ISD Game Predictions: Northern Illinois
It’s Friday again, and that means game prediction time once again. The Irish are coming off an emotional win over Texas A&M last weekend, while Northern Illinois was last seen destroying their opposition in offensive explosion in their first game. Who will come out on top?
Mike Frank
Normally, this game might be a good call for a let-down game. However, the Irish are well aware they have a lot to work on, and I think that way Northern Illinois dominated in their first game will have Notre Dame’s attention. I think the Irish come ready to play.
I don’t expect a huge blowout because I feel Northern Illinois may move the ball a bit at first. However, I think the Irish will play well and win this game rather easily. Look for Notre Dame to get their passing game going this week, and some big plays out of the run game. We may even see our first glimpse of Aneyas Williams in this game.
Notre Dame 41, Northern Illinois 9
Matt Freeman
First home game of the year. Notre Dame isn't losing to Northern Illinois after last weekend. Marcus Freeman sets a tone this week for the entire season. The game will start slow, but after 60 minutes, it's a bloodbath.
Notre Dame 48, Northern Illinois 13
Greg Flammang
In the preseason I said ND would start slow, and I still believe that to be case, relatively. The Irish have some things to work out offensively and will go about trying to do that in this game. It’ll be 17-3 at halftime, and they’ll finish with a 21-3 second half that will have people feeling better about the offense and the team overall.
Notre Dame 38, Northern Illinois 6
Christian McCollum
Notre Dame’s offense picks up where it left off in the second half against Texas A&M and rolls early.
Riley Leonard throws three scoring passes in the first half, one each to Beaux Collins, Jaden Greathouse and Cooper Flanagan. But once again, it’s running backs Jeremiyah Love and JD Price who shoulder much of the load in terms of offensive production.
Al Golden’s defense was certainly stout against the Aggies, but in this one it proves to be flat dominant at every level.
The margin allows for backups and youngsters to play virtually the entire fourth quarter.
Notre Dame 38, Northern Illinois 10
Jamie Uyeyama
I know whenever Notre Dame plays a team like NIU at home, fans get flashbacks to games against Ball State, Marshall, and Toledo. It probably won't ease their fears that NIU has a ton of seniors, 18 returning starters, and head coach Thomas Hammock has called this his best team.
His 2021 team won nine games, including an upset over Georgia Tech.
The difference is that this 2024 Notre Dame is in a much better place than those teams when they played those other programs.
The 2018 team that played Ball State had Brandon Wimbush at quarterback and Dexter Williams was suspended. The 2021 team that played Toledo had a bad offensive line and was searching for an identity on offense. The 2022 team that lost to Marshall had Tyler Buchner at quarterback, didn’t have Ben Morrison starting at corner yet, and did not have nearly the same depth of talent that this current team has.
That Marshall defense also finished as a top-15 defense in DF+ that season, were fourth in points per drive, and were also top-15 in havoc rate. This NIU defense has a lot of players returning, but it’s not at that level. They may end up being quite a bit better than the 83rd in DF+ they’re ranked coming into this game, but it’s a steep drop from Texas A&M to the talent they’re putting on the field.
I could see it being a bit of a slog early on for the offense because NIU is going to force Notre Dame to execute methodically down the field, but eventually the dam will break. I don't see NIU being able to have enough success running the football to set up those play-action shots down the field either.
It will be tight for a good chunk of the first half, then the Irish pull away.
Notre Dame 38, NIU 6