Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526412
22 SEPT. 14, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Stats: NIU outrushed Notre Dame 44-26. The Irish picked up 5 first downs to the Huskies' 2. Items: NIU senior kicker Kanon Woodill drilled a 21-yard attempt, his second of the day … Fuhrman picked up where he left off after the pick, with 3.5 total tackles … Notre Dame graduate student James Rendell punted twice for 63 yards, an average of 31.5. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 13 Top moment: Love took a handoff up the middle, broke into open space and leaped over a defender, seeing nothing but green grass ahead of him when his feet hit the turf. He found the end zone from 34 yards out, giving Notre Dame a 14-13 lead. Fea t u re p e r fo r m e r : A u s b e r r y hunted Huskies on a drive that ended in a turnover on downs. He made a shoestring tackle on third-and-3 and, a series later, blanketed his man for a pass broken up on fourth-and-2 to give Notre Dame the ball back. Stats: NIU had the ball for 11:10 to Notre Dame's 3:50. NIU outgained Notre Dame 102-69. Items: Brown, Hampton and redshirt senior running back Gavin Williams combined for 60 rushing yards on 14 carries … Notre Dame went three-and- out on its only other possession, aside from the touchdown. FOURTH QUARTER NORTHERN ILLINOIS 16, NOTRE DAME 14 Top moment: On second-and-1 with a 1-point lead and 6:07 to go, Notre Dame dialed up a deep shot to gradu- ate student wide receiver Kris Mitch- ell. It could have worked, but Leon- ard woefully underthrew it. Redshirt sophomore NIU cornerback Amariyun Knighten undercut the route for an easy interception, returning it to midfield. Feature performer: After the inter- ception, the Huskies marched in range for Woodill to win the game. Woodill finished 3 of 4 on field goal attempts, including the dagger from 35 yards out with 31 seconds left. Stats: NIU had the ball for 11:07 to Notre Dame's 3:53. The Huskies picked up 4 first downs to the Irish's 2. Items: Leonard finished the fourth quarter only 4-of-8 passing for 38 yards … Hampton scrambled to the right side- line for a 3-yard gain on fourth-and-2 to put the Huskies in field goal range on the final drive … Jeter's last-second, 62-yard field-goal attempt was again blocked by Haberman, sealing the win for the Huskies. ✦ Senior kicker Kanon Woodill made 3 of 4 field goals, including the dagger from 35 yards out with 31 seconds left. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER NORTHERN ILLINOIS 16, NOTRE DAME 14 Sept. 7, 2024 ✦ Attendance: 77,622 Notre Dame Stadium ✦ South Bend 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot NIU 10 3 0 3 16 Notre Dame 7 0 7 0 14 NIU ND FIRST QUARTER ND Leonard 11-yard run (Jeter kick) 8:28 0 7 Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 6:25 NIU Brown 83-yard pass from Hampton (Woodill kick) 5:35 7 7 Drive: 5 plays, 98 yards, 2:51 NIU Woodill 42-yard field goal 2:13 10 7 Drive: 5 plays, 30 yards, 1:28 SECOND QUARTER NIU Woodill 21-yard field goal 13:39 13 7 Drive: 5 plays, 51 yards, 2:08 THIRD QUARTER ND Love 34-yard run (Jeter kick) 8:34 13 14 Drive: 6 plays, 64 yards, 2:43 FOURTH QUARTER NIU Woodill 35-yard field goal 0:31 16 14 Drive: 11 plays, 31 yards, 5:24 NIU ND Total First Downs 16 17 Rushing 9 7 Passing 6 9 Penalty 1 1 Rushing Attempts 45 28 Yards Gained Rushing 197 148 Yards Lost Rushing 7 25 Net Yards Rushing 190 123 Net Yards Passing 198 163 Passes Attempted 20 33 Passes Completed 10 20 Had Intercepted 0 2 Percent Completion 50.0% 60.6% Yards Per Attempt 9.9 4.9 Yards Per Completion 19.8 8.2 Total Offensive Plays, 65 61 Total Net Yards 388 286 Average Gain Per Play 6.0 4.7 Fumbles: No.-Lost 1-0 1-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 3-35 3-35 Punts: No.-Yards 4-140 5-184 Average Per Punt 35.0 36.8 Average Net Punt 30.0 34.6 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 2-11 0-0 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 1-2 4-89 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 2-33 0-0 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 54 0 Possession Time 34:38 25:22 Third-Down Conversions 6-16 3-10 Percentage 37.5% 30.0% Fourth-Down Conversions 1-2 0-0 Percentage 50.0% 0.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 2-22 0-0