Northern Illinois, Notre Dame and the upset that ripped up the college football narratives
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - With two hands, Northern Illinois' defensive lineman Cade Haberman created a fracture in the timespace continuum in college football. The epicenter was South Bend, Indiana.
David, the 28-point underdog, felled Goliath and ripped up an entire narrative.
Northern Illinois, David in this instance, walked into Notre Dame Stadium and beat the No. 5 Irish 16-14. It was a moment that could change the entire season's trajectory for both programs.
"This is a program-changing type win," NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said after the game.
College football may be the only sport in the world that deals in pure chaos, because what other sport can make a team feel like it’s on top of the world come crashing down with an unforgiving fervor like this?
On days like Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, two absolute truths were displayed as the sun started setting in South Bend.
On one hand, Notre Dame‘s world was shaken to its core.
A week after delivering the opening weekend, when fans had sought for years, the Irish fell flat and gave away to a stunning loss. It’s the kind of thing that defines a season. The Irish will recover, but it could take an entire season.
Notre Dame, and its championship hopes, have now reached the depths.
Chaos.
"This is as low as it gets," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said.
On the other side of Notre Dame Stadium, Northern Illinois kicker Kanon Woodill knew we would set in at some point. When? Who knows?
When it does, it will never leave his mind.
"It’ll be something you’ll be able to show your kids," Woodill said. "This is what happened."
Northern Illinois earned its win over No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday. They own the line of scrimmage. They won the turnover battle. They won on special teams.
There is nothing to regret. There’s only everything to remember.
Those in DeKalb know this. The 2012 huskies, led by Jordan. Lynch made the orange bowl.
Now, Northern Illinois fans can hope this team in 2024 can add another etch into NIU history. The team picked third in the MAC preseason polls has the best win any MAC team will get all year. Is a MAC title next? That idea is within reach because of Saturday’s win.
To put the cherry on top, Notre Dame paid Northern Illinois 1.4 million to play this game at Notre Dame Stadium.
NIU, I'm sure, gladly takes Venmo, Zelle, cash or check.
"We didn't need luck," NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said after the game. "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."
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 07: Northern Illinois Huskies defensive end Pierce Oppong (99) and his teammates react to the upset victory against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on September 7, 2024, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by
You can argue luck played a certain part in it, but it wasn’t that simple.
Northern Illinois didn’t just beat Notre Dame, the Huskies outmatched, out-athleted and out-coached the Irish. This was on a day when an Irish running back hurdled a defender on his way for a touchdown.
You don’t win in every facet of the game by mistake.
"We're big on the offensive and defensive lines and we're physical," Hammock said. "I didn't look at it as a mismatch in that capacity."
Meanwhile, Notre Dame remains the team that’s always at the doorstep, but he’s always on the outside, looking in.
Those believing Notre Dame changed its program trajectory after last weekend can drop the notion. The Irish, which had an easier schedule on paper than most of the ranked teams in the top 10, now have to find a way to convince the playoff committee they deserve one of the 12 seeds.
Losing to an unranked Group of 5 team at home is a massive hurdle to overcome.
"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."
The national scope will remain on Notre Dame. It always does, it always will. There will always be a chance to attain that top tier status simply with a good offseason.
Now, NIU has a chance to write its own narrative, and choose its own scope into which plenty of view its program.
That shift all happened on Saturday.
"It’s a surreal experience," NIU quarterback Ethan Hampton said. "It’s something I’ll remember forever."