"It's inexcusable!" — Postgame reaction to Notre Dame's EMBARRASSING 16-14 loss to NIU

well Notre Dame football fans this one is going to sting for a while I don't think there's any doubt about that season isn't over by any chance but today's 16-4 Notre Dame loss to Northern Illinois is not how Marcus Freeman or Riley Leonard or Mike Den brck Al golden go down the list it's not how any of them drew it up Jack but just short synopsis before we really dive into it how did it happen how did we get here it's just inexcusable the Notre Dame was not ready to to play for this game they I based on what we saw early in the game they thought they could just walk in here and beat Northern Illinois I I think it's that simple no one really played well Jaden Osberry on defense is the one name I can think of Jeremiah Love on offense both number fours played very well Riley Leonard had a bad game the majority of the defense had a bad game the offensive line had a bad game I a lot of the wide receivers had a bad game a lot of people had a bad game today uh and it cost no Dame no Dame a win let's start with the quarterback and I guess maybe we'll work in Reverse chronological order with that because I think his second interception of the game Riley Leonard threw two interceptions today no touchdown passes I think he was 20 of 32 for 163 yards I mean the numbers were not good second interception Jack uh it's second and one from Midfield Notre Dame is nursing a 14-13 lead there's about six minutes left in the game second and one that that's a good chance to take a shot maybe not for a Notre Dame offense that has not proved it can successfully take a shot there was a chance earlier in the game to Jaden great house beautiful throw by Riley Leonard Jaden grous drops it along the sideline that was in the first half we're talking about this interception though Jack couldn't have it especially since NIU returned it to the 50 and they walked their way into field goal range from there and kicked a 35 yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining or so and that was too much for Notre Dame to overcome even though Notre Dame tried to kick a 62 yard field goal we we'll get into that as well but let's stick with Riley Leonard the interception couldn't have it it happened it cost Notre Dame the game yeah uh terrible throw I I think Ry Leonard would tell you that himself he pretty much did after the game I I don't have a problem with the call I think they drew it up they had Chris Mitchell one-on-one I think if Leonard puts out in front of him Mitchell runs under that uh he had position but you could you could see the defensive back just put his foot in the ground come back to the ball and Mitchell had no chance it was it was a bad throw Leonard said he missed the read I I don't know if he did I I think he had Mitchell down there he he just missed it and it was a play that couldn't happen like you said they returned into the 50 if last week was the epit epitome of complimentary football this week was I mean anti- complimentary football like the the defense just gave up a few first downs let the clock trickle down to 34 seconds and by the time the offense got it back it was too little too late just outplayed on both sides of the ball you mentioned the defense let's stick with the offense for a second it it's 14 points Jack against NIU it it's not enough Jeremiah love with one of those touchdowns Riley Leonard actually looked very good on the first drive of Notre Dame had the first drive of the game it it wasn't uh I wouldn't call it methodical because it was a lot of quarterback run and maybe that is methodical for this Notre Dame for this Notre Dame offense given the Personnel that is methodical but um you know short passes a lot of Riley Leonard runs and he ends up running into the end zone himself for for Notre Dame's first touchdown 7 to zero but then NIU gets the ball and they misplay the kick they they don't even play the kick and it bounces just in front of the goal line Northern Illinois has to go 98 yards if it wants to tie the game I think at that point they're thinking let's just get enough breathing room to punch this thing and maybe play a little defense and get the ball back somewhere manageable no NIU says we're going to go 98 yards and 83 of that is going to be onario brown who just kind of C catch and run and and he's all by himself it was a it was a zone defense look for Notre Dame uh Kingston Ville yuasa was retreating to try to cover that middle area of the field he never turned his head around ball ends up going right by his ear hole Benjamin Morrison comes up and tries to play the ball that way at that point once onario Brown catches the ball he's Off to the Races we need to talk about him in this game how R cross said after the game that he's an NFL he is he had 223 yards from scrimmage before he got injured I don't think he ever came back into the game he might have come back I think he came back but he didn't do he didn't do too much okay so he has over 200 yards in this game I get it he probably is an NFL but if you're Notre Dame you can't let one guy beat you and and they kind of did well you have to realize that an antario Brown was the only guy who could beat you in this game and and he did I and that touchdown is the first play where it was like all right Notre Dame's defense didn't come to play yeah Kingston vamas didn't get his head around Benjamin Morris in kind of a half effort to get the ball he misses it he doesn't attempt to make the he doesn't really attempt to make the tackle and he's just gone and a half effort often ends up being a zero effort and that's basically what that was yeah no absolutely and it it just kind of spiraled from there I I think Northern Illinois had chances to get this lead bigger than it was in the first half they kicked a field goal inexplicably kicked a field goal on Fourth and two when they were running the ball wherever they wanted against Notre Dame like the the whole game Northern Illinois who