Notre Dame's good vibes disintegrate after another inexplicable home loss, so how many more will be?

losing at home as a massive favorite has happened more than once under coach Marcus Freeman a week after number five notredam was praised for its toughness and big plays in a huge season opening win the Irish folded again at home under coach Marcus Freeman and likely disintegrated what seemed a week ago like a sh fire path to the college football playoff Northern Illinois 16 notra 14 it was not just a hiccup Saturday it was the result of an underlying disease decaying the bones of the proud Fighting Irish program Freeman's Bunch just can't seem to avoid big bangs and thuds in South Bend seemingly able to compete against the nation's best any week but more than willing to slog in the mud the next week against a Mac team the rash spreads across the program upsets happen but not like this not with a Mac team marching into notra Stadium dominating both lines of scrimmage blocking two field goals and coming up with big third down conversions again and again Freeman lost his third game as a two touchdown favorite at home the most by a coach in the sport since 2022 it wasn't just bad it was historic the Irish entered as 28o favorites marking the program's largest upset to any team since 1995 give Thomas hammock and his huskys their roses and clover leaves they didn't need luck as he said after the game to beat the Irish they also didn't need Blue Chip transfers or a media grabbing win against Texas A&M in week one to bolster their confidence we've got a veteran team a bunch of guys who have been through a lot of different things a teary-eyed hammock set after the game they worked together we are still college football I know there's a whole lot of other things with the transfer portal nil we still have a family and they believed in that family and doing things the right way I couldn't be more proud of them Northern Illinois didn't just upset notredam the Huskies were the better team they pushed the Irish around in the trenches and were so much more physical in the defensive backfield Feld particularly when their Corners played press coverage against the irish's new crop of transfer receivers notra Dame's skill players weren't helped by an erratic Riley Leonard the quarterback who seemingly lifted the team on his shoulders a week ago in a gritty win at Texas A&M when things got bad he just made things worse with his arm no throw was worse than his second interception late in the game when he he got the look he wanted with a man running free underneath the free safety he opted instead to force the ball further down the field over open receiver Chris Mitchell and into coverage the costly interception was returned by aarian knighten 33 yds Midfield with 631 remaining Northern Illinois's bullish offensive line one of the most experienced in the sport took over from there pushing the Irish to the second level as they marched down the field to set up Kanan woodill game-winning 35 yd field goal with 31 seconds remaining notredam got one last shot with a 62 yd field goal but Kate habberman blocked it to end the game and send the Huskies into a tizzy of Celebration it was a perfectly symmetrical end to the afternoon both the first and second halves ended with blocked field goals all these guys who have been with our program been through the ups and downs and continued to fight it's like they're my kids hammock said battling tears on the field as he spoke to NBC's camera I'm happy for the adversity to push through no matter the situation I just can't be more proud he paused collecting himself as he wiped away tears I'm sorry I'm sorry hammock who also played running back at Northern Illinois long ago had no reason to apologize he built this team and kept them together avoiding the Perils of the transfer portal over the last two seasons the 32 seniors on his roster are the sixth most in the FBS 11 players of his players have played in 40 plus games for Neu Freeman however has plenty to apologize for at notra no coach should repeat the same mistakes in their thirdy year leading a program as proud and talented as the Fighting Irish disappointing Freeman told reporters after the loss it's our job as coaches to make sure these guys are ready to go I've always said performance is a reflection of preparation the defense was fine which is Freeman's specialty but notra was a mess offensively throughout the day Mike Den Brock who coached QB Jaden Daniels to a Heisman Trophy last season for a record-breaking LSU offense couldn't dial up plays to keep the Irish in Rhythm the worst stretch came in crunch time after grabbing a 14-13 lead the irish's final four drives ended like this three and out three and out interception blocked field goal notra amassed only 286 yards and were outgained by more than 100 yards at home for only the fourth time in the last 15 years Northern Illinois running back antario Brown was a monster gobbling up 225 all-purpose yards to go along with a touchdown Leonard as mentioned was a mess completing 20 of 32 passes for 163 yards with two interceptions he was bottled up most of the afternoon as Neu limited his most dangerous weapon his legs make no mistake defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto's blueprint will be studied by every opponent on notra Dames schedule and more talented teams will have a field day with the irish's offensive line for its troubles Northern Illinois picked up the biggest win in Mac history and a fat $1.4 million check for traveling only 160 Mi to South Bend the Huskies will laugh all the way to the bank after the entered the afternoon 0 to 51 against top five teams most of the nation laughed alongside them two as they picked up one of the programs prized Boneyard victories their 19th against a power Conference Team meanwhile another smudge appeared on Freeman's resumee he lost his third game when favored by 16 points or more in the last two plus Seasons as coach two years ago he lost two including a stunner to Marshall as a 20.5 Point favorite notra was 42 to0 against unranked teams from 2017 through 2021 when Brian Kelly led the program too often coaches are convinced they can correct mistakes by coaxing Blue Chip recruits and transfers to Phil holes sometimes it works when that's not enough they'll add the hottest play collar in the sport sometimes that works too but when a program continues to lose games as massive favorites there's only one man left to blame