In true letdown game fashion, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were stunned by the Northern Illinois Huskies on their home field on Saturday afternoon. This loss comes just one week after the Irish went into hostile territory and secured a win against Texas A&M, which most assumed punched Notre Dame's ticket to the College Football Playoff nearly four months ahead of time. Now, all of those prognosticators are going to be forced to re-evaluate their position.
Right out of the gate, it was clear that the Irish were going to be in for a fight. Although Notre Dame struck first, with quarterback Riley Leonard scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run. The Huskies answered with an 83-yard touchdown pass on the very next drive.
Late in the 4th quarter, Notre Dame had a 14-13 lead and looked to put the finishing touches on Northern Illinois' upset bid. But Riley Leonard tossed his second interception of the game, under-throwing a deep ball into double coverage. The Huskies took over with 5:55 to play, and kicked what turned out to be the game-winning field goal with 31 seconds left. The win was both Northern Illinois' and the Mid-American Conference's first win over an AP top-five opponent.
After the game, Leonard took full responsibility for the interception that ended up costing Notre Dame the game.
“It was a completely bad read,” Leonard said, per ESPN News Services. “That single high safety was attached to the inside post. I thought he wouldn't attach again. Bad eyes, bad feet, bad ball. That resulted in a pick. Can't happen. Completely my fault.”
Riley Leonard finished the game having completed 2o-of-32 pass attempts for 163 yards and two interceptions. Following the loss, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman all but conceded that this was indeed a product of a letdown after the Irish's high-profile victory over the Aggies last weekend.
“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 will have the opportunity to fix things and move forward next Saturday when they visit Purdue. Marcus Freeman's squad has opened as a 16-point road favorite against the Boilermakers after losing outright as a 28-point favorite against Northern Illinois.
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