Northern Illinois upsets No. 5 Notre Dame on last-second field goal
Notre Dame was riding high after a Week 1 victory over Texas A&M. The Fighting Irish were returning home after a huge win and welcomed Northern Illinois.
This time, it was Notre Dame on the wrong end of an upset. The Huskies, thanks to a field goal with 31 seconds left, stunned the Fighting Irish with a 16-14 victory. Notre Dame paid NIU $1.4 million to come to South Bend, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.
Notre Dame struck first to take a 7-0 lead, but Northern Illinois answered back with an explosive 83-yard touchdown from Antario Brown to tie things up. Two Huskies field goals extended the lead to 13-7, and a blocked field goal meant that score held into halftime.
Jeremiyah Love then got Notre Dame back out in front with a touchdown run in the third quarter to make it a 14-13 Fighting Irish lead. That was the score until NIU lined up for a field goal with 31 seconds to play, and Kanon Woodill split the uprights to re-take a 16-14 advantage.
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Riley Leonard tried to lead the Fighting Irish on a game-winning drive, and they got to the NIU 44-yard line with nine seconds left. But once again, Mitch Jeter’s field goal attempt was blocked – and the upset was complete.
The Northern Illinois offense fired on all cylinders en route to its biggest victory in program history. The Huskies totaled 388 yards, including 190 from the rushing attack led by Brown. He took 20 attempts for 99 yards on the ground to go with his 126 receiving yards.
Notre Dame, on the other hand, totaled 286 yards. Leonard had an up-and-down showing as he completed 20 of 32 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions – the second of which set up the eventual game-winning drive.
The Fighting Irish will now turn their attention to a rivalry game next week. They will head to Purdue Sept. 14 at 3:30 p.m. ET.