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Notre Dame kicks off the 2026 season on Sunday night in a matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers from the Big Ten Conference. It's the first chance we get to see this Irish offense in the post-Jeremiyah Love/Jadarian Price era. Notre Dame will look different, as will Wisconsin, but the matchup should be a good one.

Note Dame had one of the nation's most explosive offenses in 2025, while the Badgers had a stout run defense that was one of the better groups in the Big Ten despite playing with a struggling offense that put it in a lot of tough situations. It will certainly be a great first test for the Notre Dame offense.

Let's take a look at how Notre Dame stacks up on offense against the Badger defense.

NOTRE DAME RUN OFFENSE vs WISCONSIN

Advantage: Even

This should be one of the best matchups of the entire game, as the Irish look to continue being a dominant ground team against a Badger defense that was one of the nation's best at stopping the run last season. Both teams have to overcome key departures, with Notre Dame having to replace Love and Price, as well as two starting offensive linemen. Wisconsin has to replace seven of its top 10 tacklers and six of its top 10 players in tackles for loss. Both groups seem to have reloaded and will test each other a great deal.

Notre Dame rushed for at least 200 yards is half of its 12 games last season, and had at least 175 yards in two more games. Wisconsin game up more than 130 yards just three times all season, and held seven of its 12 opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground, including national champion Indiana. The Hoosiers had a pair of 1,000-yard backs last season, but could muster just 83 yards on 37 carries (2.2 YPC) against the stingy Badger rush defense. Wisconsin also held Ohio State to just 98 yards (3.5 YPC) on the ground and kept Washington to just 116 yards (3.2 YPC).

Junior Aneyas Williams is expected to be Notre Dame's lead back this season, but he'll likely be joined in the rotation by talented junior Kedren Young and up-and-coming sophomore Nolan James Jr. That group of returners gives Notre Dame a strong foundation to build its run game around, and that's not even getting into the presence of talented freshmen Jonaz Walton and Javian Osborne. The key will be getting the remade offensive line going early against Wisconsin. Notre Dame returns five players with starting experience, but only one is expected to start the season playing the position he's started games in the past. How quickly that unit gels will go a very long way towards determining how well the Irish can run the football in the opener.

Wisconsin has a massive interior, which is a key part of their stout run defense. They don't create a lot of negatives, but the line holds up very well at the point of attack and keeps lines from getting a lot of movement. The Badgers average 6-2 1/2 and 324 pounds at its two interior spots, which means the Irish interior blockers will have to bring it. It will certainly be a great first test at guard for Anthonie Knapp in his first start inside. Inside linebackers Mason Posa (61 tackles, 4 TFL) and Cooper Catalano (56 tackles, 4.5 TFL) are a strong pair of run defenders, and when the line is eating up blocks they run well to the ball and make a lot of plays.

NOTRE DAME PASS OFFENSE vs WISCONSIN

Advantage: Notre Dame

Notre Dame is expected to rely on the pass game to a much greater degree this season, but if the group is going to be as efficient and explosive as it was a season ago they'll need to find replacements for wide receiver Malachi Fields (New York Giants) and tight end Eli Raridon (New England Patriots), who were both third-round draft picks this offseason. Notre Dame ranked in the Top 10 nationally in yards per attempt (2nd), passer rating (4th), yards per completion (8th), fewest sacks allowed (8th) and fewest interceptions (9th), while also ranking in the Top 20 in plays of at least 30 yards despite only playing 12 games. Notre Dame didn't have to throw much with how efficient the unit was, and that will need to continue in 2026.

Senior Jordan Faison leads the receiver corps, which will look much different than it did a season ago. Notre Dame needs senior Jaden Greathouse to return to form after he missed eight games last season after only catching four passes. Greathouse has had a strong fall camp, but he needs to stay focused and healthy, but if he does he gives the offense one of the best contested catch weapons in the country. Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham is expected to make an immediate impact as part of the rotation, and his playmaking ability adds some juice to the pass game. Notre Dame needs junior Micah Gilbert to have a breakout this season in order to give talented quarterback CJ Carr a much-needed boundary weapon. His emergence could be the final piece to the puzzle for a pass game that has a chance to be one of the program's best since the days of Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen.

NOTRE DAME SCORING OFFENSE vs WISCONSIN

Advantage: Notre Dame

Notre Dame had one of the most high-powered, explosive and efficient offenses in all of college football last season, and the return of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, Carr at quarterback and a talented — albeit still unproven — supporting cast has expectations remaining high for this unit. Whether or not Notre Dame still ranks as a Top 5 offense in scoring, efficiency and explosiveness remains to be seen, but the tools are in place. Denbrock has also made a living developing these types of offenses, which we not only saw last season, but in his first stint at Notre Dame (see 2015 offense) and of course at LSU in 2023 when he produced the nation's No. 1 offense.

Wisconsin has a salty defense that returns quality talent and had strong additions from the transfer portal. The Badgers struggled against the best teams on the schedule last season, but the defense kept them in a lot of those games early. That unit will be tested in a big way in this matchup against Notre Dame, who protects the ball well. Notre Dame has the on paper advantage, the talent advantage and the battle between former colleagues Denbrock and Mike Tressel should be entertaining. This is the one good-on-good matchup of this game.

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