Sports talk host Colin Cowherd wasted little time after Notre Dame’s season opener, arguing the Fighting Irish are only beginning to show what they can do.
“Notre Dame is going to just bulldoze teams this season. Not even close to how good they’ll be,” Cowherd wrote Sunday night on X.
The comment landed minutes after No. 4 Notre Dame finished off Wisconsin 41-13 in the Shamrock Series at Lambeau Field, the first college football game at the Packers’ stadium since 2016.
The Irish led just 13-10 at halftime and looked uneven on offense for long stretches. Then they outscored the Badgers 28-3 after the break and turned a tense opener into a statement win.
Quarterback CJ Carr completed 19 of 29 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Running back Aneyas Williams carried 20 times for 90 yards and scored twice on short runs in the second half.
Notre Dame’s first touchdown was a three-yard catch by Green Bay native James Flanigan. Carr later hit Nolan James Jr. for a 28-yard score late in the fourth quarter. Cornerback DJ McKinney added a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Wisconsin managed 284 total yards and only 67 on the ground. Notre Dame finished with 350 yards, 20 first downs and no turnovers in front of 75,939 fans.
The victory was the first step in a season defined by unfinished business. Notre Dame went 10-2 a year ago and won its final 10 regular-season games by double digits, then was left out of the College Football Playoff. Players and coaches have used “Leave No Doubt” as a season theme.
Preseason voters already treated the Irish as title contenders. Notre Dame opened as No. 4 in the AP Top 25 and No. 5 in the coaches poll. Oddsmakers listed the Irish as co-favorites to win the national championship at +600 and posted the highest regular-season win total in the country at 11.5.
ESPN’s Football Power Index projected Notre Dame at roughly 11 wins and gave the Irish about a 70 percent chance to beat Miami at home on Nov. 7, the most scrutinized date on the slate.
That schedule is already the subject of debate. After Wisconsin, Notre Dame hosts Rice and Michigan State, then visits Purdue and North Carolina. Stanford, Navy, Boston College and Syracuse also sit on the calendar. The tests that will shape the playoff case are a trip to No. 14 BYU, the home game against No. 7 Miami and a November date with SMU.
Critics have called the slate soft for a top-five team. Cowherd’s post suggested the opposite problem: that the Irish are better than early results and public perception will show.
Marcus Freeman is in his fifth season and entered 2026 with a 43-12 record. The roster returns a second-year starter in Carr, who threw for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions last season, and a defense that ranked among the nation’s best in scoring allowed.
The first half Sunday offered the caution. Field goals and a short scoring drive were mixed with stalled possessions. The second half looked more like the team Cowherd described, with long scoring marches and a defense that created a sudden-change touchdown.
Notre Dame is 1-0. Rice visits Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday. The Irish will be heavy favorites again. The larger question is whether they can keep widening the gap the way Cowherd expects when the opponents get better and the margin for error shrinks.
For one night in Green Bay, a sluggish start ended in a 28-point win. Cowherd’s verdict was that the rest of the country has not seen the real version yet.
