Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526412
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 14, 2024 25 0-14 All-time record for Northern Illi- nois against top-10 teams before it knocked off No. 5-ranked Notre Dame, 16-14. It's easily the biggest win in school history for the Huskies, who now have 19 "boneyard" wins (those against power conference and/or ranked teams). The previous highest-ranked win for NIU came against No. 15 Maryland on Aug. 28, 2003. 0-51 Record for all Mid-American Conference (MAC) schools in games against top-five teams prior to Northern Illinois stunning Notre Dame. 2nd Loss by Notre Dame when favored by at least 25 points since 1978, per ESPN Stats & Info. The Fighting Irish had been 51-1 in that scenario before falling to the Huskies, who were 28.5-point underdogs, per ESPN BET. The Huskies are the largest underdogs to pull an out- right upset since Kansas beat Texas 57-56 in over- time in 2021 as a 31-point underdog. The loss to Northern Illinois was Notre Dame's biggest upset defeat since 1995, when the Irish fell 17-15 to 28-point underdog Northwestern. 2 Blocked field goals — from 48 and then 62 yards — by Northern Illinois against Notre Dame graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter, who entered this season with just two career misses. 4th Loss to an unranked foe for Notre Dame under head coach Marcus Freeman since the start of the 2022 season, three of which have occurred at Notre Dame Stadium. Under his leadership, the Irish have now been upset by Mar- shall (26-21 on Sept. 10, 2022), Stanford (16-14 on Oct. 15, 2022), Clemson (31-23 on Nov. 4, 2023) and Northern Illinois (16-14 on Sept. 7, 2024). Only the loss to Clemson happened on the road. 10-0 All-time record versus MAC schools for Notre Dame before it fell to Northern Illinois. 30.0 Percent conversion rate (3 of 10) for Notre Dame on third down. Through two games, the Irish have converted just 23.8 per- cent of their third downs (5 of 21). 63 Degrees was the temperature at kickoff — the coldest home opener for Notre Dame in 92 years and eight months. The 1931 home opener against Drake (a 63-0 Irish victory), in which the temperature was 52 degrees at kickoff. 126 Passing yards for Northern Illinois in the first quarter at Notre Dame, a week after the Irish allowed just 100 to Texas A&M dur- ing the entirety of their season opener. To make matters worse, the yardage came on just 2 pass completions, both to NIU running back Antario Brown. He took a short pass 83 yards for a touchdown on the first one to tie the game 7-7, then had a 43-yard grab that set up the Huskies second field goal that was converted in the second quarter. 388-286 Advantage in total yards the Huskies against the Irish. Per CBS Sports, that is just the fourth time in the last 15 years Notre Dame has been outgained by more than 100 yards at home. NIU's offense was extremely balanced, rushing for 190 yards while gaining 198 passing. And the NIU defense limited Notre Dame to just 123 rush- ing yards and intercepted two passes. $1.4 Million was the amount that North- ern Illinois received to travel 156 miles from DeKalb, Ill., to South Bend to play the game at Notre Dame Stadium. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 225 All-purpose y a r d s a n d one touch- down for Northern Illinois running back Antario Brown. He finished the game with 20 carries for 99 yards and 2 receptions for 126 yards and 1 touchdown. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER