Tag: Northern Illinois

Photos of Notre Dame’s Sugar Bowl win over Georgia

What image will you remember most?

Notre Dame hadn’t won a major bowl game in some time. In fact, the current players were little more than twinkles in their parents’ eyes. That all changed with a 23-10 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Now, the Irish are in the College Football Playoff semifinals against Penn State via the Orange Bowl. Hardly anyone could have predicted that after the loss to Northern Illinois, but that’s a testament to the unpredictability of this beautiful sport. The Irish have done everything right since then.

It’s hard to imagine such a joyous occasion in New Orleans when the city still was reeling from a New Year’s Day tragedy that delayed the Sugar Bowl by a day. Still, the Irish pulled it off during and after the game while still acknowledging those affected by such a horrific event.

Here’s are some images that the Irish players will recall when and if they ever return to the Big Easy:

Iowa football reportedly set to host Northern Illinois transfer portal WR

Iowa is hosting another transfer portal WR soon.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have another transfer portal target on their board.

According to 247Sports’ Chris Hummer, Iowa will welcome in former Northern Illinois wide receiver Cam Thompson for a visit on Jan. 9-10.

Thompson entered the NCAA transfer portal on Dec. 28 following Northern Illinois’ 28-20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Fresno State.

The 6-foot, 198 pound wide receiver just completed his sophomore season where he caught 28 passes for 391 yards and three touchdowns. Thompson’s most productive game of 2024 came against Ball State on Oct. 26 when he tallied eight grabs for 128 yards, including his 54-yard touchdown reception.

Thompson’s 391 receiving yards trailed only Trayvon Rudolph’s 37 receptions for 392 yards for the most on the Huskies roster.

According to Hummer, Thompson will visit Mississippi State on Jan. 5-6 and West Virginia on Jan. 7-8.

Iowa has been looking to add an experienced receiver with Division I production to complement what it has coming back for the 2025 season.

The Hawkeyes are set to return wide receivers Jacob Gill, Seth Anderson, Reece Vander Zee, Kaden Wetjen, Jarriett Buie, Dayton Howard, Terrell Washington Jr., KJ Parker and added Terrence Smith in their 2025 signing class.

In this transfer portal cycle, Iowa has added former Auburn quarterback Hank Brown and former Central Michigan defensive lineman Jonah Pace entering the 2025 college football season.

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Only team Notre Dame lost to in 2024 regular season wins bowl game

Remember the Huskies, Irish fans?

As great a 2024 season Notre Dame has had, the story never will be complete without the loss to Northern Illinois in the home opener. That meant the Irish had to win out to make the College Football Playoff. They did just that and have at least a first-round win to show for it.

The Huskies weren’t so lucky as they went .500 over the rest of the regular season, dropping them to 7-5. They settled for a berth in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Fresno State on Boise State’s famous blue turf.

It turned into the most thrilling bowl game so far this year. Neither team’s kicker could make a field goal to end it in regulation, and two overtimes were needed to determine a winner. Fortunately for the Huskies, they scored in that second overtime, and the Bulldogs didn’t, resulting in a 28-20 victory.

As the game ended and the celebration began, ESPN play-by-play announcer Lowell Galindo noted the Huskies were “celebrating like it’s South Bend”. You can see for yourself here:

Congratulations to the 2024 Huskies. While Irish fans won’t remember them fondly, they also should be grateful for them because without that loss, the Irish might not have dug as deep as they did and looked as dominant as they have since then.

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What’s at stake in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl between Fresno State and Northern Illinois

This is a huge game — particularly on the Fresno State side.

It’s bowl season in the college football world. All of those silly games with the silly titles and silly mascots are back.

Enter the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which will be played on Boise State’s Smurf Turf between Northern Illinois and Fresno State. These two programs might not be the powerhouses at the top of the college football world, but there’s still plenty for both sides to play for here.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TURNOVER:

For Northern Illinois, the Huskies will look to bookend their season successfully. The team started this year off by beating an eventual CFP team in Notre Dame. Now, Thomas Hammock’s squad will look to close things out with a bowl win over Fresno State. If he can pull it off, that’d be back-to-back bowl game wins for NIU’s head coach for the first time in his coaching career.

On the other side, Fresno State has won three straight bowl games since 2021 and will look to make it a fourth here. But it’ll have to happen under a coach with an uncertain future. Tim Skipper has been the team’s interim head coach since Jeff Tedford stepped away last season. Despite the positive vibes around Skipper’s tenure, the team has hired Matt Entz as its next head coach. This game will be a big one for the interim head coach’s resume as he looks for another job.

Former Iowa fullback shares transfer portal destination

The former Iowa fullback has found his transfer portal landing spot.

Another former Iowa Hawkeye has found his transfer portal landing spot.

Former Iowa fullback Rusty VanWetzinga committed to Northern Illinois. VanWetzinga departs Iowa after two seasons in which he played minimally.

The 6-foot, 235-pound fullback saw his first game action with Iowa during the Hawkeyes’ Citrus Bowl loss to Tennessee to cap the 2023 season. VanWetzinga played in four games this season but did not record any statistics.

