Northern Illinois over Notre Dame is what makes college football more than NFL Lite

Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock’s cheeks were soaked with some of the happiest tears of his life. He was soaked with the overwhelming joy of leading his alma mater to the biggest win in school history.

His nose ran as pride overcame him. It wasn’t pretty, but it was beautiful.

It was American football in college.

“All these guys that have been in our program, they’ve been through the ups and downs and they keep fighting. It’s like they’re my kids. I’m happy with the adversity. They keep going no matter what,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud.”

“THEY BELIEVED.”

Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock spoke from the heart after an incredible upset against Notre Dame. @NIU_Football photo.twitter.com/pFrS5ok5U7

— NBC Sport (@NBCSports) September 7, 2024

When the underdogs finished their 2.5-hour bus ride home to DeKalb, Illinois, after their win over No. 5 Notre Dame with a 28.5-point lead, a throng of fans waited in the dark to greet them.

The HUSKIE FAITHFUL gave the dawgs a warm welcome last night!! Thanks to all the fans‼️#FLOAT | #TheHardWay 🦴🏴‍☠️ photo.twitter.com/HBWVctBovO

— NIU Football (@NIU_Football) September 8, 2024

Watching the aftermath of the weekend’s most impactful result reminded me why this has been my favorite sport for decades. I enjoy the NFL, America’s most popular sport. But I love college football. I grew up with it.

For me, the difference between the two was made clear by Hammock’s Huskies and everything they experienced: every weekend a team plays a game that the players will remember for the rest of their lives.

GALLING DEEPER

Thomas Hammock and Northern Illinois believed – and it was enough to shock Notre Dame

Also on Saturday, a freshman kicker named Kyle Konrardy — who had never attempted a college kick — turned the entire state of Iowa around by connecting on a 54-yard field goal to give Iowa State the lead over Iowa for the second time in a decade.

In Week 1, oft-downtrodden Vanderbilt snapped a 10-game losing streak by pummeling trendy College Football Playoff contender Virginia Tech and surviving a furious comeback with an overtime victory, prompting a flood of chest bumps, hugs and “I love yous” as the sidelines spilled onto the field.

This moment 🥹 photo.twitter.com/wCH8nyNDvZ

— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) September 1, 2024

And in Week 0, Georgia Tech flew to Ireland and defeated the conference’s proudest program, Florida State, which went 13-0 last season en route to an ACC title. It may mean more to the players participating, but it also means a whole lot to the fans and alumni watching from all over the country and the world.

Northern Illinois signed on to play what is commonly known in college football as a “paycheck game,” earning $1.4 million for the experience of playing on one of the sport’s most hallowed grounds and, I assume, losing. Sometimes, though, these kinds of games don’t play out the way the architects of the contract intended.

Whatever happens this season or the rest of Hammock’s career at NIU, the reality is this: Decades from now, people will still be talking about the moment their beloved Huskies walked into Notre Dame Stadium, kicked a 35-yard field goal to win the game, and blocked a 62-yard prayer to seal the game.

Over the past five years, college football has rapidly evolved (some might even say degenerated) into something very different from what we who grew up with the sport have come to love.

The composition of conferences is unnatural, the tectonic plates shifting by mindless movements fueled by checks from television companies, at the expense of tradition, athlete experience and regional identity, once the hallmark of the sport.

Athletes finally have the freedom to monetize their names, images, and likenesses that they’ve long deserved. But as the sport has been forced into a more equitable framework by the courts, that newfound freedom has also made managing player selections more difficult than ever. And the connection between players and their campuses has never been weaker.

The NCAA is embroiled in a never-ending series of anti-monopoly lawsuits that will further transform college sports.

Northern Illinois’ total athletic revenue last year was just over $22 million. The nation’s leaders in that particular race — Ohio State and Texas — brought in revenues more than 10 times that amount.

The Huskies have a collective called Boneyard Victor E., and while exact numbers are hard to come by, it’s safe to assume no Northern Illinois squad will be playing for $20 million like Ohio State or even $12 million like Florida State.

Schools like NIU, where Huskie Stadium seats 28,211 compared to Notre Dame Stadium’s 77,622 seats, are often left helpless when bigger schools see standout players on film in leagues like NIU’s Mid-American Conference and offer a check those schools can’t match to add a blue-blood player to the roster.

Hammock’s roster was not immune. Florida stole NIU edge rusher George Gumbs. Louisville grabbed center Pete Nygra.

NIU beat Notre Dame on the scoreboard and at the line of scrimmage anyway.

These are new realities that programs in lower conferences are having to deal with. The largely static ecosystem of sports over the last century has quickly morphed into a merciless food chain, and those in the bottom half are struggling to deal with the consequences. It’s not just players: Good head coaches at smaller programs are leaving for coaching positions at better-funded programs, often with a clearer path to their own dreams.

Perhaps moments like we saw in the first few weeks will become rarer as schools outside the four major conferences find it increasingly difficult to retain their best players and recruit great coaches.

I suspect not. I hope not.

A secret of college football is that the players at the bottom of the rankings generally work just as hard as the players at the top. They may be less talented in size or skill, less well-coached, or have fewer resources to maximize their skills.

But they work hard. And they do it with zero promise that it will pay off with a moment like the one the Huskies enjoyed on Saturday.

So when that work becomes visible to everyone? When a moment like we saw on Saturday comes without warning? It affects me. I suspect it affects you, too.

That’s why everyone in America wants a microphone to talk to Hammock, the 43-year-old coach in his sixth season at NIU, after Saturday’s shock. He earned just over $677,000 last season to work as hard as Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who is earning more than $6.5 million in 2022.

Hammock’s tears resonated with everyone who saw them. How could they not? There is so much in our daily lives that is ordinary. So much that is artificial.

What Northern Illinois did was extraordinary. It was authentic.

It was beautiful.

It was American football in college.

(Photo of Northern Illinois defensive end Jalonnie Williams: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)