The Fighting Irish’s unexplained loss to the Huskies will be forgotten if they win the championship, but an Ohio State victory would erase their loss to bitter rival Michigan.
On September 7, Jacob Finley, a cornerback for Northern Illinois, tackles Kris Mitchell, a wide receiver for Notre Dame. Clubb, Michael; USA TODAY NETWORK
Many title winners have survived a poor loss in the 88 years since the Associated Press first proclaimed a college football national champion and attempted to bring some structure to a chaotic sport. The 1975 Kansas Jayhawks (7-5) defeated the eventual champion Oklahoma Sooners by 20 points in Norman, Okla.; the 1977 Mississippi Rebels (6-5) defeated the future champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish in September of that year; and the 2014 Virginia Tech Hokies (7-6) defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes by 14 points in Columbus, Ohio, early in Ohio State’s most recent national championship season.
However, nothing in the history of terrible losses compares to the Irish being defeated 16–14 by the Northern Illinois Huskies on September 7 in South Bend if the current Notre Dame team wins the College Football Playoff championship game. A national champion dropping a game like that, one that the Irish paid the Huskies $1.4 million to play without the benefit of a rematch in DeKalb, Illinois, would be unprecedented.
When the Huskies entered Notre Dame Stadium as 28-point underdogs, it was the largest upset of 2024 in terms of point spread. At the time it occurred and even more so now, it most certainly stands as the greatest victory in the history of the Mid-American Conference. Thinking about how it occurred is similar to attempting to solve the puzzle of how the Incas constructed their pyramids in Peru in the 1400s.
That shocker served as a catalyst for NIU’s decision to officially quit the MAC and join the Mountain West Conference as a football member last week. Ironically, Notre Dame also used it as a launching pad.
In a team meeting on Monday following the defeat against Northern Illinois, coach Marcus Freeman instructed his players, “We have to keep the pain.” the anguish of losing and the lessons discovered about disrespecting an opponent. Every opponent after that was revered, and the most were defeated.
Notre Dame has not even gone close to losing since that bizarre September afternoon. The Irish have won 13 straight games with an average margin of 25.6 points. The Louisville Cardinals in late September and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl quarterfinal were the only two of those 13 wins that were decided by single digits. Only in the first half against Penn State, when the deficit was 10–0, has Notre Dame been behind by more than seven points in a game.
The FCS program Appalachian State Mountaineers’ 34–32 victory over the Michigan Wolverines to start the 2007 season was the benchmark upset for many college football fans. However, Northern Illinois ought to take precedence over Notre Dame.