Notre Dame Suffers Shocking Loss to NIU, 16-14
In just seven days, Notre Dame has experienced the highs and lows of college football. A week after walking out of College Station with a massive win, the Irish might have let it all slip away.
A game in which many thought would be over with a quick knockout punch, was anything but. Instead, the Irish suffered an embarrassing 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois in South Bend on Saturday.
“Disappointing in the performance. It's our job as coaches to make sure these guys are ready to go,” Freeman said. “We got to go back and evaluate the way we prepared and figure out exactly how the mishaps occurred.”
With just over six minutes to go, Riley Leonard appeared to finally start feeling it. A pair of nice throws to Beaux Collins near the boundary got the Irish offense rolling — until it wasn’t. A horrendous deep ball by Leonard was intercepted by Amariyun Knighten, giving NIU the ball at midfield, and setting the Huskies up for a game-winning drive.
The Irish needed yet another stand with five minutes to go.
With their backs against the wall and the Huskies driving, Notre Dame was in serious trouble.
Quarterback Ethan Hampton had been making plays all afternoon, none more bigger than with two minutes to go. The junior quarterback scrambled to the right, diving at the marker to convert a fourth-down conversion, and keep the Huskies alive.
A gutsy 11-play drive chewed up over five minutes of clock, leading to Kanon Woodill nailing a 35-yard kick, putting NIU up 16-14.
“We got to own this thing as coaches and players. We got to fix it,” Freeman said. “We've been here before. Now its time to get it fixed."
Notre Dame got the ball back with only over 30 seconds. Leonard managed to set Mitch Jeter up for a 62-yard game-winning kick. It didn’t travel very far.
The Huskies blocked Jeter’s attempt, sealing a shocking 16-14 win.
Notre Dame opened up Saturday’s contest with the ball and were looking like the same team that walked off the field at College Station, with Leonard leading the way. The quarterback was doing it all on the first drive, totaling 71 yards out of the 75-yard drive the Irish went on. Leonard pounded home a designed run to put Notre Dame up seven.
The first drive appeared to be the beginning of a dominant Saturday afternoon in South Bend.
NIU disagreed with that.
Even after a kickoff blunder pinned the Huskies on their own two-yard line, they didn’t let it faze them. Hampton fired a strike in the seam to running back Antario Brown who blazed down the field for a 83-yard touchdown that raised the eyebrows of all Irish fans.
NIU didn’t back down on its second drive either. With solid field position and another big 28-yard rush by Brown, Woodill nailed a 42-yard field goal to give them a shocking 10-7 lead.
Then the struggles really ramped up for the Irish offense, with Leonard forcing a throw into a contested hook route that was intercepted by Chrisitian Fuhrman.
It was clear the momentum was completely with the Huskies, and Brown was flying around the field playing like a Heisman favorite. Hampton connected with Brown on another big-time pass, this time a 43-yard completion that set the stage for Woodill to knock through his second field goal.
Brown finished the first quarter with an outstanding 163 total yards of offense.
Both teams fell into a punting rhythm, but the Irish definitely had some missed opportunities. The biggest coming with Jaden Greathouse dropping a perfect over-the-shoulder throw from Leonard.
As the seconds ticked away in the first half, Notre Dame seemed to have something going offensively, much to the thanks of NIU. The Huskies began to show cracks in their armor after a third-down unsportsmanlike penalty bailed out the Irish.
It all came crashing down again though when NIU blocked Mitch Jeter’s end-of-half field goal attempt. The Irish boos sure came pouring down as Notre Dame headed into halftime, deservedly so.
The second half appeared to start going the Irish’s way.
A massive third-down tackle from Joshua Burnham on Brown pinned NIU back for a deep 53-yard field goal. Kanon Woodill missed wide left and suddenly the nervous energy shifted into Irish pride.
Jeremiyah Love felt that energy as he exploded through the hole on the very next drive, hurdling a Huskie defender to finally give Notre Dame the lead.
The rest of the third quarter sat in limbo, with neither team putting much together in terms of putting points on the board.
But when the Irish needed yet another stand early in the fourth — the defense stepped up once again. This time Jaiden Ausberry broke up a fourth-down throw to keep Notre Dame ahead with just under 12 minutes to go.
After the loss to NIU, it seems like all the hopes and dreams that Notre Dame had have suddenly vanished.
Notre Dame will travel to Purdue next Saturday, kickoff at 3:30 p.m.