We expected a letdown today at Notre Dame Stadium.

We do not expect nor anything to be put down in game number two.

It's always a bad sign when someone comes up to you, John Bryson,

and asks, is this worse than Marshall when there's still time left in a football game?

That's what happened today.

Northern Illinois is worse in Marshall. Northern Illinois

16, Notre Dame 14. Welcome back to Irish Illustrated overtime. I'm Tim O'Malley, joined by John

Bryce of Football Scoop. And I mentioned if they lost a Texas A&M, that place would have been a morgue.

It wasn't much better when Notre Dame scuffled to score for a solid two quarters and really for

most of the game. Yeah, and Notre Dame, again, we touched on this instant analysis after the

contest, no offensive identity, nothing remotely resembling any consistency. And then for a very

strange change, Notre Dame defensively could not consistently get off the field.

That's not what we've come to expect from Al Golden units.

And, you know, only giving up 16 points.

Overall, that's playing good enough to win.

If you only give up 16 points, especially to a Northern Illinois, it's inexcusable to lose that contest.

Yeah, a crazy stat developed in the second half. Northern Illinois had 43 snaps and

Notre Dame had 21. Notre Dame held the ball for about seven minutes and 40 seconds. Northern

Illinois was in the 2220 range. That's on the defense as well. It is, of course, the offense couldn't get out of its own way.

They had a couple three and outs. They had a five play drive. They did have the one touchdown with a

beautiful highlight run by Jeremiah Love. That was going to go down in Notre Dame lore forever,

but they don't usually put those highlights for Notre Dame in 28 point upset losses, but that was a

...