An NIU rally cry sparks Notre Dame upset and draws unlikely congrats

After the Northern Illinois stunned Notre Dame, everyone wanted to congratulate Huskies coach Thomas Hammock – even NY Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
‘Don’t need luck’ to beat Notre Dame. Northern Illinois Huskies embrace coach’s rally cry.
NIU coach has clairvoyant dream night before game against Notre Dame.

The Northern Illinois coach received hundreds of text messages from well-wishers after his Huskies upset Notre Dame, 16-14, on Saturday.

Several Mid-American Conference coaches pinged him with kind words after the biggest upset in conference history. Tucked amid the texts was a message from a number Hammock didn’t recognize.

It was New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, chiming in to say congratulations. Hammock, from Jersey City, New Jersey, is a lifelong Yankees fan.

“For Aaron Boone to send that message, trust me, I was like, ‘OK, this is awesome,’” Hammock told me Monday.

Hammock figures Northern Illinois alumnus Rick Cerrone shared his number with Boone. Cerrone, Baseball Digest’s editor in chief, previously worked for the Yankees.

The Yankees are the best team in the American League. If they win the World Series, might Hammock return the favor and text Boone a congrats?

“Hell yeah!” he exclaimed. “You know I saved that message. I saved that number. I hope that comes to fruition.”

I would say it will happen, with any luck, but Hammock and his Huskies proved last week they don’t need luck.

NIU Huskies embrace ‘don’t need luck’ mantra against Notre Dame

The Huskies erupted the first time Hammock used the line.

“We don’t need luck,” he said in a team meeting. His rally cry played off their opponent, the lucky leprechauns.

Hammock’s four-word sentence became NIU’s driving force. No need to be superheroes. Just play your best, and trust your best will be good enough. No luck necessary.

“It struck a chord with the whole team,” senior linebacker Jaden Dolphin said. “As the week went on, we continued to harp on it: We don’t need luck.”

Northern Illinois’ veterans knew they could beat Power Four opponents. The Huskies won at Boston College last season and at Georgia Tech in 2021. Hammock, a former running back, starred in the the team’s 2002 win at Wake Forest.

Those programs don’t enjoy Notre Dame’s pedigree, but Hammock believed his Huskies matched up well with an opponent ranked No. 7 in the US LBM coaches poll.

“To me, the game played out the way I thought it would play out,” Hammock said. “We stayed in the fight long enough to give ourselves a chance to win.”

The Huskies are an experienced team. Many of their top performers Saturday were in the program when NIU won the MAC in 2021.

That includes senior running back Antario Brown. He rushed for 99 yards against the Irish, added 126 more receiving and scored the team’s only touchdown.

The transfer portal becomes a siren’s call for Group of Five stars, and Brown evaluated his options after his standout junior season. He met with Hammock last winter and said he wanted to enter the portal. Then, Brown called Hammock that night. He’d had a change of heart. He decided to stay.

Hammock counts Brown’s decision as a case of personal relationships outweighing a chance at a transactional relationship with a bigger program.

“He’s committed to NIU,” Hammock said. “He doesn’t always let people in his circle, but I’m in his circle, and I’ve been there from Day 1. I think he trusts me, and that means a lot.”

Notre Dame scored on its opening possession before the Huskies stiffened. They tied the game in the first quarter when Brown caught a slant pass from Ethan Hampton and took it for a score.

Kanon Woodill took care of the rest.

NIU kicker on winning field goal: ‘It’s what we live for.’

Woodill had an idea while the second half unfolded that the game would be decided with a kick.

Northern Illinois intercepted Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard in the fourth quarter, while trailing by a single point. As NIU’s offense marched the field, Woodill put on the headset to discuss field positioning with special teams coordinator Adam Breske.

What yard line did the Huskies need to reach for Woodill to be comfortable trying a game-winning field goal?

Woodill told Breske the 30-yard line might be doable. The 25 would be better.

So, faced with fourth-and-2 from the 31, offensive coordinator Wesley Beschorner called a play-action bootleg pass. The Irish covered Hampton’s receivers, so he ran for the first-down marker.

“I put my foot in the ground and got upfield,” said Hampton, a fifth-generation Northern Illinois student who grew up watching Huskies games.

Hampton needed 2 yards. He gained 3. First down.

“I knew in that moment that we had the game,” Hampton said.

NIU reached the 18 before sending out Woodill for a 35-yard attempt.

Woodill delivers in big moments. As a freshman in 2021, his 26-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining lifted the Huskies past Central Michigan. He scored a touchdown on a fake field goal in NIU’s bowl victory last season against Arkansas State.

“When the game is on the line, that kid brings it,” Dolphin said.

And he brought it again. Woodill’s kick split the uprights.

“It’s what we live for,” Woodill said. “It’s such a privilege to have that responsibility and that pressure to go out and execute for the team. Yeah, it’s a little nerve-racking, but in the moment, you’re not necessarily focused on that.”

Notre Dame had just enough time left for a final chance of escape. Hail Mary, or desperately long field-goal try? Hammock could hardly believe the Irish attempted the 62-yarder.

“I’m on the sideline trying to count, how long is this field goal?” Hammock said. “Sixty-two yards?”

Woodill normally feels uncomfortable pulling for a kicker to miss, but the stakes were too high to play nice this time. 

“I really never try to wish for a kicker to miss,” Woodill said, “but, I gotta tell the truth. I was hoping a little bit that the ball did not go through the uprights.”

The ball never made it to the uprights.

Cade Haberman recorded his second blocked field goal of the game.

Forget luck. NIU simply outplayed the Irish.

The Huskies cued up Waka Flocka Flame’s “Grove St. Party” in the locker room. The song came out in 2010, and it’s served as the team’s victory music for many years.

Time to update the playlist? No way. Tradition is tradition.

‘That win will go down in the record books,’ Hampton said, ‘and we’ll be talking about it 20 years down the line when we’re old and fat.’

Northern Illinois upset of Notre Dame football a dream come true

Hammock dreamed of this moment. Literally.

Visions of NIU’s game against Notre Dame invaded Hammock’s sleep the night before game day. In Hammock’s dream, his team had a chance to beat the Irish on a last-minute field goal.

Hammock woke up before the kick.

“I don’t know what happened,” Hammock said. “I wasn’t sure which way it ended.”

He found out the next day. Woodill made the field goal, and the Huskies made history that resonated all the way to New York.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

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