Colton Joseph found Malachi Coleman for a 28-yard touchdown, Wisconsin’s only touchdown against Notre Dame. Coleman finished with four catches for 76 yards, giving the Badgers one passing connection worth carrying forward from a 41-13 loss.
Wisconsin was still within 13-10 at halftime before Notre Dame outscored it 28-3 in the second half. The Irish scored touchdowns on three consecutive offensive possessions, and D.J. McKinney returned a Joseph interception 55 yards for another. Harrison Bortolotti’s muffed kickoff also gave Notre Dame the ball at the Wisconsin 13 and led to a touchdown, so Wisconsin’s two turnovers became 14 Irish points.
That collapse should inform this week without swallowing it. Joseph completed 19 of 30 passes for 217 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and the Coleman connection supplied the most encouraging part of his debut. Luke Fickell praised Joseph’s poise and demeanor but said he needed to make more plays. On the pick-six, Fickell cited a still-unresolved mix of route timing, release timing and possible pressure instead of putting the mistake on one player.
Watch the decisions around Coleman
Wisconsin hosts Western Illinois at 6:15 p.m. Central on Saturday, with BTN carrying the game. The Fan Watch model gives the Badgers a 98.6% chance to win, so Joseph’s command from one possession to the next should be more revealing than the final score.
Watch whether he reaches Coleman on schedule, whether their completions keep drives moving and whether Joseph responds calmly when the first read is unavailable. A few more productive connections would be welcome, but repeatable timing would say more than another spectacular gain. Joseph can also improve without forcing the ball to Coleman; distributing it correctly when the defense tilts toward his leading receiver would show that the partnership is helping the whole offense.
The matchup should give them room to work. Wisconsin has won all three previous meetings with Western Illinois at Camp Randall, by scores of 31-13, 34-10 and 37-3. That history and the win probability make an upset scare difficult to excuse, but neither tells us in advance whether Joseph will make sharper decisions.
Let the run game support the passing connection
The ground game remains an important companion issue. Wisconsin managed 67 net rushing yards on 31 attempts against Notre Dame; Abu Sama accounted for 49 yards on 15 carries, while Joseph’s 12 recorded rushes netted three yards. Western Illinois, meanwhile, allowed Illinois State to rush for 239 yards in a 41-10 defeat and surrendered 11 third-down conversions in 16 attempts.
Those conditions should help Jeff Grimes and offensive-line coach Eric Mateos put Joseph in friendlier situations. The coaches have described their desired Wisconsin offense as physical, and their 2021 Baylor team averaged 219.3 rushing yards per game. Effective early-down runs against Western Illinois would create manageable decisions for Joseph and make it harder for the defense to squeeze his connection with Coleman. Consistent early-down success would show that the rebuilt offense is beginning to function as intended, though Western Illinois cannot establish that it will work against the Big Ten schedule.
The defense needs a full-game response
Mason Posa made 15 tackles against Notre Dame, while Cooper Catalano recorded nine tackles and a quarterback hurry. Their activity was a real positive, although tackle volume alone could not prevent the second-half unraveling.
Fickell said Notre Dame physically controlled the second half and identified missed tackles, productive first-down runs, free-access throws and effective running-back protection and checkdowns as parts of the problem. Against Western Illinois, Posa and Catalano can turn their involvement into something more valuable. They can make stops that put the opponent behind schedule and tackle well enough to prevent routine plays from extending drives.
That matters beyond one favored Saturday. Fickell’s first three full Wisconsin teams declined from 7-6 in 2023 to 5-7 in 2024 and 4-8 in 2025, leaving him 17-21 overall and 10-17 in Big Ten play. The Notre Dame loss was one unfavorable opening result, not a verdict on his fourth season. Still, another half in which Wisconsin loses its physical control or compounds mistakes would leave the central concerns untouched.
There is no outside result worth borrowing attention from this week. Fans looking beyond Camp Randall can still check the full interactive guide, with the probabilities explained in the methodology. Stay with Joseph’s choices. If his timing with Coleman becomes dependable while the run game keeps the offense out of obvious passing downs, Wisconsin will leave its expected win with something more useful than the final margin.