Head coach Marcus Freeman walks to a Notre Dame soccer observe at Irish Athletic Heart on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in South Bend. Preparation is paramount for Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who understands the significance of the primary sport of the season and has loads of first-hand data of this week’s opponent, Wisconsin.
Notre Dame spent the offseason fuming about being overlooked of the School Soccer Playoff and packs loads of motivation for the Sunday night time go to to Lambeau Subject, the place the No. 4 Combating Irish open the season as the house group towards Wisconsin and Freeman’s one-time boss, Luke Fickell.
The opener has been underlined by Freeman. The Irish dropped their first two video games in 2025, however had been bypassed by the playoff choice committee regardless of a run of 10 consecutive wins. The spot as a substitute went to Miami, which had defeated Notre Dame within the season opener.
“We did not earn that chance,” Freeman mentioned. “We did not earn the proper to play greater than 12 video games final yr. That is one thing that we have owned and we all know we’ve got aspirations to play past the common season.”
Someplace close to the opposite finish of the spectrum sits Fickell. He additionally resides on the new seat after back-to-back dropping seasons of 5-7 and 4-8. The rebuilt Badgers added 33 gamers within the switch portal and 25 exited.
The Irish offense revolves round extremely touted junior quarterback CJ Carr. He accomplished 66.6% of his passes for two,741 yards with 24 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 12 begins in 2025. Senior Jordan Faison had 49 receptions final season for 640 yards and 4 touchdowns. Senior Jaden Greathouse, restricted to 4 video games final season with a hamstring harm, had 42 catches for 592 yards and 4 scores in 2024.
Notre Dame is hitting reset at operating again. A pair of first-round draft picks — Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Value — usually are not simply changed. However Aneyas Williams strikes into the first spot with a status for offering massive performs. He has averaged 7.6 yards in 58 profession makes an attempt with seven touchdowns.
The Irish are loaded on protection in all phases with super depth within the line, linebacker and secondary.
Security Brauntae Johnson, cornerback Leonard Moore and linebackers Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa obtained preseason All-American recognition, expertise the Wisconsin offense has develop into nicely conscious of in preparation for the opener.
“This week goes to be numerous figuring out elements,” Fickell mentioned Monday. “I feel that is the place we’ve got to be sensible in all of the issues that we’re doing. We all know it is a large sport in sport one, the way in which we’re kicking off in Lambeau towards Notre Dame.”
Colton Joseph, a dual-threat junior switch from Outdated Dominion, takes over at quarterback for the Badgers, who averaged simply 12.8 factors and 253.1 yards per sport final season.
Joseph accomplished 59.8% of his passes for 4,251-yards for 32 touchdowns with 15 interceptions over two seasons because the starter. Joseph, the Solar Belt Offensive Participant of the 12 months in 2025, additionally rushed for 1,654 yards and 24 touchdowns in two seasons, together with 1,007 yards final season.
Abu Sama III, who rushed for 1,933 yards and 13 touchdowns in 38 video games in three seasons at Iowa State, is anticipated to be the first operating again. Darrien Dupree, who ran for a team-high 363 yards in 10 video games, additionally returns.
Wisconsin, whose punishing floor sport that featured the likes of Ron Dayne and Jonathan Taylor earned it the moniker Working Again U., averaged simply 116.7 yards per sport final season and three.3 yards per carry.
The Badgers allowed 21.6 factors per sport final season, limiting opponents to only 105.2 yards per contest on the bottom, however permitting 218.3 via the air with 19 touchdowns.
Wisconsin was final within the nation final season with simply six takeaways.
Fickell, employed after going 57-18 in six seasons at Cincinnati, together with a playoff berth within the outdated four-team format, is 17-21 in three seasons at Wisconsin. Freeman was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati below Fickell.
“I used to be lucky to work on Luke Fickell’s employees for 4 years at Cincinnati,” Freeman mentioned Monday. “What I find out about him and what you see on movie is that his groups are going to be robust, and they’ll play bodily, they’ll be aggressive, they’ll be disciplined, and they’ll play till all 60 minutes. And so, we’ve got to be ready for a battle.”
–Jim Hoehn, Subject Stage Media