who ended up averaging uh 4.2 yard yards per carry uh an anio Brown 5 yards per carry 20 for 104 yards like they dominated the line of scrimmage on the offensive side of the ball those numbers don't do it justice Notre Dame was getting pushed off the line of scrimmage on on both sides of the ball and I guess we'll go there um with the offensive side of the ball for Notre Dame Jeremiah love has a good game obviously a lot of that is the 34 yard touchdown run I believe it was where he literally hurdles a guy uh to get into the end zone that that's the thing with me in this game Jack it literally took a hurdle of a Defender for Notre Dame to get into the End Zone after Riley Leonard got him in the end zone the first time like why wasn't Notre Dame able to to match NIU and and push the pile move the ball and and score more points of their own they just didn't come out as strong as them it it's as simple as that I I think the the sense of urgency the effort the energy it was just it was all in the red and black side it was all in the red and black side I want to point to a stat I Jeremiah Love 11 carries 79 yards carries 7.2 yards per carry jarian price four carries 24 yards Riley Leonard Riley Leonard 32 passing attempts I and and 34 including sacks I put out a social media Post in the middle of the game Jack there was a point in this ball game before Jeremiah Love had four carries for 45 yards and the touchdown early in that in that third quarter before that so I guess it's basically halftime stats Riley Leonard 10 carries Jeremiah Love six carries jarian price Two Carries Riley Leonard had two more carries than Jeremiah Love and jarian price combined I mean I get it Riley Leonard's an effective Runner it it it allowed Notre Dame to score a touchdown today but do you feel like is it is it an offensive line issue no trust in the offensive line to move the the pile is that why love price aren't getting the ball more well I honestly I think Riley Leonard on design runs is effective like aside from sacks like the loss of 25 yards he he finished with 11 carries for 16 yards 25 of those were lost on sex so I think total he averaged a little more than four yards per carry that's a yeah something like nine for 41 that that's effective the Run game was more effective today than Notre Dame I think gave it credit for especially because they they probably should have realized that Leonard just didn't have it early he nothing as bad as the interception but he missed some throws let's talk about that um I I I feel like you were saying it all game in the Press Box he's a little late uh Mechanics for sure I'm no quarterback Guru but we all watch enough football to know what a goodlook attempt is and he has some some squirly ones and some some throws that leave you saying if only he did this or that maybe Notre Dame completes that pass like General assessment of Riley Leonard today yeah I want to go back to the timing because that was the biggest issue I had for most of the game the first interception was intended for Jaden gous he might have been open for a split second he Leonard hesitated a second let the defender the two defenders in the area close it on great house Threw It Anyway ball gets tipped interception intercepted it you have to have better timing than especially on so many of the the stop routes ner Dame was running some of them were were effective like the ones over the middle that's probably where Leonard was most effective he hit some out outbreaking stuff to the sideline Bo Collins had himself another another pretty nice day but you you just can't throw late on so many of those throws I and that's just what happened deep passing game there were so many people talking about this game as if it was going to magically appear two games into this Jack I'm getting more and more the sense that Notre Dame might not have that in its Arsenal um I I get it I I mentioned the one to great house that's a deep pass that should have been connected on Chris Mitchell probably scores a touchdown if that's a better pass on the second interception but those are the only two instances I can really think of where I'm I'm like okay Notre Dame is actually trying to throw the ball over defenders heads is is this something that Notre Dame is not going to have even against the nius of the world well right now it's not it it could be uh at some point later in the season we've been we've been banging the drum the offense is going to look better better later later later's coming up uh later later is now we thought the A&M game bought them some time to figure that out this loss really eliminated all of it because if they lose again they're not making the college football playoff with this with with this loss perfect perfect perfect segue let's go big picture now Jack we're standing down there North End Zone the one that NIU ends up kicking the game-winning field goal into and I look up after that goes through the uprights 16 to 14 and I'm thinking boy we've seen this before same exact score that Notre lost to Stanford two years ago in a in a game against the three and N Cardinal that they just you can't lose that one I I I get it it's an eight and4 season for Notre Dame it's kind of lost at that point anyway but at that point you only have two losses that's your third Jack I I I get the sense that and this is just purely opinionated speak coming from me right now the way that Notre Dame played in this game that's not an 11 in one football team to me can they turn it around can they run the table Never Say Never anything is possible but that team out there if that team shows up again you lose to a Louisville or a Georgia Tech or a Florida State or a USC or any combination of those teams I don't really see anyone else but heck you got to go down to Purdue and Purdue's got a decent enough offense I mean like would you say that NIU is better than Purdue or Purdue is better than NIU forget forget all forget all those teams like NIU is projected third in the Mac number one in the Mac