Notre Dame Upset at Home by Northern Illinois; Texas Crushes Michigan in Ann Arbor

There were a few Top 25 ranked college football teams that were upset over the September 6-7 weekend, but the one that stands out the most was #5 Notre Dame losing to Northern Illinois 16-14 in South Bend. Huskies kicker Kanon Woodhill kicked a 35 yard field goal with 31 seconds left to give Northern Illinois the lead, and the defense blocked a desperation 62 yard field goal attempt by Notre Dame as time expired to preserve the win.

Northern Illinois (2-0), out of the MAC conference, got its first ever victory over a Top 10 ranked team, as well a victory in its first ever game with Notre Dame (1-1). The Huskies do schedule non conference games against Big 10 or other power conference schools, and had a string of five seasons (2010-2014) where they had a minimum of 11 victories each season. In 2012, Northern Illinois finished 12-2, with their 2nd loss versus Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Notre Dame, with its annual college football playoff ambitions, upset #20 Texas A & M on the road last week and will regroup at Purdue next week. Northern Illinois will host MAC opponent Buffalo on September 21st.

Other Top 25 upsets included Illinois over #19 Kansas 23-17, Syracuse over #23 Georgia Tech 31-28, and Iowa State over Iowa 20-19. Cyclones’ kicker Kyle Konrady booted a 54 yard field goal with six seconds left to win it and stun the intrastate rival Hawkeyes. Iowa State had the ball on its own 22 yard line with 34 seconds left, and QB Rocco Becht completed three passes in 29 seconds to get the Cyclones in position to win.

In Ann Arbor, #10 Michigan hosted #3 Texas. Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 24 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns for a 31-12 Texas victory over the defending national champion Wolverines. With the impressive victory, the Longhorns switched places with Ohio State in the Top 25, advancing to #2. Looking ahead, Texas will host three unranked teams (Texas-San Antonio, Louisiana-Monroe, and Mississippi State) in the next three weeks, followed by a bye week. The Longhorns will play at #15 Oklahoma on October 12th, and will host #1 Georgia on October 19th.