Northern Illinois shocks No. 5 Notre Dame on late discipline aim for MAC’s first win vs. top-five staff in historical past

Notre Dame had an opportunity to ice the sport within the fourth quarter, however quarterback Riley Leonard threw an interception to Amariyun Knighten, who gave the Huskies the ball at midfield. NIU then went on a drive lasting greater than 5 minutes, which ended with a controversial spot. Nevertheless, the Huskies nailed a 35-yard go-ahead discipline aim within the last minute. 

Notre Dame tried a 62-yard discipline aim as time expired to tie, however the Huskies blocked the kick, giving Northern Illinois maybe the most important regular-season win in program historical past. 

The Huskies gave up a prolonged landing drive to begin the sport, however Thomas Hammock’s squad was up for the problem. Quarterback Ethan Hampton linked with operating again Antario Brown for an 83-yard landing to punch again. Hampton threw for 198 yards, whereas Brown had 99 yards on the bottom and 126 yards by means of the air. 

Nevertheless, Northern Illinois kicker Kanon Woodill was the X-factor. Woodill hit all three of his discipline aim makes an attempt to attain greater than half of NIU’s factors within the historic victory. Leonard threw two interceptions in his second begin with the Irish. Notre Dame additionally acquired 79 yards and a rating from Jeremiyah Love however went simply 3 of 10 on third downs to kill drives. 

Whereas Notre Dame has usually fared properly in opposition to ranked groups underneath coach Marcus Freeman, the Combating Irish have struggled in opposition to unranked opponents. That is Notre Dame’s fourth loss in opposition to an unranked opponent since 2022. Over that very same interval, the Combating Irish went 8-4 in opposition to high quality ranked opponents.