It was a remarkable feeling during Notre Dame’s 41-13 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. It isn’t often that a 4-touchdown victory felt flawed.

Head coach Marcus Freeman and his Fighting Irish squad have been able to create a deep and talented roster that has legitimate national championship expectations during the 2026 season. With a quarterback like CJ Carr, a deep and talented new-look defensive line led by Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray, the best secondary in college football featuring All-American cornerback Leonard Moore and star safeties Brauntae Johnson and Adon Shuler, as well as all 3 returning coordinators, there’s an easy reason to buy into the optimism for Notre Dame.

But an issue that has persisted during the Freeman tenure showed up again: slow starts. That remained true against Wisconsin, with Notre Dame sitting on a 13-10 halftime lead that included just 29 yards on 16 carries (a 1.8 yards-per-carry average) and Carr completing just 10 of 17 passes for about 100 yards and a touchdown.

That less-than-stellar start to the 2026 season understandably brought back feelings of angst from a fan base conditioned by previous staffs to expect good but never truly understand greatness. The Fighting Irish needed a 28-3 second-half run to make the final score look legitimate.

If you take a step back and absorb everything, though, this game feels a lot different than what Notre Dame fans should be used to.

This was not a hollow victory

The win mirrored the Wisconsin game from a few years ago where Notre Dame won by the exact same margin, 41-13. The difference in that game was a fluky performance. There were multiple pick-sixes and a kickoff return for a touchdown from Chris Tyree.

Everyone who watched that game knew it felt hollow.

This 41-13 win, while imperfect, was not hollow.

Notre Dame made halftime adjustments, came out, and ran the football at an effective clip in the second half. Carr got into a great rhythm. The defense shut down a talented Wisconsin run game. This was not a fluke.

This was a team that flipped a switch at halftime and decided enough is enough, because the talent level on this Notre Dame roster and the depth of talent is the best we have seen for a Fighting Irish team in quite some time.

When you do take that step back, you begin to appreciate the context. Notre Dame beat a Big Ten opponent in a neutral-site Shamrock Series game at historic Lambeau Field, in the first game of the season, by four touchdowns. And that performance would probably still be described as a C+ effort for the Irish.

Past Notre Dame teams might not have recovered

That game, in the not-too-distant past, feels like one that would have been a barn burner to the finish. Notre Dame perhaps ekes out a close victory, or maybe they end up losing because they got shell-shocked and punched in the mouth early.

Some past Fighting Irish teams, I’m not sure they would have recovered.

This felt different. While we can nitpick the C+ performance from the Fighting Irish, and I think it’s fair to do so with a team carrying such high expectations, the game put into perspective just how talented this roster is.

When there was an offensive line change, Notre Dame played better. The defensive tackle rotation showcased that the depth of talent and the waves of potential impact players are just different than what they have been in the past.

Notre Dame didn’t need any flukes. They didn’t need any fake punts. They didn’t need any gimmicks. This was a simple situation where they got punched in the mouth early, had to regroup, had to adjust, and came out and showed that when they are clicking, this is a team that can make some noise.

From a pure talent perspective, this is one of the very best teams in all of college football.

The road ahead for Freeman’s squad

Clearly this team under Freeman needs to get a lot better. They need to put together the complete game when it matters most. Notre Dame needs to get off to faster starts against the better teams on the schedule, whether that’s Miami, SMU, BYU, or opponents in a potential deep playoff run.

But also appreciate the depth of talent we are seeing in South Bend right now. This is a different team. The fact that Notre Dame won by four touchdowns in a game where they didn’t play overly well showcases just how good this squad can be when everything comes together.