... Don't assume the future's going to go in any direction. Just focus on what you have in the moment."

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Notre Dame ranked fourth in the preseason AP Top 25. Freeman has built a roster that a lot of people believe is good enough to contend for a national title.

Because of that, some may have been surprised by the 13-10 halftime score. But it's rare that an eventual champion goes wire-to-wire without having some hiccups.

"Outside of our building, there can be a narrative that college football is easy, and we should steamroll teams," Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr said. "The reality is that's a really good Wisconsin team with some really good players. So, adjusting and staying consistent throughout the game was really helpful for us."

The Notre Dame defense kept Wisconsin to under 300 yards. Carr went 19-of-29 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Aneyas Williams carried the ball 20 times for 90 yards and two scores.

The Fighting Irish weren't impressive from start to finish, but they provided some evidence of why they might be the last team standing in January. Their second-half response was the strongest indication.