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Notre Dame Football: 3 reasons the Irish will beat No. 18 Wisconsin

By Connor Muldowney

Sep 18, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Jack Coan (17) signals in the fourth quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Jack Coan (17) signals in the fourth quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 11, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz (5) hands the football off to running back Isaac Guerendo (20) during the second quarter against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 11, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz (5) hands the football off to running back Isaac Guerendo (20) during the second quarter against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Notre Dame will make Wisconsin one-dimensional

Wisconsin’s offense hasn’t been “bad” this season but there have really only been two games. The Badgers had just 365 total yards and 10 points against Penn State in a Week 1 loss as Chez Mellusi led the way with 121 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries but that’s not exactly an effective yards per carry average.

Graham Mertz also struggled a bit against the Nittany Lions, completing just 22-of-37 passes for 185 yards and two interceptions. His QBR was a paltry 14.1 and he averaged just 5.0 yards per attempt.

But then the offense bounced back a bit against Eastern Michigan, but Notre Dame’s defense may be the best the Badgers have seen thus far, depending on how the Nittany Lions fare for the remainder of the year. I think the Irish will feast on Mertz and force him into a couple of turnovers and the offense will be one-dimensional like it was against Penn State.

Mellusi isn’t going to beat the Irish by himself.

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