Now, VanWetzinga joins an NIU program that put together a 7-5 (4-4 MAC) campaign in 2024. The Huskies will face Fresno State (6-6, 4-3 Mountain West) on Monday, Dec. 23 at 1:30 p.m. CT in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

“Thank you Iowa for a great two years,” VanWetzinga said in his post on X to announce his departure. “After a coaching/system change over the past year on offense, I have decided it is in my best interest to enter the transfer portal with three years of eligibility left as a linebacker/fullback.”

VanWetzinga’s younger brother, Joey VanWetzinga, just signed as part of Iowa’s 2025 signing class.

Like his older brother, Joey VanWetzinga comes to Iowa out of Pleasant Valley High School. A 6-foot-2, 260 pound offensive lineman, Joey VanWetzinga was ranked by ESPN as the No. 10 center in the 2025 signing class.

With Rusty VanWetzinga moving on and Hayden Large exhausting his eligibility, Eli Miller is the lone fullback projected to be on Iowa’s 2025 roster.

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Riley Leonard pens message to Notre Dame fans in The Players’ Tribune

Hear from the Irish’s QB.

[autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] has experienced it all in what will be his only season as Notre Dame quarterback. After a celebrated career at Duke, he opted to use up his college eligibility with the Irish, with whom he experienced incredible highs and the lowest of lows.

Leonard details all of that in a piece for The Players’ Tribune directed towards Irish fans. While some of it touches on his earlier life and his path to becoming a faith-based individual, the parts Irish fans likely will be most interested in are about his decision to come to the Irish and his experience in the immediate aftermath of the stunning loss to Northern Illinois that opened the home schedule.

No matter how the 2024 Irish’s season ends, Leonard forever will be seen a key reason the team made the College Football Playoff during its first year under the 12-team format. And if you’d like to hear more from him, here’s a recent interview he did with NBC Sports’ Nicole Auerbach:

Best of luck to Leonard for the rest of the season.

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Marcus Freeman named one of five finalists for Dodd Trophy

He deserves this for sure.

Notre Dame easily could have folded after its shocking loss to Northern Illinois in its home opener. Instead, [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] got the Irish back on track, and they haven’t lost since. That put the Irish in the College Football Playoff, and Freeman’s reward was a contract extension that locked him up for the next six years.

Now, Freeman has another reward coming his way. He has been named one of five finalists for the Dodd Award, which is given to the coach whose team best excels on the field, in the community and in the classroom. This is his first time making the final cut alongside all the other finalists, consisting of Army’s Jeff Monken, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer.

Brian Kelly is the lone Irish coach to win this award, doing so in 2018. Given the current environment, it’s very likely Irish fans would be much happier seeing Freeman win it.

Here’s Freeman news conference this past week in case you missed it:

Obviously, the real goal is a national championship, but this is a nice one to have at the moment.

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Photos of Notre Dame football’s victory over USC in annual rivalry game

What image will you remember most from this game?

Notre Dame is in the College Football Playoff after closing the regular season with a 49-35 victory over USC. It’s great whenever the Irish defeat the Trojans, especially on the road, but this one carried extra meaning for the aforementioned reason. Historically, the Irish have needed this win a bunch of times to determine their postseason fate, and they answered the call again.

Now, the Irish play the waiting game as to where they’ll be playing their first playoff game and who. It’s almost if not completely certain that they’ll be opening at Notre Dame Stadium, so fans undoubtedly are making their travel plans for South Bend for that weekend if they haven’t already. Who would have thought that was possible after the loss to Northern Illinois?

While there are bigger things ahead, that doesn’t mean the Irish shouldn’t enjoy their win over the Trojans. In fact, they might want to look back at photos of the day such as the following:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through 11 games

Who leads the Irish heading into the final regular-season contest?

Notre Dame has its fate in its own hands for the College Football Playoff. All it needs to do is defeat USC, and a first-round game at Notre Dame Stadium appears to be a certainty. Who would have thought the Irish would be in such a good position after the loss to Northern Illinois threatened to derail their season early?

The Irish can’t afford to get complacent though. The Trojans have not had a great season, but dealing the Irish a loss that could threaten their playoff chances would make up for everything that has gone wrong for them. That’s why the Irish will need to prepare for them like they would for any ranked team, and the talent they have should allow them to emerge victorious.

Here are the major statistical leaders the Irish are taking into their regular-season finale. Not all of them will be available, but they’re fun to see nonetheless:

Notre Dame vs. Virginia: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

This quarter was uneventful, but that’s OK with the win.

Notre Dame didn’t need to do anything fancy to close out Virginia. Never mind that it failed to score on fourth-and-goal to cap a lengthy drive that began in the third quarter. It already had done enough to secure a 35-14 victory, which featured Tony Muskett running for a garbage-time touchdown.

Even though [autotag]Zac Yoakum[/autotag] capped another long drive by missing a 36-yard field goal, hardly anybody at Notre Dame Stadium cared at that point. The Irish were going to cap their home season with another victory. At least for the moment, the loss to Northern Illinois that happened there in September felt like a distant memory.

Obviously, Irish fans aren’t going to forget about that defeat to the Huskies entirely because it still threatens to derail their team’s chances at the College Football Playoff.

The focus now was on the seniors playing perhaps their final game in South Bend. It never is easy for Irish fans to say goodbye to those players, but all good things must end. If this is it for them at home, it was a nice way to go out.

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