Notre Dame Pulls Away from Wisconsin 41-13 After a Close First Half
Take away DJ McKinney's 55-yard interception return and Notre Dame still wins 34-13. That is how lopsided the second half was, and the pick-six was just the part that made the highlight reel.
Through the first half this was a game. Wisconsin led 3-0 on a Gavin Lahm field goal, Spencer Porath tied it with a 52-yarder, and CJ Carr threw a 3-yard touchdown to James Flanigan with 22 seconds left in the first quarter to make it 10-3. Colton Joseph found Malachi Coleman from 28 yards at 12:36 of the second and it was 10-10, the second tie of the day. Porath's 26-yard field goal sent Notre Dame in at 13-10.
Then the third quarter happened. Aneyas Williams ran 3 yards for a touchdown with 10:23 left, and McKinney took a Joseph interception back 55 yards at 8:52. In 91 seconds a three-point game became a 27-10 one. Lahm kicked a 36-yarder with 14 seconds left to make it 27-13, which was the last time Wisconsin scored. Williams added a 5-yard run in the fourth and Carr hit Nolan James Jr. from 28 yards with 1:51 left to close it at 41-13.
The yardage was not close, either. Notre Dame had 350 total yards to Wisconsin's 284, and the Badgers ran for just 67 yards on 31 carries. They also turned it over twice, one interception and one lost fumble, while Notre Dame did not turn it over at all.
Notre Dame is 1-0 and Wisconsin is 0-1. For fantasy, the Irish ran their game through Williams (20 carries) and let Carr's two touchdown passes ride along.