Notre Dame was able to put it together in the fourth quarter last week to break open a close game and beat No. 18 Wisconsin, 41-13, at Soldier Field in Chicago. The win keeps the Fighting Irish (4-0) unbeaten on the season.

ND’s defense came to life and provided what was needed to preserve the victory over the Badgers.

The Irish had to play with a third-string quarterback, a third-string left tackle, and a patch work of players on the remainder of the offensive line to get the victory.

In fact, the offense was so bad in the first half that the Irish had a -2 yards rushing the ball.

ND trailed early in the fourth quarter before Chris Tyree returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown that put Notre Dame ahead for good.

Drew Pyne, getting a chance to play after starter Jack Coan had to leave the game in the third quarter with a ankle injury and freshman Tyler Buchner was still unable to play due to a hamstring pull, didn’t disappoint. He handled the situation with poise and led the Irish to an insurance score following the Tyree TD.

The Irish defense than took over as Jack Kiser and Drew White both added late interception returns for scores to cap a run of 31 unanswered points in the final 13 minutes of the game.

Pyne, a sophomore with freshman eligibility, from New Canaan, Connecticut, was third-string the last two weeks before he moved up when it was apparent Buchner was not going to be able to play, allowing him to take extra snaps with the starting offense the week prior to the game.

Before the Tyree run back, the Irish were struggling on offense. Coan was under constant pressure and was sacked numerous times, while the run game was a non-factor for most of the game.

On the other hand, The defense was very impressive. The Irish forced five turnovers and held Wisconsin to a combined 1-for-15 on third and fourth conversions. If the defense can keep the play up at that level the rest of the year, ND has a shot for another big win season despite a very tough schedule ahead.

The win kept ND undefeated at Soldier Field with a record now of 11-0-2 all time.

The win was also head coach Brian Kelley’s 106th at ND, moving him past the great Knute Rockne. Kelly was asked earlier in the week about how he will stand among Irish coaches when he passes Rockne. He said he will be remembered as the coach who passed Rockne’s 105 wins, but the one who has never won a national championship.

More on the game later.

Today ND, which moved up to 9th in the national standings with the win, takes on No. 7 Cincinnati today in South Bend. The Bearcats come in at 3-0 with wins over Miami of Ohio, 49-14; Murray State, 42-7; and Indiana, 38-24. The Indiana win is the most impressive of the three as the Bearcats were down early in the game but stormed back to coast to victory.

ND and Cincinnati have only met once before on the field, that was in 1900 and ND won, 58-0.

The game will be televised nationally by NBC with a 2:40 p.m. kickoff. The game is the first sellout this year at home for the Irish.

After last week’s Kelly said Coan’s injury was not as serious and first thought and that there were no breaks or major strains.

Coan was able to practice this week and on Thursday Kelly said Coan looked good running the two-minute drill at Wednesday’s practice. But ND head coachg still wasn’t ready to say if Coan was definitely going to be able play Saturday against the Bearcats.

The good news for Irish fans is that Kelly said that Buchner was back to 100 percent, so the Irish will have both him and Pyne available to play if Coan has to be held out.

IRISH NOTES ... Pyne completed six of eight passes for 81 yards and a TD. Coan was 15 of 29 for 158 yards and a score before he had to leave the game. Kyren Williams rushed 18 times for 33 yards; and Tyree carried two times for six yards - Pretty bad numbers all around. Michael Mayer had seven catches for 61 yards, Kevin Austin six for 76 and two TDs; Avery Davis four for 55 and Braden Lenzy, two for 23 ... JD Bertrand led the defense with eight tackles followed by Kiser with seven and Jayson Ademilola, five ... There were 56,571 fans at the game, which was a Shamrock Series contest but a home game for Wisconsin. Most of those 56,000 plus fans were ND faithful. The Chicago area has a huge ND following. As I mentioned last week, the two teams were scheduled to pay at Green Bay in 2020, but it was canceled due to COVID 19 ... Kelly was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and given a 15 yard penalt during the second half. He was upset about a no-call in a play he thought cornerback Kyle Hamilton was given cheap shots by a pair of Wisconsin players ... The win showed that the Irish can win a game with little or no running game. The net three yards rushing for the Irish in the game is the lowest of the Kelly era and 15 more than the school record for fewest in a game ... Pyne got the nod for the offensive game ball ... Of course, Kelly and Cincinnati have a history. Kelly left Cincinnati in 2009 to take over the Irish program. Cincinnati had last week off so the Bearcats have had plenty of time to prepare for the Irish ... Sophomore left tackle Michael Carmody is expected to play today. Carmody, who replaced an injured Blake Fisher as the starting left tackle, hasn’t played since injuring his right ankle in the Toledo game ... Senior running back C’Bo Flemister will be available to play today for the first time this season. Flemister was not available for the first four games with no reason given by Kelly as to why ... A short column this week as I left for South Bend Wednesday morning. In my preseason picks, I have the Bearcats ending ND’s home win streak today and its unbeaten run. With the continued woes of the ND offense, I am sticking with that pick.