SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Kanon Woodill’s (Plainfield, In poor health./Plainfield North) 35-yard subject objective with 31 seconds left lifted the Northern Illinois College Huskies to a 16-14 victory over fifth-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 7) at Notre Dame Stadium.
Antario Brown (Savannah, Ga./Seashore) gained 225 whole yards (126 receiving and 99 dashing) with a landing and Ethan Hampton (Elburn, In poor health./Aurora Christian) was 10-of-19 passing for 198 yards and a landing because the victory over the Preventing Irish marked the Huskies’ first win over a Prime 5 opponent. Additionally it is the primary win by any Mid-American Convention group over a group ranked within the Related Press Prime 5.
The win marked NIU’s nineteenth “Boneyard” victory, wins over energy convention and ranked packages, since 1983, and the third for NIU head coach Thomas Hammock up to now 4 seasons.
“I am so pleased with the children, our coaches, all people, they believed,” NIU head coach Thomas Hammock stated to NBC postgame. “They believed and we got here right here and bought it executed. They listened to what I stated, I advised all of them week, ‘we do not want luck, we simply must be our greatest,’ and so they have been their greatest immediately.”
Trailing 14-13, Amariyun Knighten (Hollywood, Fla./Stranahan) picked off Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, returning the turnover to midfield with 5:55 left within the fourth quarter.
NIU methodically moved all the way down to the Notre Dame 19, choosing up a pair of third downs on the drive, with Hampton working for a primary down on fourth and two from the 31. Three Gavin Williams (Altoona, Iowa/Dowling Catholic/Iowa) then arrange the 35-yard subject objective try for Woodill within the last minute. The senior from Plainfield, In poor health., cut up the uprights with the kick from the proper hash to offer the Huskies a 16-14 lead.
Notre Dame drove to the NIU 44 on the ultimate drive earlier than lining up a 62-yard subject objective try with 5 seconds remaining. For the second time within the contest, Cade Haberman (Blair, Neb./Westside) blocked the kick, which was recovered by Jaden Dolphin (Des Plaines, In poor health./Maine West), as time ran out, sending the Huskie followers and their sizeable touring fanbase into delirium.
The Huskies outgained the Preventing Irish, 388-286, within the contest because the NIU offense was extraordinarily balanced, dashing for 190 yards whereas gaining 198 passing. NIU held Notre Dame to only 123 dashing yards and intercepted Leonard twice within the recreation.
Notre Dame took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in 13 performs, capped by an 11-yard landing run from Leonard to offer the Irish the early lead.
A nasty bounce on the following kickoff pinned the Huskies again to their very own 2-yard line, however it took NIU simply 5 performs to reply the Notre Dame landing drive. Hampton hit Brown on a slant and the Huskie working again broke a deal with and raced 83 yards for the rating to tie the sport at seven with 5:35 to play within the first quarter. The play tied for the eighth-longest passing play at school historical past and the longest since 2008.
NIU took the lead on its subsequent drive as a 28-yard carry from Brown put the Huskies in subject objective vary. 4 performs later, Woodill linked from 42 yards to offer NIU a 10-7 lead simply over two minutes left within the opening quarter.
After an interception from Christian Fuhrman (Mesa, Ariz./Queen Creek/SEMO), the Huskies scored for the third drive in a row to start out the sport. Hampton hit Brown for 43 yards on the primary play of the drive to maneuver NIU to the Notre Dame 12. The Huskies moved to the Preventing Irish four-yard line however settled for a 21-yard subject objective from Woodill because the NIU lead grew to 13-7.
Brown’s 126 receiving yards marked the primary 100-yard receiving recreation by a Huskie working again since Garrett Wolfe recorded 114 receiving yards on Sept. 2, 2006, at Ohio State.
On the ultimate play of the primary half, Haberman made the primary of his two subject objective blocks on the day because the Huskies took a six-point lead into halftime. The block was the primary by a Huskie since Devonte O’Malley (Midlothian, In poor health./Bremen) blocked a subject objective towards Georgia Tech on Sept. 4, 2021.
Brown completed the primary half with 199 yards of whole offense, 126 receiving and 73 dashing.
“I believe he is among the greatest backs within the nation,” stated Hammock. “He is among the greatest backs within the nation if he needs to be. Did I consider he may have a recreation like this? I did. And we have been going to plan it that means. He was cramping up within the second half and we did not use him so much, however I stated, ‘you probably did greater than sufficient to assist us be in place to win the sport.'”
Notre Dame pressured a Huskie punt on the primary drive of the second half after which drove 64 yards in six performs, capped by a 34-yard landing run by Jeremiyah Love, because the Irish regained the lead, 14-13, with 8:34 to play within the third quarter.
The hosts maintained that 14-13 benefit as they bought the soccer with 7:49 left within the fourth. Notre Dame moved from its personal 25 to midfield earlier than Leonard’s second interception of the day gave the ball again to NIU with underneath six minutes to play, organising the sport’s dramatic last minutes.
Fuhrman completed with a team-high 9 tackles, Dolphin recorded eight stops whereas O’Malley had a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss within the victory.
NIU (2-0) may have a bye subsequent week earlier than returning residence on Saturday, Sept. 21, because the Huskies host Buffalo of their Mid-American Convention opener.
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