Gameplan

Welcome back to The Call Sheet!

Week 2 of the 2024 college football season reminded us football is one-third offense, one-third defense, and one-third special teams. Across the country, we witnessed ranked and unranked teams play complete football and others that struggled. No game better exemplified that than NIU-Notre Dame. The Huskies went on the road to South Bend and left with the program’s first-ever win over a top-10 opponent. We’ll dive into some of the biggest moments from the game. TLDR:

• Cover 1

  • NIU Takes Down #5 Notre Dame

Cover 1

NIU Takes Down #5 Notre Dame

On a weekend when six of the top-25 teams fell, none felt bigger than #5 Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois. The Fighting Irish paid the Huskies $1.4 million to visit South Bend and presumably take a beating, but NIU had other plans.

Northern Illinois played a complete game and succeeded in all three phases: outgained ND by 102 yards, forced two turnovers, and blocked two field goals.

The Huskies dominated the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively, which heavily contributed to the final result, but the most significant difference was NIU’s defense (and special teams), which forced stops and kept points off the board.

Defense

Throughout the game, NIU disrupted everything the Irish wanted to do offensively. Notre Dame only gained 163 yards through the air and 123 on the ground. In a matchup where ND had significantly more talent, only gaining 286 is a testament to NIU’s defensive gameplan: gap-sound run fits and zone coverage against the pass. The zone coverage, in particular, bottled up ND receivers and created two interceptions.

NIU’s first interception came towards the end of the first quarter on a first-down play near midfield. Notre Dame ran a variation of smash to the boundary and curls to field against a Cover 6 (Cover 2 to the boundary & Cover 4 to the field) look from the Huskies. Riley Leonard progressed from the smash concept to the curls but was late to throw the ball to the H, running an over-the-ball (OTB) curl. Since Cover 4 essentially turns into man-coverage past eight yards, the strong safety drove on the receiver’s upfield shoulder and punched the ball away, which fell into the hands of the middle linebacker.

Leonard’s second interception of the game was another poor decision. With a chance to put the game away late in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame ran a nearly identical play; this time, the H ran a crossing route instead of an OTB, and the Z ran a post instead of a curl. Leonard quickly progressed off the smash concept and took a shot downfield to the post against Cover 3. With a deep post safety and a deep third corner in the immediate vicinity, Leonard threw a ball into double coverage. It didn’t help that he underthrew his receiver, which allowed the corner to cut underneath to pick off the ball.

What will likely haunt Leonard on the second interception is that he missed the H receiver running free on a crossing route. The running back’s check-down hitch held both linebackers just long enough to create a window for a layered ball over their heads.

Special Teams

Blocking one kick is hard enough to do during a season, but NIU blocked two in a single game! Both came in critical moments: the first at the end of the second quarter and the second at the end of the game to secure the upset victory. Northern Illinois perfectly executed their middle-right field goal block with interior players getting their hands on low kicks. In both plays, NIU’s defensive linemen knocked back ND’s offensive linemen, which allowed them to get a yard closer to the kicker.

Beating a top-10 team on the road is no easy feat, but Northern Illinois showcased a recipe for success. After hitting some big offensive plays in the first quarter, the Huskies found ways to frustrate Notre Dame’s offense. Beyond turning the ball over, the Irish were forced to punt it away on five drives. Nine of ND’s eleven possessions ended without putting points on the board. Hats off to Thomas Hammock and his staff for giving their players the best chance to win, and kudos to the young men who executed that gameplan.

If you’re new, you can catch up on previous posts here. Thank you all for spending a little bit of your day with me. See you next week!