September 6, 2026 Week 1 · Regular Season Neutral site Belt defended

Notre Dame defends the belt, 41–13, at a neutral site over Wisconsin.

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Notre DameAP No. 4 41

Away · Challenger

Wisconsin 13

AP poll, week 1: Wisconsin unranked at Notre Dame No. 4 · No. 1 that week: Ohio State. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Notre Dame came in 281 days into reign #332, which began with a win over Stanford, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Notre Dame went on to defend it 5 more times before BYU took it on October 17, 2026, 322 days after the reign began.

For Wisconsin this was its 13th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 3 times before.

This is the only time Notre Dame and Wisconsin have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Notre Dame dominated Wisconsin from start to finish, establishing control early with a 10-3 first quarter lead capped by C. Carr's 3-yard touchdown pass to J. Flanigan with just 22 seconds left in the opening frame. Wisconsin briefly threatened in the second quarter when C. Joseph connected with M. Coleman for a 28-yard touchdown to cut it to 13-10, but Notre Dame's defense stiffened and S. Porath's 26-yard field goal extended the lead before halftime. The Fighting Irish pulled away decisively in the second half, with A. Williams scoring two rushing touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, while a catastrophic interception return by DJ McKinney—a 55-yard pick-six of a Spencer Porath pass—was Wisconsin's only third-quarter score. Notre Dame's balanced attack and turnover discipline, committing zero turnovers compared to Wisconsin's two, proved decisive in the 41-13 victory that allowed the Irish to retain the belt.

Carr's 3-yard TD pass to Flanigan (Q1 0:22) - Gave Notre Dame early momentum and a double-digit lead to close first quarter
Coleman's 28-yard TD catch from Joseph (Q2 12:36) - Wisconsin's only offensive touchdown, briefly threatening to make it a game
McKinney's 55-yard interception return touchdown (Q3 8:52) - Wisconsin's only score in the second half, but came too late to spark a comeback
A. Williams' two rushing touchdowns (Q3 10:23 and Q4 10:48) - Put the game completely out of reach and showcased Notre Dame's dominant ground control

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

By Quarter

Line score

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Notre Dame	10	3	14	14	41
Wisconsin	3	7	3	0	13

Pulled directly from CFBD’s play-by-play record, the same source as every score in the lineage.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Notre DameWisconsin

Total yards350284

Rushing yards11167

Passing yards239217

First downs2016

3rd down conv.3/95/13

Turnovers02

Penalties–yards4–416–43

Time of possession31:3628:24

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 11:18	Notre Dame	-8 yd	(11:52) Shotgun #13 C.Carr sacked for loss of 8 yards to the UND16 (#15 S.Cheeks), fumble by #13 C.Carr recovered by UND #71 S.Prescod at UND16, End Of Play
Q1 6:32	Wisconsin	+27 yd	(06:34) #97 G.Lahm field goal attempt from 27 yards GOOD (H: #91 S.West, LS: #56 J.Roe), clock 06:32
Q1 1:31	Notre Dame	+52 yd	(01:31) #35 S.Porath field goal attempt from 52 yards GOOD (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci), clock 01:31
Q1 0:22	Notre Dame	+3 yd	(00:26) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short left to #88 J.Flanigan caught at Wis02, for 3 yards to the Wis00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:22 #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q2 12:36	Wisconsin	+28 yd	(12:41) Shotgun #1 C.Joseph pass complete deep right to #4 M.Coleman caught at UND00, for 28 yards to the UND00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:36, 1ST DOWN #97 G.Lahm kick attempt good (H: #91 S.West, LS: #56 J.Roe)
Q2 10:38	Notre Dame	+30 yd	(10:48) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short left to #6 J.Faison caught at Wis26, for 30 yards to the Wis13 (#29 M.Jung), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Q2 8:53	Notre Dame	+26 yd	(08:57) #35 S.Porath field goal attempt from 26 yards GOOD (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci), clock 08:53
Q2 6:42	Wisconsin	+20 yd	(06:51) Shotgun #1 C.Joseph pass complete short right to #13 E.Hilton Jr. caught at Wis48, for 20 yards to the UND36 (#8 A.Shuler), 1ST DOWN
Q2 3:54	Notre Dame	+1 yd	(03:54) Shotgun #2 N.James Jr. rush middle for 1 yard gain to the UND14, End Of Play
Q3 15:00	Wisconsin	+29 yd	(15:00) #97 G.Lahm kickoff 64 yards to the UND01 #22 A.Williams return 29 yards to the UND30 (#11 C.Van Dinter)
Q3 11:19	Notre Dame	+28 yd	(11:29) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short middle to #2 N.James Jr. caught at Wis32, for 28 yards to the Wis06 (#4 M.Burks), 1ST DOWN
Q3 10:23	Notre Dame	+3 yd	(10:28) Shotgun #22 A.Williams rush middle for 3 yards gain to the Wis00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:23 #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q3 8:52	Wisconsin	+55 yd	DJ McKinney 55 Yd Interception Return (Spencer Porath Kick)
Q3 0:14	Wisconsin	+36 yd	(00:16) #97 G.Lahm field goal attempt from 36 yards GOOD (H: #91 S.West, LS: #56 J.Roe), clock 00:14
Q4 10:48	Notre Dame	+5 yd	(10:50) Shotgun #22 A.Williams rush left for 5 yards gain to the WIS00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:48 #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q3 0:03	Notre Dame	+29 yd	(00:14) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short right to #6 J.Faison caught at UND40, for 29 yards to the WIS46 (#5 B.West; #8 M.Posa), 1ST DOWN
Q3 0:00	Notre Dame	+29 yd	End of 3rd quarter.
Q4 10:48	Notre Dame	+22 yd	(10:48) #36 M.Drescher kickoff 64 yards to the WIS01 #15 N.Palmer return 22 yards to the WIS23 (#25 B.Logan)
Q4 1:51	Notre Dame	+28 yd	(02:00) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short left to #2 N.James Jr. caught at WIS24, for 28 yards to the WIS00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 01:51, 1ST DOWN #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q4 1:47	Notre Dame	+21 yd	(01:51) #36 M.Drescher kickoff 62 yards to the WIS03 #15 N.Palmer return 21 yards to the WIS24 (#23 J.Clapper; #33 M.Jeffery)

