By Woodrow Carroll
September 7, Northern Illinois shocked Notre Dame with a 16-14 victory, in a game that made national news. At the time, the Fighting Irish were ranked No. 5 in the polls. As you might imagine, Notre Dame took a beating in the polls after that upset loss. Well, the Irish are almost back to where they were prior to meeting Northern Illinois.
Thanks to an eight-game winning streak following the setback to Northern Illinois, the Irish find themselves ranked No. 6 going into this week’s action. Given that Notre Dame will face undefeated Army (9-0) Saturday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m., and always formidable Southern California the following week, there is every reason the Irish could be in the Top 4 when the regular season concludes. Of course, Army and/or Southern Cal may have something to say about Notre Dame’s ranking.
The Northern Illinois team that downed the Irish early in the season, and then wandered all over the place in the following weeks, is in position to close out on a positive note.
The Northern Illinois Huskies defeated visiting Akron, 29-16, in MAC conference game Wednesday of last week. The expected Northern Illinois’ victory moved the Huskies overall record to 6-4, The conquest of the Zips virtually assured Northern Illinois a bowl game invite.
Northern Illinois is set to play at Miami (O.) Tuesday and the regular season will conclude when they will play host to Central Michigan Saturday, Nov. 30.
Last season Northern Illinois had to beat the final two teams on the schedule, Western Michigan and Kent State, just to become bowl eligible, which they did! Then Northern Illinois beat Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl, with a 7-6 finish for Northern Illinois.
•University of Illinois already had secured a bowl invite by the time when they defeated Michigan State, 38-16, last Saturday. Now, the target now for Illinois is a quality bowl game.
While not a sellout, the gate for the Michigan State game was 52,660. On two occasions this season, for games with Kansas and Michigan, Memorial Stadium was filled to capacity at 60,670. It’s as if fans knew that the Illini were going to make waves this season.
Illinois played seven home games this season and finished with a 6-1 record on friendly turf. The lone setback in Champaign this season was a 25-17 loss to Minnesota.
Games at Rutgers, Saturday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m., and Northwestern, Saturday, Nov. 30, will round out regular-season play for Illinois. For the Illini, victories over Rutgers and the Northwestern, can only add to Illinois’ appeal.
The Illinois game with Northwestern will take place at Wrigley Field. Long the home venue of the Chicago Bears, before they made Soldier Field their home field, Wrigley Field is usually associated with the Chicago Cubs. Still, the Bears and Chicago Sting Soccer Club, among others, fared well while calling the friendly confines, home.
•Northwestern (4-6 and 2-5) was host to Ohio State at Wrigley Field last Saturday. The gate was 38,174 and the Ohio State Buckeyes were well represented.
If Northwestern has any hope of playing in a bowl game, they will have to defeat both Michigan and Illinois, their final two games of the season.
They will play at Michigan Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2:30 p.m.. But, defending National Champion Michigan has its own bowl concerns. Presently 5-5 overall, the Michigan Wolverines need that sixth victory to become bowl eligible. And, if the Wolverines fail to take care of business against Northwestern, they will have to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes, who have their own bowl agenda.