The No. 5 Fighting Irish (1-0) kick off their 2024 home slate on Saturday playing host to the Northern Illinois Huskies (1-0) at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish moved up two spots on the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week after defeating the then-ranked No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies from the Southeastern Conference last weekend. The Huskies, one of the better teams from the Mid-American Conference, won their season opener in a rout, defeating Western Illinois 54-14. Saturday marks the first meeting between the two teams.
Avoiding a Letdown
The biggest challenge for the Irish on Saturday will be avoiding a letdown. Overcoming a difficult environment and winning an emotional and hard-fought contest in Week 1 can have lingering effects on a young team. The Irish outclass Northern Illinois on paper. But Marcus Freeman’s challenge this week is to have his squad focused on Northern Illinois and not the headlines from last Saturday’s dramatic win in College Station. If the coaching staff can manage that, Notre Dame should keep the momentum rolling into Week 2.
Despite facing a tough Texas A&M defense a week ago, Notre Dame’s inexperienced offensive line held its own. Behind freshman Anthonie Knapp and sophomore Sam Pendleton, quarterback Riley Leonard had a solid game returning from an injury. Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price both flashed, accounting for the Irish’s two touchdowns. Expect a conservative approach to the offensive game plan against Northern Illinois, a team the Irish should handle. Leonard will likely run the ball less on Saturday, opting instead to establish the running game out of the backfield. Leonard should also work on developing much-needed chemistry with his plethora of playmakers at wide receiver.
In speaking of the Irish’s running backs room at this week’s press conference, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock shared his thoughts on Love and Price and their importance to the offense.
“Both of those guys deserve to have their hands on the football,” Denbrock said. “As the year goes along, there will be games where Jeremiyah gets the bulk of the carries. And there will be games when JD (Jadarian) gets the bulk of the carries. Those guys are important pieces to what we do offensively.”
Scouting Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is one of the better teams in the MAC. Head coach Thomas Hammock is in his sixth season at the helm of the Huskies. His overall record is 25-33. A former running back for Northern Illinois—he rushed for over 1,000 yards each season as a sophomore and a junior—Hammock’s playing career was cut short due to a heart condition. Hammock led the Huskies to a MAC Championship in 2021. The team went 7-6 last season, defeating Boston College and Arkansas State. The latter in the Camellia Bowl.
The high-powered Huskies racked up more than 700 yards in total offense against Western Illinois a week ago. Quarterback Ethan Hampton, last season’s backup to Rocky Lombardi, enjoyed a stellar outing. He completed 18-of-20 passes for 328 yards (16.4 average). He threw five touchdown passes and zero interceptions. Trayvon Rudolph led all receivers, catching four passes for 104 yards (26.0 average) and a touchdown. He also had two carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Senior running back Antario Brown carried the ball just eight times for 69 yards (8.6 average) in his seasonal debut. In 2023, he amassed 1,296 yards (6.1 average) on the ground and scored 10 touchdowns for the Huskies. Brown will likely be called upon to pace the offense against the Irish.
Irish Defense Bracing for NIU’s Challenging Offense
Northern Illinois is known for producing explosive plays and putting up points quickly. While they dominated Western Illinois, the Huskies will face a much tougher challenge against Al Golden’s experienced Notre Dame defense. Golden is aware of NIU’s offensive capabilities and is not taking them lightly.
“This is a team that is playing really well,” Golden said of Northern Illinois at this week’s press conference. “They are playing good football. They have our full attention. We are going to need every ounce of energy we have this week because of how challenging their system is.”
Jordan Faison Out Against Northern Illinois
Notre Dame starting wide receiver Jordan Faison will miss one to two weeks due to a sprained right ankle he sustained in last Saturday’s season opener. Faison caught two passes for 12 yards before exiting the game. Last season Faison had 19 receptions for 322 yards (16.9 average) with four touchdowns. Sophomore KK Smith is expected to see more playing time in place of Faison against Northern Illinois. Florida International transfer Kris Mitchell and Micah Gilbert could also make appearances.
“Faison was the only major injury from that game,” Freeman said in his Monday press conference. “We expect him to be out (for) probably one to two weeks, but we’ll see over the next week how he improves and when he’ll be able to come back. With Faison being down, KK (Smith) will have an increased role. But there’s a lot of confidence from Micah Gilbert on down to everybody in that room. And I think we’ll see (Smith) on Saturday for sure.”
All Eyes on the Irish
Last week’s season opener on ABC turned out to be the second most viewed Saturday night game in more than two years and was the most streamed regular season college game ever, according to ESPN PR. Viewership peaked at 9.3 million viewers with an average of 8.2 million viewers. While the success of last week’s season opener is a testament to the growing popularity of Notre Dame football, Saturday’s game against Northern Illinois may not attract the same level of viewership as a high-profile game.
The importance of Saturday’s Week 2 contest, however, cannot be overstated for the Fighting Irish’s overall success this season. This week’s matchup against Northern Illinois is still crucial for Notre Dame to maintain an undefeated record to start the season. Notre Dame is 7-0 all-time against teams from the MAC. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish should remain perfect this season and against the MAC following Saturday’s meeting against Northern Illinois.
