On Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame football lost its second of three home openers under head coach Marcus Freeman. In both losses, this one a 16-14 defeat to four-touchdown underdog Northern Illinois, the Irish were favored by at least 20 points. These five key moments fueled a massive Husky upset in South Bend.
Leonard leads the Irish on an opening-drive march
Throughout his first drive at Notre Dame Stadium, senior quarterback Riley Leonard showed off his skill set. The Duke transfer used his mobility to set up Notre Dame’s first move of the chains, improvising to find graduate receiver Beaux Collins for seven yards before gaining seven yards with a run to the left. Later in the drive, Leonard’s pocket passing kept the Irish moving. After a midfield holding penalty set Notre Dame back to a third-and-12 situation, Leonard converted with a tight-window pass to senior tight end Mitchell Evans.
Two plays later, Leonard made another quality read, hooking up with sophomore wideout Jaden Greathouse for 11 yards in a soft spot of NIU’s zone defense. Finally, after back-to-back runs from sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love set the Irish up 11 yards from paydirt, the signal-caller finished the job. On a designed run to the right, Leonard hopped over a fallen defender before powering to the goal line for a touchdown. Overall, the Irish quarterback accounted for 73 yards (40 passing, 33 rushing) on the drive.
Huskies respond, overcoming disastrous kickoff with a shot play
Playing on the road against one of the nation’s top defenses, the worst thing a special teams unit can do is back its offense up. But that’s exactly what the Northern Illinois kick return team did on the kickoff that followed Notre Dame’s touchdown. Both deep men let the ball fly, expecting a touchback, but it bounced mere inches from the goal line and remained in the field of play. By the time the Huskies recovered, several gold helmets arrived to start NIU’s opening drive at the 2-yard line.
Even with the Irish student section right on top of them, the Huskies handled the opening series with poise. They gained positive yardage on all three plays, moving the chains on a physical, third-down run by quarterback Ethan Hampton. Two plays later, the Huskies broke through the vaunted Notre Dame secondary. Hampton made a precipitous pass between two Irish defenders down the left hash, but it found running back Antario Brown, who split them and ran to the house for an 83-yard touchdown. Just like that, Northern Illinois had tied the game at 7-7.
Brown burns the Irish to keep momentum with the Huskies
Well before the season started, Antario Brown stood out as the offensive player to focus on for not just Notre Dame’s defense, but Notre Dame’s entire team. Still, Brown had his way with the Irish, picking up 163 yards from scrimmage in the first quarter alone. After Notre Dame went three-and-out following the NIU touchdown, Brown set up a Husky field goal with his 28-yard run. On the ensuing Irish drive, Leonard threw a tipped interception near midfield, setting up another breakout from Brown. The senior caught a 43-yard pass inside the red zone on the NIU drive’s opening play, positioning the Huskies for another field goal and a 13-7 lead.
That lead would carry into halftime, as Cade Haberman blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt from graduate kicker Mitch Jeter late in the second quarter.
Burnham’s brick wall, Love’s leap push Notre Dame ahead
Coming out of halftime, Northern Illinois got the ball and threatened to build a two-possession lead. The Huskies quickly marched inside the Irish 35-yard line on consecutive chunk plays through the air. But on a key third-and-4, NIU went backward on an outside handoff to Brown. Junior defensive lineman Joshua Burnham spilled him for a three-yard loss, forcing a 53-yard field goal attempt that Kanon Woodill sprayed wide to the left.
Presented with an opportunity to turn momentum early in the second half, Notre Dame did not miss out. Leonard hit Greathouse and graduate wideout Kris Mitchell for first downs, setting up a highlight-reel run from Love. From 34 yards out, the young running back charged up the gut of NIU’s defense, hurdling a would-be tackler before accelerating away from additional pursuers and reaching the end zone. On Love’s second touchdown of the season, the Irish broke into a 14-13 advantage midway through the third quarter.
Leonard’s second interception puts the game in NIU’s hands
Throughout the second half, Notre Dame’s defense constantly gave its offense a chance to close out the game. The Huskies remained at 13 points for the first 29 minutes and 29 seconds of the second half, but the Irish never pulled away. In fact, they put the game right back into the Huskies’ grasp. Inside the final six minutes, Leonard took a deep shot for Mitchell with the wind at his back, but the badly underthrown ball fell into the arms of Amariyun Knighten.
Knighten’s return stretched all the way back to midfield, where the Huskies began a methodical march to the game-winning score. Northern Illinois bled the clock down to the two-minute timeout on approach to a fourth-and-2 at the Irish 31. Hampton converted with a run to the right side, allowing 90 additional seconds to come to the clock. With 31 ticks remaining, Woodill knocked in the go-ahead field goal from 35 yards out.
The Irish could have opened their final drive down two with a minute to play, but a timeout burned early in the third quarter left them with 24 seconds to reach field-goal range. They came close, reaching the Husky 44-yard line on a completion to Mitchell. With five seconds left, out came Jeter for a 62-yard attempt to win the game. With the wind at his back, Jeter’s big leg may have had a chance, but his boot never cleared the line of scrimmage. The Huskies’ second blocked field goal of the evening won them the game as time expired.