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Notre Dame

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
C.J. Carr	19/29	239	8.2	2	0	81.3

Wisconsin

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Colton Joseph	19/30	217	7.2	1	1	81.8

Rushing

Notre Dame

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Aneyas Williams	20	90	4.5	2	16
Nolan James Jr.	7	19	2.7	0	7
Kedren Young	3	8	2.7	0	3
C.J. Carr	2	-6	-3.0	0	2

Wisconsin

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Abu Sama III	15	49	3.3	7
Darrion Dupree	4	15	3.8	8
Colton Joseph	12	3	0.3	5

Receiving

Notre Dame

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jordan Faison	4	81	20.3	0	30
Nolan James Jr.	4	67	16.8	1	28
Micah Gilbert	3	34	11.3	0	18
Cooper Flanagan	2	13	6.5	0	8
Aneyas Williams	1	11	11.0	0	11
Kedren Young	1	11	11.0	0	11
James Flanigan	2	10	5.0	1	7
Ty Washington	1	6	6.0	0	6
Jaden Greathouse	1	6	6.0	0	6

Wisconsin

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Malachi Coleman	4	76	19.0	1	28
Tyrell Henry	4	42	10.5	0	17
Chris Brooks Jr.	3	38	12.7	0	17
Eugene Hilton Jr.	3	31	10.3	0	20
Grant Stec	3	20	6.7	0	8
Darrion Dupree	1	7	7.0	0	7
Jacob Harris	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Notre Dame

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Drayk Bowen	9	4	0	1	0	0	0
Adon Shuler	7	4	0	0	0	0	0
Jaiden Ausberry	7	3	0	0	0	0	0
Leonard Moore	5	5	0	0	1	0	0
Tionne Gray	5	1	0	0.5	0	0	0
Luke Talich	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
Bryce Young	4	3	0	1	0	0	0
Boubacar Traore	3	3	1	2	0	1	0
Francis Brewu	3	1	1	1	0	0	0
Christian Gray	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Armel Mukam	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Loghan Thomas	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Logan	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jayden Sanders	1	1	0	0	2	0	0
Tae Johnson	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
Joseph Vinci	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Onye	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jaylen Sneed	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rodney Dunham	1	0	0	0.5	0	0	0
Ja'Kobe Clapper	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Jeffery	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dylahn McKinney	0	0	0	0	1	0	1

Wisconsin

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Mason Posa	15	5	0	0	0	0
Matthew Jung	9	4	0	0	1	0
Cooper Catalano	9	1	0	0	0	1
Javan Robinson	6	4	0	0	1	0
Justus Boone	4	3	0	0	0	0
Michael Garner	4	1	0	0	0	1
Hammond Russell IV	3	1	0	0	0	0
Bryce West	3	0	0	0	2	0
Sebastian Cheeks	2	2	1	1	1	0
Jai'Mier Scott	2	2	0	0	0	0
Charles Perkins	2	1	0	0	0	0
Carson Van Dinter	2	1	0	0	0	0
Marvin Burks Jr.	1	1	0	0	0	0
Nicolas Clayton	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tyreese Fearbry	1	0	0	0	0	0
Junior Poyser	1	0	0	0	0	0
Mason Lane	1	0	0	0	0	0
Cairo Skanes	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Notre Dame

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
C.J. Carr	1	0	0
Kahanu Kia	0	0	1

Wisconsin

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Harrison Bortolotti	1	1	0

Interceptions

Notre Dame

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Dylahn McKinney	1	55	1

Wisconsin

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Aneyas Williams	2	42	21.0	29	0

Wisconsin

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Nate Palmer	2	43	21.5	22	0
Harrison Bortolotti	1	8	8.0	8	0

Kicking

Notre Dame

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Spencer Porath	2/2	100.0	52	5/5	11

Wisconsin

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Gavin Lahm	2/2	100.0	36	1/1	7

Punt Returns

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jordan Faison	1	12	12.0	12	0

Wisconsin

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tyrell Henry	1	3	3.0	3	0

Punting

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jasper Scaife	2	87	43.5	0	0	46
Team	1	21	21.0	0	0	21

Wisconsin

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Sean West	5	225	45.0	1	2	70

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401858438) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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