The University of Notre Dame went into last Saturday’s contest as 28 point favorites over Northern Illinois – as the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish were expected to dominate the Huskies.
Instead, Northern Illinois kicker Kanon Woodill knocked through a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds left to take a 16-14 lead. Then, the Huskies blocked Notre Dame’s 62-yard field goal attempt to shock the Fighting Irish at their home stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
Adding insult to injury, Notre Dame will now be on the hook to pay NIU $1.4million.
That’s because the two schools came to what’s called a ‘buy-game contract’ for what’s known as a ‘guarantee game’.
Over the years, larger universities have been paying smaller schools large sums of money in order to generate what’s expected to be an easy win on their home field.
Northern Illinois players celebrate on the field after knocking off then-No. 5 Notre Dame
The Huskies blocked this attempt from Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter to win 16-14 on Saturday
As FrontOfficeSports puts it, ‘The host typically gets an easy victory, the visitor gets a nice payday, and everyone leaves happy.’
Except, NIU left happier than anyone as they get to keep the money and moved to 2-0 after upsetting their opponents.
It was the biggest win in school history, their first win over a top-ten opponent, and their first win over a ranked team since beating No. 21 Alabama in 2003.
Following the game, Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock was emotional as he took in the victory.
‘We didn’t need luck,’ Hammock said. ‘That was our theme. I didn’t think we needed luck. We just need to play our best.
‘It wasn’t the cleanest for us, but we played hard for four quarters and stayed together. They worked together, they believed, and they made enough plays to win a game.
‘This is a program-changing type win, no different than when we beat Alabama a while ago.’
Hammond said Notre Dame may have underestimated how good his squad truly was.
NIU’s Jashon Prophete celebrates with a dog bone on a chain after defeating Notre Dame
‘I think we were bigger than what they thought,’ Hammock said. ‘We’re not a normal MAC team, in my opinion. We’re big on the offensive and defensive lines and we’re physical. I didn’t look at it as a mismatch in that capacity.’
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman admitted to being disappointed by the loss – especially after beating No. 20 Texas A&M on the road – in a defeat that may have ended their College Football Playoff hopes (or at least seriously damaged them) only two weeks into the season.
‘You know, it’s our job as coaches to make sure these guys are ready to go. You go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in a tale of two weeks, but we’ve got to own this thing,’ Freeman said. ‘As coaches and players, we’ve got to own it, and we’ve got to fix it.’
Notre Dame fell from fifth all the way down to No. 18 in the country as of the latest AP Top-25 poll.
The Fighting Irish take on in-state rivals Purdue next, while Northern Illinois opens Mid-American Conference play against Buffalo.
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