Notre Dame football’s transfer portal investment at defensive tackle paid immediate dividends during the Fighting Irish’s 41-13 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, and the staff identified the interior of the defensive line as an area of emphasis this offseason, and the early returns from Pittsburgh transfer Francis Brewu and Oregon transfer Tionne Gray were impossible to ignore.

The Fighting Irish attacked the portal to fill a massive hole despite returning some solid pieces. Notre Dame brought back Jason Onye, who was granted an extra year of eligibility this offseason, and also convinced Armel Mukam to remove his name from the transfer portal.

Those two joined Elijah Hughes and younger talented defensive tackles like Sean Sevillano Jr. But there was a clear need to add impact, size, and potential difference makers on the interior. That pursuit led Freeman and Co. to Brewu and Gray.

While it was an imperfect game for Notre Dame overall, the transfer portal impact was very much felt at defensive tackle.

You can make an argument that Gray was the Fighting Irish’s best overall defensive tackle during the contest, finishing with five total tackles and half a tackle for loss. If he wasn’t the best, then the answer was Brewu, who ended the night with three total tackles and a sack.

Both players were active throughout and played a significant role in holding Wisconsin to just 67 yards on 31 carries, a mere 2.2 yards per carry average.

Tionne Gray’s tools are phenomenal

It’s hard to miss Gray in the middle of the Notre Dame defense at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds. He played upwards of 335 to 340 pounds last season with the Oregon Ducks. Once he arrived in South Bend, there was an initiative for him to cut some bad weight off his frame, and that has done wonders for him going into this season.

Gray was Notre Dame’s biggest defensive tackle by a landslide, and he also showed impressive movement skills for a player his size. As a redshirt sophomore, Gray is still a little green from a technical perspective, which gives you a lot of optimism for the future.

Once he figures things out and becomes a more consistent version of himself, he has a chance to be the Fighting Irish’s best interior defensive lineman. It wasn’t just his size and ability to work at the point of attack. He also showed the quickness to work gap-to-gap.

This was just a small taste of how good Gray could be. He has two more years of eligibility after 2026. Notre Dame isn’t waiting on the impact he brings to the table, though. He showcased phenomenal tools, his work habits have been great since he landed with the Fighting Irish, and Sunday’s performance was an early glimpse of how talented he truly is.

Francis Brewu brings a different skill set

Brewu is a much different player than Gray.

At 6-foot-1 and 285 pounds, he’s built low to the ground with a ton of natural leverage. When he gets a good get-off at the line of scrimmage, he is an incredibly hard player to stop. When he gets inside and underneath blockers, his overall power goes on full display, something Notre Dame fans saw consistently during his time at Pittsburgh.

Pound for pound, Brewu is one of the Fighting Irish’s strongest players in the weight room, and that showed against Wisconsin.

Like Gray, however, Brewu isn’t just a powerful player. He has the necessary movement skills to make an impact as a pass rusher on the inside, and the sack against the Badgers was evidence of that.

It’s only one game, and the stories are far from being written. But the early impact of Brewu and Gray together is something that Notre Dame fans should be excited about.

The Fighting Irish didn’t play nearly their best game against a Big Ten opponent and still won by four touchdowns. If the defensive tackle tandem can continue building on what they showed Sunday, Freeman’s transfer portal strategy on the interior will look like one of the smartest moves of the offseason.