Week 2 of the 2024 college football season was a wild one that did not disappoint, but no game was quite as shocking as the upset pulled by the unranked Northern Illinois Huskies as they defeated the No. 5-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 16-14.
The loss exposed several concerning issues Notre Dame needs to fix with immediacy, while it also highlighted some potentially underrated players on the Huskies sideline.
Here’s a look into four things we took away from Saturday’s close game between Notre Dame and NIU.
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1. Field goal-kicking comes in clutch when needed for NIU
Notre Dame’s subpar performance played perhaps the largest role in NIU’s surprising victory, but the Huskies had several high points of their own. Kicker Kanon Woodill was among the most important players for NIU on Saturday, going 3-for-4 on his attempts.
There was nothing positive about his 53-yard miss at the top of the second half, but with a final score that came down like this one did, field goals made all of the difference. The credit for the game-winner also goes to Woodill, as he sent one through the uprights in the final 30 seconds of the game to put things on ice.
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2. Antario Brown shines for NIU
The heart and soul of the NIU offense came from running back Antario Brown. The senior rusher crossed the century mark twice over in all-purpose yards, finishing out the contest with 99 rushing yards on 20 carries, 126 receiving yards, and a touchdown on two receptions.
His versatility, effective in both the running and the passing game, also stuck out in the season-opener. Brown finished that 54-14 win over WIU with eight carries for 69 yards, also catching two passes for 45 yards.
While he might not receive as much of the national spotlight as the running backs on more notable Power-4 schools, expect Brown to continue shining this season.
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3. Riley Leonard has shown sparks, but must improve quickly
Few Notre Dame players have been ripped on social media following the upset quite the way that Leonard has been. The Fighting Irish signal-caller has not lived up to expectations yet (even though it is very early) after some of the highly impressive flashes he showed at Duke while fighting injury issues.
Leonard finished the game 20-for-32 passing, throwing for 163 yards with two interceptions and one rushing touchdown. This follows a lackluster performance in the season-opener in which Leonard connected on 18 of his 30 passing attempts without a single touchdown.
4. Much more to fix on offense outside of just quarterback play
People tend to like to point to the head coach or the quarterback pretty instantly whenever a team is struggling on the offensive side of the ball, and it’s fair to say that Leonard took the majority of the flack from the fan base for the loss. But being stunned by NIU exposed far more areas for improvement outside of just signal-caller.
The offense as a whole is not up to par, averaging 4.6 points per quarter so far this season. Leonard has been inconsistent and seems to lack comfortability in the offense, but the misusage of standout Jeremiyah Love, a young offensive line, problems within the supporting cast, and some questionable play-calling by Mike Debrock are also things that need to be taken into account.
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