How Northern Illinois Upset Notre Dame By The Numbers

Northern Illinois stunned the college football world on Saturday with a 16-14 victory over a top-10 Notre Dame team, and the stats tell the story.

NIU outgained Notre Dame in total yardage, 388 to 285, including a dominant ground game where they rushed for 190 yards compared to the Irish’s 123. Antario Brown led the Huskies with 99 yards on the ground, averaging five yards per carry.

Neither team excelled on third downs, but NIU had the edge, converting 37.5% of their attempts compared to Notre Dame’s 30%. The Huskies were also the only team to attempt fourth-down conversions, successfully converting one of two tries.

A critical difference was turnovers: Notre Dame turned the ball over twice, with interceptions by Jaden Dolphin and Christian Fuhrman, while NIU played a clean game with zero turnovers. Both teams committed three penalties for 35 yards each.

Notre Dame held a slight edge in first downs, 17 to 16, but that was one of the few categories where they led. Entering the game as 28-point favorites according to ESPN, the Irish fell short.

With this win, NIU improves to 2-0, while Notre Dame, coming off a strong win against Texas A&M in week one, will look to bounce back in their week three matchup against Purdue. The Irish defense has been stout, allowing an average of 14.5 points per game, but their offense will need to step up, as it’s averaging just 19.5 points per game.

Purdue, in its only game so far, dominated Indiana State with a 49-0 victory in week one, setting up an interesting contest as Notre Dame aims to get back on track.