Game Day Central: NIU vs. No. 5 Notre Dame

No. 5 Notre Dame (1-0) hosts Northern Illinois (1-0, 0-0 MAC) to begin their home slate of the 2024 season. Blue & Gold gets you ready with what you need to know before today’s tilt.

Join us live on YouTube after the game as we break down NIU vs. ND

GAME DAY INFORMATION

Date: Sept. 7, 2024
Site: Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET
Television: NBC/Peacock
Radio: Notre Dame IMG affiliates
Series facts: This is the first meeting between Notre Dame and NIU.
Head coaches: Northern Illinois — Thomas Hammock (25-33, sixth season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (20-8, third season).
Noting Northern Illinois: Fourteen starters return from last year’s Huskies, who went 7-6 (5-3 Mid-American Conference) and beat Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl … Turnovers on both sides of the ball prevented NIU from being better; the Huskies finished 88th in the nation with a minus-0.23 turnover margin per game … Operated the 79th-best scoring offense in college football, but tied with Kansas State and South Alabama for the 26th-best scoring defense at 21.0 points allowed per game … No. 22 team in FBS last year in rushing yards per carry at 5.0 … Transfer additions expected to make an impact include linebacker Christian Fuhrman (Southeast Missouri State), wide receiver Kenji Lewis (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and quarterback Jalen Macon (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) … Redshirt junior Ethan Hampton was named starting quarterback and completed 18 of 20 throws for 328 yards with 5 touchdowns in the season opener versus Western Illinois.

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FIVE NIU PLAYERS TO KNOW

QB Ethan Hampton (#2): The former three-star recruit signed with NIU back in the 2021 class and has stuck around for the long haul. He played in 11 games the past three years prior to the 2024 campaign. He won the job and impressed in the Huskies’ first game, tossing 5 touchdowns and 328 yards in a blowout victory against Western Illinois.

RB Antario Brown (#1): NIU wants to run the ball and eat up the clock, and they’ll feed Brown to do just that. He’s already one of the most productive rushers in school history, having passed his head coach in rushing yards last season. Brown signed with the Huskies back in the 2021 class.

WR Trayvon Rudolph (#3): At the end of last season, Rudolph entered the transfer portal but withdrew his name from it. The former class of 2020 prospect has had an impressive career for the Huskies, being named to the FWAA Freshman All-America Team for his play as a returner. He was second-team all-MAC in 2021 but suffered a season-ending injury in preseason camp prior to the 2022 campaign. Rudolph was NIU’s leading receiver in 2023 with 51 catches for 531 yards and 2 touchdowns. He’ll be Hampton’s favorite target.

DE Roy Williams (#97): After playing sparingly in 2022 as a true freshman, Williams had played a big role for the Huskies in 2023, recording 24 tackles (14 solo) while playing in all 13 games with six starts. He had six tackles and a sack in last week’s season opener. Williams will look to give the Irish offensive tackles a test Saturday afternoon.

LB Christian Fuhrman (#44): The former Southeast Missouri State player transferred to NIU in the offseason and participated in springs practices. He had 4 tackles in the Huskies’ season opener. At his previous stop, Fuhrman had 65 tackles (3 for loss) and 1.5 sacks in 11 games.

GAME PREDICTIONS

Vegas line: Notre Dame -27.5 …. Over/under 44.5
Oddshark prediction: ND 39, NIU 28

Tyler Horka: Fighting Irish 38, Northern Illinois 10
Jack Soble: Fighting Irish 41, Northern Illinois 14
Todd D. Burlage: Fighting Irish 30, Northern Illinois 10
Steve Downey: Fighting Irish 44, Northern Illinois 0
Kyle Kelly: Fighting Irish 38, Northern Illinois 13
Mike Singer: Fighting Irish 45, Northern Illinois 13

Full staff predictions article