Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14 with a late field goal by Kanon Woodill on Saturday.
Woodill kicked a 36-yard field goal with 31 seconds left as Notre Dame couldn’t stop the Huskies after a second interception by Riley Leonard. It’s Northern Illinois’ first win ever against a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Top 25.
A week after Notre Dame took down Texas A&M in College Station, the Irish offense struggled to move the ball. Leonard threw a bad interception with 5:55 to go as he inexplicably forced a deep pass into a two-safety look on 2nd and 1.
Northern Illinois ran over five minutes off the clock after the pick, but Notre Dame had one more chance thanks to a bad spot and horrible clock management by the officials. However, Mitch Jeter’s 62-yard field goal was blocked as time expired.
Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock was moved to tears by his team’s performance after the game.
“I’m so proud of our kids, the coaches, everybody,” the former NIU player told NBC while wiping tears from his eyes. “They believed. They believed and we came in and got it done.”
Northern Illinois stayed committed to the run game against the Irish defense and it ultimately paid off. The Huskies start five seniors up front and rushed the ball 45 times for 190 yards to just 20 pass attempts. NIU’s final drive started with four straight run plays and included just two passes as the Huskies inched down the field and drained the clock.
How Notre Dame had a chance for the win
Woodill probably should have been making his field goal as time expired.
Two officiating mistakes in the final minute of the game gave Notre Dame one final chance to win. Gavin Williams appeared to get a first down on a third-down run play but was ruled short of the marker on the field. The play went to a replay review and though it was obvious that Williams got the ball past the line to gain before his knee went down, there was no clear angle of the ball and officials ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the call.
The second mistake came right after the first. Williams was tackled in bounds on the play and Notre Dame had one timeout left. Since Williams landed in bounds, the clock should have started when the ball was deemed ready for play on fourth down and Notre Dame should have had to take its final timeout to stop it.
Instead, the clock didn’t start. That allowed Notre Dame to keep its final timeout for its final drive.
Thankfully for NIU, that timeout didn’t matter. The NIU defense was not afraid of Leonard’s passing and sent more than four defenders on multiple occasions. That forced Notre Dame to try Jeter’s long kick with five seconds to go.
