A look at what the media is saying after Notre Dame’s 41-13 victory against Wisconsin on Saturday.
Mike Singer & Tim Hyde, BlueandGold.com: Notre Dame postgame show after Wisconsin game
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Patrick Engel, BlueandGold.com: Brian Kelly notches milestone win amid a day of development and discovery
CHICAGO – Brian Kelly is glad the questions about his place in Notre Dame history are, well, history.
Months of inquires about how Kelly views his imminent move past Knute Rockne as the Irish’s all-time winningest head coach (and his same answer to them) will cease now that he has finally done it.
That 106th career victory to jettison him into the top spot came at its earliest possible point this year. Kelly needed four wins to pass Rockne. Four games into Notre Dame’s 2021 season, the No. 12 Irish are 4-0 after a 41-13 takedown of No. 18 Wisconsin Saturday at Soldier Field.
The celebration of Kelly’s new place in Notre Dame history was subdued. He shook Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst’s hand, got a Gatorade bath from fifth-year senior captains Drew White and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, gathered with the team in the end zone to sing the alma mater and trotted off the field.
“I’m just glad it’s over with,” Kelly said, shaking his head in relief.
Notre Dame’s raucous postgame locker room party that included a not-so-subtle playing of Wisconsin’s adopted anthem “Jump Around,” then, had little to do with his milestone. It was more about enjoying a stirring win that highlighted many of the reasons he has reached this point and added even more intrigue to the rest of the Irish’s season.
“It wasn’t something we preached, but something we knew in the back of our heads,” senior receiver Kevin Austin Jr. said. “We went into this game knowing what it could mean. It was a big, big accomplishment for Coach Kelly and for our team being able to do that for him.”
Tyler Horka, BlueandGold.com: Report Card — Grading Notre Dame football in runaway victory over Wisconsin
Frame it, save it and hang it over the mantle. This is the best report card Notre Dame has received all season.
And deservedly so.
The No. 12 Fighting Irish (4-0) made a statement in their late runaway victory over No. 18 Wisconsin (1-2) in the Shamrock Series at Soldier Field. Here's how Notre Dame graded out in every phase of the game.
Notre Dame Passing Offense: B+
Notre Dame went into the game ranking tied for 123rd nationally in sacks allowed per game at 4.67. The Irish were even worse in that regard against Wisconsin. The Badgers sacked Notre Dame quarterbacks six times.
Graduate senior quarterback Jack Coan has protected the football well nonetheless, and he did a nice job of that against Wisconsin. He went 15-of-29 for 158 yards and a touchdown without any interceptions. When he was injured and replaced by sophomore Drew Pyne, the passing offense didn’t miss much of a beat. Pyne passed for 81 yards and a touchdown in just over a quarter of play.
Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer was the sure-handed safety valve Notre Dame expects him to be in grabbing seven catches for 61 yards, and senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. had six catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune: Kelly enjoying figuring out the missing pieces as No. 12 Notre Dame rolls on
Fashioned with what he referred to as a “sticky Gatorade haircut,” Brian Kelly couldn’t escape an otherwise electric launch into history Saturday without a grating postscript.
“I knew we couldn't get through it without a quarterback controversy (question),” said the new king of the coaching victory mountain at Notre Dame, shortly after his 12th-ranked Irish finished off Kelly’s win No. 106 with 31 fourth-quarter points.
“It just attaches to my shoe like nothing else.”
To be fair, what the 59-year-old Kelly does next with his quarterbacks is arguably the most compelling storyline to advance out of the 41-13 canceling of Wisconsin and its College Football Playoff aspirations, Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago.
In a city where Knute Rockne’s family immigrated to from Norway when he was a 5-year-old, where he left his job as a 22-year-old postal worker to enroll as a freshman at Notre Dame and where one of this 105 victories unfolded against Wisconsin in 1929, Kelly flashed one of the qualities Saturday repeatedly that helped him traverse a milestone that had stood for over nine decades.
ESPN, Adam Rittenberg: QB Jack Coan's injury doesn’t appear serious; Brian Kelly sets Notre Dame mark for football coaching wins
CHICAGO — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is "pretty optimistic" that quarterback Jack Coan won't miss next week's showdown against No. 8 Cincinnati after leaving Saturday's 41-13 victory against No. 17 Wisconsin with a left ankle injury.
Coan, facing his former team at Soldier Field, limped off after Notre Dame's second possession of the third quarter with the score tied 10-10. After a quick visit to the medical tent, he was taken to the locker room.
Kelly said X-rays were "clean" and Coan's injury doesn't appear serious.
"It's a soft-tissue injury," Kelly said. "It doesn't even respond like a high ankle sprain, so we're pretty optimistic that we'll be able to see him back next week."
The No. 12 Fighting Irish (4-0) host Cincinnati on Oct. 2.
Against the Badgers, Notre Dame fell behind 13-10 before scoring 31 unanswered points in the final 14:01 -- starting with a 96-yard kick return touchdown by Chris Tyree -- as Kelly surpassed Knute Rockne to become the school's all-time coaching wins leader with 106.
With true freshman Tyler Buchner, who played briefly in the past two games, unavailable due to a hamstring injury, second-year quarterback Drew Pyne replaced Coan and passed for 81 yards and a touchdown.