projected and who won the MAC last year Miami Ohio who who comes here in week four Notre Dame can't beat anyone with with with that effort the best Maybe army maybe Navy maybe Virginia AR Army Navy Virginia Fine honestly maybe Purdue but we we'll we'll see next week but Howard cross put it best after the game like great interview by the way great great interview Howard cross he was he he sounded mad he sounded upset like see it too yeah he's been here for Toledo he's been here for Cincinnati he's been here for Marshall Stanford that I just mentioned Stanford Stanford that I just mentioned he's like it's the same thing they have to treat every opponent like it's Texas A&M last week like it's Texas A&M last week they didn't and and they just didn't come out with that same energy they didn't come out with that same fire they they weren't perfect against Texas A&M every Mist every mistake they made they made fast they weren't hesitant they weren't they they played with energy they played with effort that wasn't the case today and it worries me because now the seed of Doubt has been planted that that performance is possible by them like last year it was Louisville it was Clemson for large stretches it was Duke like oh no if we play like this we we can lose you got to go 10 games I don't care who they're against like you said Miami Ohio I said Purdue um Georgia Tech Florida State USC like they're out there you play that game against the better teams in that group you're probably getting blown out and and Jack it's just crazy because a week ago I don't think there was any circumstance in which we imagin Notre Dame getting blown out in any game and now it feels like it's possible and look we're going to talk Purdue next week and then we're going to talk Miami Ohio but again I want to end this video going big picture what do you kind of see what what what is this team now what is it going to do it that's for the team to decide in the next few weeks I I think the glass half full look of like this is you're capable of this is like Marcus Freeman can now tell his team like any opponent you're capable of this like you need to prepare better than he did this week we talked to Marcus after the game he he basically said I thought we prepared well clearly we did not and he he he and his coaching staff and the veteran leaders in this team need to find the answers because all week long Freeman was asked a couple times like you know is there any sense of like relaxing after after A&M and he emphatically said no it he he said you know they're treating they they had physical practices Tuesday and Tuesday and Wednesday a really good practice Friday like they that that was or really good practice Thursday I should say like that was that was the Mantra this week and we you know we didn't really have a reason not to believe them we we have a reason not to believe them now because they they pretty clearly thought they could just walk in here and win this game and it's tough when you go down the field and you score that opening touchdown that I talked about and you pin Northern Illinois on the 2 yard line and then all of a sudden it's a 7- seven ball game it's a 107 ball game you're losing 13 to7 at halftime boobds guys they were out in full force at halftime even louder after the game that's kind of where this program is at uh following this 16 to 14 loss to NIU the last thing that I'll say just kind of big picture- wise is we were all prisoners of the moment in that week one we don't know how good Texas A&M is Texas A&M could go on you know and finish nine and three but if you ask me right now they're probably more like a six and six seven and five football team if if this was any indication of what that week one matchup was I mean we'll see I I honestly don't think this says anything about Texas A&M this this says something about what Notre Dame looked like last week what they looked like this week last week they played some excellent complimentary football they were resilient they they didn't make nearly as many mental mistakes I mean they made a ton of mental mistakes they had to burn a timeout that they could have really used at the end of this game it's in the game it's in the game story go to Blue and gold.com they had to burn a second half time out because they weren't lined up right defensively and they could really use that at the end of this game and that that's just a mental mistake on defense that a team this old and this good just cannot have happened Jack there was another instance where they weren't lined up right defensively and Benjamin Morrison is standing across from two NIU wide receivers and they flip it out to one on the same drive the other blocks Morrison and it's it's easy 14 yards it's not it wasn't going to go for a touchdown but if you can give a team 14 yards they're going to take it NIU was smart they did it complimentary football it wasn't pretty for NIU but when you're when you're getting paid a million dollars to come to this stadium and play that team and you're the four touchdown underdog you you take it any way that you can get it and that's the lasting image for me Jack is NIU literally doing snow angels on the interlocking ND at Midfield they're doing cartwheels off the field it's um it's a sobering day for for a Notre Dame fan for sure yeah they earned it they were the more physical team today they played harder I they have every right to celebrate like like like they're celebrating right now because they earn this win like we said we're going to pre uh preview Purdue all week at this YouTube channel so definitely like this video we're still going to ask you to do that and we're going to ask you to subscribe and definitely stay with us uh throughout the week because like I said at the very beginning of all this it's not over this is a a tough blow if you're Notre Dame but it's not over there's 10 games left and we're going to cover them all the same so that's Jack Soo I'm Tyler haa and we will see you guys next time [Music] [Music]