CHICAGO — If that is how Notre Dame has played and behaved in practice the last month, the outside world had no way to know it. The No. 12 Irish (4-0) not only exploited every conceivable Wisconsin fourth-quarter mistake to its absolute extreme in a 41-13 rout on Saturday at Soldier Field, but they also never tensed up in the first three quarters.
In the season opener, Notre Dame let the first three quarters of success bleed into a relaxed and nearly costly fourth quarter. Against Toledo, the Irish mistakes seemed to get into their heads, only to lead to more mistakes, giving up the third and fourth plays of 60 or more yards in just two weeks.