The Northern Illinois Huskies were a 28-point underdog going into Week 2 versus No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies had actually never ever disturbed a top-10 challenger in program history, however the $1.4 million payday the school got for the match from Notre Dame made it worth the brief journey from DeKalb, Illinois to South Bend. As it ends up, the Fighting Irish got a lot more than they imagined.
Northern Illinois stunned Notre Dame, 16-14, for the most significant upset of the college football season. NIU’s defense shutdown Irish QB Riley Leonard all afternoon, and a 35-yard basket by Kanon Woodill put the Huskies ahead for great with 31 seconds to play in policy.
It’s a horrible loss for Notre Dame following a big win over Texas A&M in the season opener recently. For Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock, it shows all the effort he’s taken into his program has actually settled. The Huskies have actually just made 2 championship game in Hammock’s very first 5 seasons as head coach, and were chosen to complete 3rd in the MAC this season. Nobody believed Northern Illinois might beat Notre Dame, however in some way it pulled it off.
Raw feeling put down Hammock’s face as talked to NBC on the field after the win. “They thought. And we came here and got it done.” See the complete post-game interview here:
That’s the charm of college football right there. Notre Dame might have had every gamer on NIU lineup if they provided them a scholarship out of high school, junior college, or in the transfer website. The Fighting Irish consume the huge kids’ table on the planet of college sports, and NIU is almost as small as it gets for FBS. For one afternoon, the Huskies entered into Notre Dame’s hallowed home and made it their own.
Salute to Thomas Hammock’s Huskies. Everybody likes a Notre Dame football loss … other than for Notre Dame fans.