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Sep. 7—SOUTH BEND — Quarterback Riley Leonard’s late turnover and the ensuing 35-yard field goal off the boot of Kanon Woodill helped Northern Illinois stun No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday in its second game of the season.
A 62-yard field goal by Irish kicker Mitch Jeter was blocked and recovered by the Huskies, leading to a massive 16-14 upset at Notre Dame Stadium.
“It’s right there on the edge,” Notre Dame’s third-year head coach, Marcus Freeman, said of Jeter’s attempt and whether it was within his range. “We have the wind at his back, so the thought process being with the wind at his back, if he gets under this thing and drives it, then there’s a shot that he can make it.”
The dissatisfied home-opening crowd reigned down groans and it led into boos, completing a true reverse of emotions from what the Irish received when the players ran out of the tunnel ahead of kickoff.
Freeman was soft spoken in the aftermath, trying to pick apart where it went wrong.
“We got to figure out where we failed in preparation,” Freeman said. “It’s disappointing. You go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in two weeks.”
The Irish scored a 23-13 road win last week at Texas A&M, which many hailed as the best victory of Freeman’s young tenure.
A loss to Northern Illinois reaches another low, one that mimics the home loss to Marshall in Freeman’s first year as head coach in 2022.
“We got to fix it. I’ve been here. We’ve been here before,” Freeman said. “Now its time to get it fixed and get back to playing football we know how to play and we’ve played before.”
Notre Dame opened Saturday’s contest with the first possession. A series of quarterback keepers from Leonard were paired with a solid third-down pass to Mitchell Evans to continue the opening drive. Leonard eventually got blocks from Devyn Ford and Jeremiyah Love, running the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nd-football-turnover-aids-northern-021600958.html
Author : Goshen News, Ind.
Publish date : 2024-09-08 02:16:00
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