Notre Dame Football makes a statement at Soldier Field

It sure was awesome to see another college football game be played at Soldier Field in Chicago. Having the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Wisconsin Badgers was a brilliant idea. It is a good halfway point where both teams can play in one of the nation’s biggest cities. The NCAA did well with this one visually as well as it looked amazing.

On the football side of things, however, Notre Dame made a statement. They went into the game ranked 12 and had a 3-0 record but nothing was certain. In their first few weeks of the season, they didn’t look like a team that was going to run the table and make a run at the College Football Playoff.

The Irish knew that this was a huge game for both teams as Wisconsin (18) already had a loss and needed the win very badly. Notre Dame was down early by a score of 13-10. It was close for a while but eventually, Notre Dame pulled away with a statement 41-13 win after 31 unanswered points. They showed the country on a big stage that they can score and defend against a good team.

We know about Jack Coan and how good he needs to be for Notre Dame to have a chance. He was facing the team he transferred away from in Wisconsin so you know he was motivated. He passed for 158 yards (15/29) and a touchdown before leaving the game with an injury. Drew Pyne came in to replace Coan and did a very good job. Tyler Buchner, Notre Dame’s normal backup, was unavailable due to an injury.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had a huge win over Wisconsin at Soldier Field.

All three of them should be available next week. It sounds like Brian Kelly believes that Coan is the starter whenever he is healthy. However, you can’t look past how good Pyne was when he was called on.

Speaking of next week, Notre Dame isn’t done needing big games against notable opponents. They have Cincinnati next week who is a top ten team in the NCAA. They were ranked 8th this week and had a big 38-24 win over Indiana. It is another tough task for Notre Dame but they have the tools to get it done.

As long as everyone stays healthy, this is the type of game to be happy about if you are the Irish. With a lot of people doubting their abilities, they put together a very good stretch of football at Soldier Field in order to secure a victory. As mentioned before, this was a statement win.