A week ago, Notre Dame football’s stock experienced a widespread rise from a major win at Texas A&M. This week, it’s just the opposite. After losing as 28-point favorites to Northern Illinois at home, the Irish have taken a nosedive across the board. Writing something like “stock down: the entire program” would probably suffice for this week, but certain areas of the team fell from much higher places than others. We’ll focus on them along with a few upward-trending individuals in our second edition of Stock Up, Stock Down.
Stock up: The number four
Perhaps if Notre Dame’s entire team had worn number four jerseys on Saturday, the game might have gone better. The two men that did balled out and brought the energy among a largely lifeless Irish squad. On offense, sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love made the best of the meager 11 carries he received, piling up 79 rushing yards. Early in the second half, when the Irish desperately needed a spark having not scored in nearly half an hour of game time, Love broke off another special touchdown run. Using a full-on hurdle and acceleration to boot, he scored from 34 yards out on the ground to become Notre Dame’s first player to two touchdowns this season.
Across the line of scrimmage, Notre Dame’s young linebackers — who did plenty of good at Texas A&M — largely struggled against NIU. Blown coverages, missed tackles late and poor eye discipline throughout made for a rough day from the core of the Irish defense. However, don’t let those collective knocks take away from the performance of sophomore Jaiden Ausberry. Just look at what he did with Notre Dame up 14-13 to start the fourth quarter. On a Northern Illinois series inside the Irish 40, Ausberry made a first-down tackle, a third-down stop and a fourth-and-two pass breakup that kept the lead intact. Overall, the young linebacker finished the afternoon with five tackles.
Stock down: The downfield passing game
Coming out of College Station, it wouldn’t have made much sense at the time to scream about Notre Dame’s pedestrian passing numbers. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and senior quarterback Riley Leonard had no choice but to work around a vulnerable offensive line and hostile environment through short passing, and they did so very well. The Irish even hit a pair of chain-moving passing plays on their game-winning drive.
But another week has passed, and Notre Dame’s offense — specifically its passing — is under attack for good reason. The Irish could not complete a pass of 20 yards or more against a mid-major defense on Saturday. They still have zero passing touchdowns on the season and rank last among Power Four teams in passing efficiency. Leonard threw two deep balls against NIU — one went through the hands of sophomore wideout Jaden Greathouse, while the other turned into a horrifically underthrown interception that supplied the Huskies with a nail to drive into the Irish coffin. Notre Dame’s unwillingness to run the ball exacerbated the problem, as the Irish attempted only 28 runs despite gaining well over four yards per carry.
Stock down: Timely offense
Do you remember last November’s Notre Dame loss to Clemson? In that game, the Irish fell behind by a 31-23 score about midway through the second half. Down a score, Notre Dame’s defense stopped the Tigers repeatedly, handing the Irish offense what felt like a gazillion opportunities to score and tie the game. But the offense seemingly forgot how to gain 10 yards and convert a first down, resulting in an aggravating Clemson win.
On Saturday, something similar played out, but in even more aggravating fashion. Given three opportunities to close out a game at home in the second half, Notre Dame’s offense froze up. Just look at the overall numbers. When starting a drive tied or trailing, a category in which the entire first half plus Notre Dame’s opening and closing drives of the second half fit, the Irish averaged 30.9 yards per drive. They didn’t usually score, but at least they somewhat moved the ball. On the other hand, when Notre Dame began a drive in the lead, as it did for most of the second half, it averaged just 11 yards per possession. As a result, Notre Dame’s second-half possession time amounted to less than eight minutes, giving NIU ample time to steal a win.
Stock down: Defensive consistency
Entering the season, everybody knew Notre Dame would have a chance to win every game because of its defense. Well, on Saturday, that same Irish defense kept Northern Illinois in the game throughout the first half. Right after Notre Dame marched down the field for an opening-drive touchdown, the Irish handed those seven points right back on a mix-up in coverage that left running back Antario Brown free for an 83-yard receiving touchdown. Remember how Notre Dame struggled to unleash big plays? Northern Illinois would notch two additional plays of 25 yards or longer in the first quarter alone to build up a 13-7 lead.
Zooming out to the big picture, Notre Dame’s defense didn't do two things it always seems to take care of: create turnovers and outlast its adversary. While the Irish offense gave the ball away twice on interceptions, their defense failed to produce a takeaway. It also never managed a sack against quarterback Ethan Hampton. That trend, along with the Huskies’ ability to ram the run game down Notre Dame’s throat, helped NIU remain ahead of the change. Northern Illinois ran the football 45 times for 190 yards and completely controlled the clock. Even with Brown in the backfield, that should never happen from a mid-major against an Al Golden defense.
Stock down: Notre Dame’s preparation
From the sounds of head coach Marcus Freeman’s press conferences since the NIU game went final, Notre Dame was clearly ill-prepared to handle the success of the Texas A&M win. According to Freeman, the team heard the chatter of 1-0 Notre Dame’s playoff chances growing significantly easier and paid too much mind to it. A head coach whose program is on the national stage every single week should never allow that, let alone a third-year head coach. Freeman also spoke of Notre Dame having recently lost to inferior programs at home as a reason for hope that the Irish will respond. You would think that “having been there before” would have angered the Irish to the point of never going back again, yet here we are.
On a more “X’s and O’s” level, one NIU player stood out as a focal point entering Saturday’s game: Brown, a 2023 All-MAC First Team selection. You can sleep a whole lot easier if you allow his teammates to burn you than if you allow Brown himself to burn you. The Irish had to rein him in. They didn’t. Brown ripped off chunk play after chunk play in the first half, going for 223 scrimmage yards. That total likely would’ve risen much higher if not for a second-half injury. Freeman and the Irish spent much of the past week discussing the proper preparation they would have, were having and had going into the NIU game. That level of preparation clearly wasn’t enough, and now — like many other facets — it must improve ahead of Purdue.
