Northern Illinois University stunned No. 5 Notre Dame, 16-14, on Saturday, thanks to a field goal by Kanon Woodill late in the game.
Woodill kicked a 36-yard field goal with 31 seconds left, and Notre Dame couldn’t stop the Huskies behind Riley Leonard’s second interception. This marked the first time Northern Illinois had beat a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Top 25. It also marked one of the biggest point-spread upsets in modern college football, as the Irish were favorites by 28.5 points in the game.
A week after Notre Dame beat Texas A&M in College Station, the Irish offense struggled to move the ball, and Leonard inexplicably forced a deep pass on second down and one yard into a bad interception with 5:55 left.
🚨Caution🚨
Don’t give up on Northern Illinois just yet!
Riley Leonard’s second interception gives the Huskies the win
pic.twitter.com/HQKbOlMyaR— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) September 7, 2024
After the interception, Northern Illinois had just over five minutes left in the game, but thanks to some bad officiating and terrible time management, Notre Dame had another chance, but Mitch Jeter’s 62-yard field goal attempt was blocked as time expired.
Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock was moved to tears after the game by his team’s performance.
“I’m so proud of the kids, the coaching staff, everybody,” the former NIU player told NBC as he wiped away tears. “They believed in us. They believed in us, and that’s why we came in and did it.”
Northern Illinois focused on running the ball against the Irish defense, and it ultimately paid off. The Huskies, with five seniors up front, rushed the ball 45 times for 190 yards while completing just 20 passes. Northern Illinois’ final drive began with four straight runs and only two passes, as the Huskies slowly moved down the field and used up the clock.
Why Notre Dame had a chance to win
Woodill probably should have made a field goal before time expired.
In the final minute of the game, two refereeing errors gave Notre Dame one final chance to win. Gavin Williams appeared to have gained a first down on a third-down running play, but it was ruled that he was short of the marker on the field. Replays of the play showed that Williams had crossed the line to get the ball before hurting his knee, but the angle of the ball was unclear and the referees determined there was insufficient evidence to overturn the call.
The second miss came right after the first, as Williams was tackled inbounds on the next play and Notre Dame had one timeout left. Because Williams landed on the ground inbounds, the count would have started when the ball was deemed playable on fourth down, and Notre Dame had to use their final timeout to stop it.
Instead, the clock didn’t start, which allowed Notre Dame to take its final timeout for its final drive.
Luckily for NIU, that timeout didn’t matter: The NIU defense wasn’t afraid of Leonard’s pass, bringing in four or more defenders on multiple occasions, forcing Notre Dame to try a long Jeter kick with five seconds left.
Notre Dame acquired Leonard from Duke ahead of the 2024 season and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock from Louisiana State. The downfield passing game that brought the Tigers’ Jayden Daniels a Heisman Trophy in 2023 isn’t coming to South Bend.
Leonard averaged just 5.3 yards per pass in a 23-13 win over Texas A&M in Week 1. He made plenty of plays with his feet and helped lead Notre Dame to the win on the ground, but it was clear he needed to be a better passer if Notre Dame was to make a push for the playoffs.
Leonard completed 20 of 32 passes for 163 yards on Saturday, averaging 5.1 yards per pass.
Running back Jeremiah Love provided the highlight with a 34-yard TD run in which he blew past an NIU defender, but even with that run, Notre Dame managed just under 300 yards of total offense.
Saturday’s loss marked just the second inexplicable loss at home in Week 2 in the past three seasons under Freeman. Notre Dame started 0-2 in 2022 after a loss to Ohio State in Week 1 and a home loss to Marshall in Week 2.
Later that season, Notre Dame lost at home to Stanford by two points, and a season ago, Notre Dame was a 6.5-point favorite to lose to Louisville by 13 points.
The Irish’s playoff hopes are far from gone, but with a tough schedule, Notre Dame may not be able to afford any more losses. When the AP Top 25 is released on Sunday, Louisville and USC will be the only two ranked teams Notre Dame will face in 2024.
