NIU 16, No. 5 Notre Dame 14: 5 takeaways from the upset of the Irish

SOUTH BEND, Indiana – An Amariyun Knighten interception in the fourth quarter set up NIU’s winning score as the Huskies stunned No. 5 Notre Dame, 16-14.

NIU (2-0) led at halftime, 13-7 and Notre Dame (1-1) led going into the fourth. But Kanon Woodill’s 35-yard field goal gave the Huskies the win.

Here are five takeaways from the historic upset.

Interception sparks the upset

The Huskies’ first three drives of the second half all reached Notre Dame territory, but none could net any points.

Their best chance to score came late in the fourth after Knighten intercepted a Riley Leonard pass and took it to midfield on a 33-yard return.

NIU quarterback Ethan Hampton picked up a 4th and 2 from the 31 after the 2-minute warning. On the next series, the Huskies faced a 4th and 1 from the 18. Woodill made the 35-yard field goal to give the Huskies the lead.

Notre Dame got down to the NIU 45 and attempted a 62-yard field by Mitch Jeter but it was blocked as the Huskies left with the win. Cabe Haberman blocked the kick, his second blocked kick of the game.

Irish comeback in second half

Down 13-7 at the break, Notre Dame got their offense working on the first drive of the second half. The Irish rolled off a six-play, 64-yard drive to take the lead.

They never faced a third down on the drive, with Jeremiyah Love hurdling Nate Valcarcel en route to a 34-yard touchdown run and a 14-13 lead with 8:34 left in the third quarter. It was the last score of the third quarter for either team.

98 yards to glory

Things didn’t start great for the Huskies. Notre Dame went 75 yards in 6:25 for a touchdown and 7-0 lead on the opening drive. NIU let the enusiung kickoff go into the end zone, except in bounced just before the goal line and the Huskies scrambled to recover it at the 2.

On third and 3 from the 9, Hampton scrambled to pick up the first down. Two plays later, Hampton found Antario Brown over the middle and the halfback turned it into an 83-yard touchdown.

The drive changed the momentum. Notre Dame didn’t score again in the first half as the Huskies took the lead into the second half.

Field goals to take the lead

After the NIU touchdown, the Irish went three-and-out leading the Huskies to take over on their own 45. Brown picked up where he left off, taking the rush around the right side for a 28-yard pickup.

Two plays later, Trayvon Rudolph attempted a pass on a sweep. Dane Pardridge was open by the end zone, but the throw was offline. NIU ended up settling for a 42-yard field goal by Woodill.

On the next drive, Valcarcel broke up a Leonard pass intended for Jaden Greathouse. Christian Furhman ended up with the interception, and on the first play of the next drive Hampton found Brown again, this time for 43 yards.

The drive stalled out at the Notre Dame 4, but Woodill made a field goal on fourth and 2 to push the lead to 13-7. Brown finished with 199 yards of total offense in the first half.

NIU defense shakes off rough first drive, stymies Irish in first half

The Huskies defense had chances for the stop on that first drive but the Irish kept converting. Facing a third and 12, Riley hit Mitchell Evans for 14 yards. It was the last third down the Irish faced on the drive before Leonard ran in from 11 out for the 7-0 lead.

After 75 yards on that first drive, the Irish managed 86 on the last five drives of the first half.

Furhman led the way with seven tackles, Santana Banner had six and Devonte O’Malley had three, all for a loss including two sacks.

The exclamation point on the half was a blocked field goal attempt by Haberman. Banner returned the block more than 50 yards as time expired.