CHICAGO, ILL. -- Wisconsin's fourth quarter lead fell in a fast and flimsy fashion on Saturday inside Soldier Field. The Badgers allowed 31 unanswered points on way to a 41-13 loss to No. 12 Notre Dame.

BadgerBlitz.com provides grades for the three phases of the game, along with game balls after the victory.

What else can be said? Wisconsin gained only 314 total yards of offense against Notre Dame. The Badgers converted on third down once out of 14 chances, and they committed five turnovers. Those handful of takeaways led to 31 Fighting Irish points.

Eleven of Wisconsin's 17 series* ended with under 20 yards gained, and five of those were 3-and-outs.

Notre Dame clogged the rushing game, holding UW to only 74 yards on 2.6 yards per carry. The longest rush of the day was 10 yards by running back Chez Mellusi in the fourth quarter, and the Clemson transfer believed that Marcus Freeman's defense "overloaded the box."

The passing game could not alleviate that and keep Notre Dame's defense honest. Quarterback Graham Mertz threw for a season-high 240 yards, but completed just 43.9% of his throws (18 of 41) in the process to go with four interceptions, two of which became pick-sixes in the fourth quarter. Another turnover during that frame, his fumble in UW territory, also led to Notre Dame's lone offensive touchdown in the final 15 minutes of regulation.

Perhaps a few silver linings here -- Wisconsin converted on all three of its red zone opportunities (two field goals, one touchdown) -- a marked improvement from its 5-of-10 showing in the first two weeks -- while wide receivers Kendric Pryor (six catches, 69 yards, one touchdown) and Danny Davis (five catches, 64 yards) looked sharp when having the opportunity to reel in receptions.

*Note, I also updated our takeaways section to note the official amount of drives Wisconsin had from 15 to 17.