BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. — The rivalry dates back to 1900 and, for the most part, Notre Dame has had the upper hand over the Wisconsin football team.

The Irish have won eight of the 16 meetings (8-6-2) overall, including a 7-1-2 stretch from 1917 to '42, heading into a non-league matchup with UW on Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Notre Dame, currently ranked 12th, parlayed head-to-head meetings in 1924, '29 and '43 into national championships, finishing 10-0, 9-0 and 9-1, respectively.

In their 16 encounters (1900, '04, '05, '17, '24, '28, '29, '34, '35, '36, '42, '43, '44, '62, '63, '64) the Irish never allowed Wisconsin a 100-yard rusher.

Of the 16 series meetings, the Badgers, currently rated No. 18, were held under 20 points 12 times, including five shutout losses.

But there was a significant moment of triumph in 1951 when Wisconsin coach Ivy Williamson outdueled the Irish on the recruiting front by landing fullback Alan Ameche out of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Ameche had his pick of schools, but the choice came down to UW and Notre Dame. He first visited Madison as a sophomore in high school when he went to hang out with his older brother, Lynn. According to the book "Alan Ameche, The Story of the Horse," he returned to Kenosha forever smitten with the beauty of the campus and, because he loved classical music, the music library.

The Irish didn't go down without a fight, though. Fred Miller, owner of the Miller Brewing Co. and a Notre Dame alum, went so far as to give Ameche's mother, Benedetta, a check for $1,500 in the hopes of bringing her son to South Bend. The gesture, illegal in the eyes of the NCAA, angered Ameche and triggered calls for a state-wide boycott of Miller's beer.

Ameche became an icon at Wisconsin and beyond, earning All-America honors three times, All-Big Ten Conference recognition three times and setting the NCAA career rushing record with 3,345 yards.

In 1952, he became the first Wisconsin back to top 1,000 yards rushing while helping the Badgers to the Big Ten title and their first Rose Bowl appearance.

In 1954, he capped his college career with a 26-8-3 record and the Heisman Trophy.

In 1955, he was chosen second overall by Baltimore in the NFL draft and was named Rookie of the Year before earning All-Pro honors four times and scoring the winning touchdown in the 1958 championship game against the New York Giants.

Ameche was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975 and had his No. 35 retired by his alma mater after he died of a heart ailment in 1988.

Notre Dame has more Heisman winners than any other school with seven, but Ameche is not one of them because of his desire to stay close to home.

Here are five more things to know:

Shared Roots Run Deep

There are some important historic links between UW and Notre Dame, not the least of which involve two Hall of Famers who coached the Badgers, then hired their highly-successful replacements while serving as athletic director.

Harry Stuhldreher was a legendary Irish quarterback, the centerpiece to the famed "Four Horsemen" in the 1920s. He took over as coach of the Badgers in 1936 and spent 13 seasons compiling a 45-62-6 record that included an 8-1-1 record and No. 3 national ranking in 1942.

Stuhldreher retired from coaching to work for U.S. Steel, but not before hiring Ivy Williamson to oversee the Badgers. Williamson is the only UW football coach to earn the No. 1 ranking in the nation and was the first to take Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl, both in 1952. He was 41-19-4 overall from 1949 to '55 before serving as AD until his death in 1969.

Fast forward to 1989 when Wisconsin hired Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez as coach. He spent 16 seasons building the Badgers into a national brand, winning a program-record 119 games while claiming three Big Ten titles and three Rose Bowl victories.

Before taking over as full-time AD in 2006, Alvarez leaned on a host of former Notre Dame colleagues to serve as assistants. The list includes linebackers coach Jay Hayes, secondary coach Tom McMahon, defensive line coach John Palermo and running backs/offensive coordinator Brian White, all of whom had a hand in at least one Big Ten championship.

Alvarez handed the coaching reins to Bret Bielema in 2006. En route to winning three straight Big Ten titles in 2010, '11 and '12, Bielema employed DelVaughn Alexander to coach wide receivers. Alexander currently serves in that capacity for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame.

Switching Sides

One of the prime threads of the day involves Jack Coan, the former quarterback for the Badgers who transferred to Notre Dame after the 2019 season and will start against his old teammates in Chicago. A similar storyline came to life back in the 1980s.

Randy Wright spent the 1980 season at Notre Dame, but transferred to Wisconsin after he said Irish coach Dan Devine told him he didn't have the ability to play college football. Wright proceeded to set a host of UW records from 1981 to '83 — he currently sits seventh on the all-time passing yards list — and was chosen in the sixth round of the NFL draft by Green Bay in 1984. He started 32 of 46 games for the Packers from 1984 to '88.

You Look Familiar

This will be the first time since 1964 that the Badgers have faced Notre Dame, but UW coach Paul Chryst and a good chunk of his staff have had more recent encounters with the school and Kelly's methodology.

Chryst was the coach at Pittsburgh from 2012 to '14 when he twice game-planned for the Irish. Pitt lost to 29-26 in triple overtime in 2012 when Notre Dame was ranked fourth. The Panthers followed that up with a 28-21 victory over the No. 24 Irish in 2013.

UW offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, special teams coordinator Chris Haering, tight ends coach Mickey Turner and defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej were members of Chryst's staff at Pitt.

Chryst also saw the Irish up-close in 2004. He was the offensive coordinator at Oregon State when the Beavers recorded a 38-21 victory over Notre Dame in the Insight Bowl.

Reference Point

The Badgers weren't entirely sure what they were getting when Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi showed up on their doorstep. One angle from which to access the junior running back from Naples, Florida, is to look at the quality of his production after two starts.

Mellusi has 51 carries for 265 yards (5.2 yards per attempt) and two TDs. Jonathan Taylor had 35 attempts for 310 yards (8.9 per carry) and four scores in 2017; James White had 17 rushes for 84 yards in 2010; Anthony Davis had 37 rushes for 277 yards and a TD in 2001; and Ron Dayne had 21 carries for 143 yards and two scores in 1996.

Perhaps the most telling comparison is the one that shows Clemson had 59 attempts for 244 yards (4.1 yards per rush) and five TDs after two games. The Tigers currently rank 93rd in rushing offense, while UW is 10th.

Professional Setting

This meeting at Soldier Field marks the 11th game played in eight different NFL stadiums during the Chryst Era, which began in 2015. The Badgers have made three appearances at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (Colts), two at AT&T Stadium in Dallas (Cowboys) and once each in SDCCU Stadium in San Diego (then-Chargers), Lambeau Field in Green Bay (Packers), Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (Dolphins), Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (Buccaneers) and Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (Panthers).