SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WLS) – On Saturday there was a big surprise for the Northern Illinois Huskies, who defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (number 5) 16-14.
It is NIU’s first non-league win against a seeded opponent since beating Alabama in 2003. The Huskies’ pride was palpable throughout campus on Saturday night.
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The Huskie crowd in the stands went into a frenzy when Kanon Woodill scored a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds left and Cade Haberman blocked a 62-yard attempt as time expired.
“And people came in and I was like, ‘We’re watching! We’re going to watch them win!’ And then in the last 30 seconds, we did it. We did it,” said NIU student Betty Smith.
Notre Dame (1-1), shortly after an impressive away win against Texas A&M appeared to be able to pull away from Northern Illinois (2-0) as it clung to a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter. The Fighting Irish regained possession after a punt with 7:49 left and moved from their 25-yard line to the Northern Illinois 49-yard line.
Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard threw a pass intended for Kris Mitchell deep down the middle, but Amariyun Knighten intercepted the ball and returned it 33 yards to the 50-yard line with 5:55 left.
Knighten’s interception set up Woodill’s game-winning field goal, his third of the day.
Notre Dame struck first when Leonard outsmarted the defense and scored an 11-yard touchdown run with 8:28 left in the first quarter.
Northern Illinois needed just five plays to respond when Antario Brown weaved between two Notre Dame defensive backs and caught an 83-yard pass from Ethan Hampton for a touchdown.
Two field goals from Woodill, from 42 and 21 yards, gave the Huskies a 13-7 halftime lead. Notre Dame had a chance to increase its lead to 13-10 before halftime, but Haberman blocked a 48-yard attempt by Jeter.
Woodill missed a 53-yard field goal attempt on the first possession of the second half and Notre Dame took advantage.
Jeremiyah Love broke free and scored a 34-yard touchdown run, leaping over a defender on the way to the end zone. Mitch Jeter’s extra point gave Notre Dame a 14-13 lead with 8:34 left in the third quarter.
Head coach Thomas Hammock took a victory lap and the same feeling came over the students on campus in DeKalb.
“It was just great to see the game slowly progress and then we won. It was just an incredible feeling. When I was walking around here on campus, people were driving. They were screaming. It was a blast,” said Matthew Vanderwater, a sophomore at NIU.
NIU now has 19 Boneyard wins, all of which have come against a Power 5 or Power 4 conference team or equivalent.
“It really feels like I’m part of something bigger than me,” said Aleah Janae, a senior at NIU.
The Huskies’ pride was palpable in South Bend as the team looked forward to taking on their next opponent.
“They’ve been winning all these years, year after year. So it’s really nice to see that we’re back, you know? That we’re getting back to our Huskie grit; that the Huskies never gave up. And that really shows our perseverance,” said Becca Katz, a junior at NIU.
NIU is now 2-0 heading into its next game against the University at Buffalo Bulls, scheduled for September 21 on home soil at Huskie Stadium.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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