Northern Illinois stuns Notre Dame by scoring a field goal in the last minute

In the course of a “program-changing” win, Northern Illinois stunned the No. 5 Irish with a 35-yard field goal that was made with 31 seconds remaining on Saturday, in a win of 16-14.

Sep 07, 2024 11:31 PM

Sep 7, 2024, 07:31 PM ET

SOUTH BEND Ind. -The team was Kanon Woodill scored a 35-yard field shot with 31 seconds remaining, Cade Haberman stopped a 62-yard attempt before time ran out while Northern Illinois stunned with a 0. 5 Notre Dame 16-14 on Saturday.

Haberman stopped the 62-yard shot made by Notre Dame’s Mitch Jeter which allowed the ecstatic Huskies to win their first non-conference win against a top-ranked opponent following a 19-16 win over the No. 21 Alabama in 2003.

The game was also the Huskies winning their first game against an opponent in the top 10 and also the first win by an Mid-American Conference team against an AP top five team. The MAC was previously 0-51 in games against the top-five teams.

Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock was emotional after the dramatic win.

“We didn’t need luck,” Hammock told me. “That was our theme. I didn’t believe that we required luck. All we need is to do the best we can. The game wasn’t exactly the most clean for us but we did our best for four quarters and played together. They worked as a team and they believed that they played enough to win games.

“This is a game-changing victory, not different from the time we defeated Alabama in 2003[in 2003]. “

Hammond claimed that his Huskies were comparable in the same way as Notre Dame.

“I think we were bigger than what they thought,” Hammock stated. “We’re not a typical MAC team I think so. We’re big on offensive as well as defensive line, and we’re physically strong. I didn’t see it as a match-up issue in that sense.”

Fighting Irish fell as 28.5-point favorite in the eyes of ESPN BET. After starting the day with 16-1 odds to be victorious at the national championship The odds fell to 75-1 following the defeat.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman admitted that the defeat was disappointing, particularly after an impressive road victory over the team that was then ranked No. 20 Texas A&M.

“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 declared. “As coaches and players, we’ve got to own it, and we’ve got to fix it.”

Notre Dame (1-1) seemed to be poised to make some advantage over Northern Illinois (2-0) as it fought to a 14-13 advantage during the 4th quarter. The Fighting Irish took possession following an attempt to punt with 7:49 remaining and then drove from their 25 towards the Northern Illinois 49.

Combative Irish quarterback Riley Leonard launched a ball deep into the middle, aiming for Kris Mitchell, however, Amariyun Knighten was the one to intercept it and returned the ball 33 yards before the 50 yard line with 5:55 left to play.

“It was a completely bad read,” Leonard told me about the intercept. “That single high security was attached to the inside of the post. I thought he would not attach again. Eyes, feet, and a bad ball. The result was the decision. Can’t happen. My fault.”

The Huskies played the clock and drove up to Notre Dame 19, setting the foundation for Woodill’s field-goal. A key play during the drive was turning the fourth-and-2 into a three-yard sprint of the quarterback Ethan Hampton to the Notre Dame 28.

A first down conversion of Hampton who was 10-of-19 for 198 yards with an touchdown, set up the winning field goal by Woodill who scored his third kick of the game.

“It’s amazing,” Hampton declared of the win. “It’s something I’ll keep forever in my memory. I was a Huskie fan. The Huskies have been a goal of mine.”

Notre Dame struck first when Leonard crossed the line to gain an 11-yard touchdown at 8:28 in the first half.

It took just five minutes to get Northern Illinois to answer as Antario Brown ran free among two defensive backs to score an 83-yard touchdown catch on an interception from Hampton.

Two field goals made by Woodill at 42 yards and 21 yards provided the Huskies a 13-7 lead at halftime. Notre Dame had the possibility of making it 13-10 at the break but Haberman stopped a 48-yard attempt by Jeter.

Woodill missed an attempt to field goal from 53 yards on the very first play in the second half which Notre Dame took advantage.

Jeremiyah Love was able to unleash an impressive 34-yard touchdown, throwing a defender in his way to goal zone. Jeter’s extra point was enough to give Notre Dame a 14-13 lead with just 8:34 remaining during the 3rd quarter.

Leonard completed 20-of-32 passes for 163 yards with 2 interceptions.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.