What we learned from NIU, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Illinois from college football Week 1

Here's what we learned about Northwestern, NIU, Illinois and Notre Dame after the first official weekend of college football.

NOTRE DAME:

In the second half of No. 6 Notre Dame’s 27-24 loss to No. 10 Miami in Miami Gardens, the Irish had no choice. 

Off came the training wheels for quarterback CJ Carr. Off to the races he went.

Carr finished 19 of 30 with three total touchdowns – two through the air and one on the ground – in his first career start in a game Irish fans had been waiting for.

When it mattered most, he led the Irish on a game-tying touchdown drive in the game’s final minutes. The only problem was that it came too late in the game. Notre Dame spent the first two and a half quarters trying to get Carr to settle in with easy completions and a screen game to counteract the messy situations brought on by the rainy Florida weather.

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock will face the music this week for only getting 16 total carries between preseason All-American Jeremiyah Love and his also insanely talented counterpart Jadarian Price. Love had 33 yards on 10 carries; Price had 45 yards on six carries.

The Hurricanes were owning the trenches, but getting Carr easy completions should have come secondary to getting Love, the best offensive player on Notre Dame’s roster, into a groove. He had a 16-yard run, hurdle included, to the one-yard line, called back on a hold.

Still, when Notre Dame went down 21-7, there wasn’t any choice but to let Carr rip the football. The kid did.

"He's going to be a really good quarterback. Everything I thought he was going to be," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. "He's a gamer, man. He performs when the lights are on."

Notre Dame learned they have a potential star quarterback on their hands. He’s quick to forget a mistake, tough enough to take hits and has the clutch gene to will the Irish back to life in the fourth quarter. Letting him grow earlier in the game might have allowed the Irish playmakers to settle in themselves.

The difference in the game came down to Miami making plays. For example, Malachai Toney’s first touchdown, CJ Daniels’ insane one-handed touchdown grab and the quadruple-tipped interception Rueben Bain Jr. nabbed. You just have to tip your cap sometimes. 

But, Notre Dame has a quarterback. Denbrock has a week to prepare the offense for Texas A&M, where Carr can let it rip in front of a home crowd.

NORTHWESTERN:

This weekend was another tough moment for the Wildcats as the hits just keep coming. Northwestern has a long way to go on the field. It also featured a tough situation for David Braun’s group.

A week and a half ago, the university and former football coach Pat Fitzgerald settled Fitzgerald’s lawsuit against the school. After that settlement, Northwestern released a statement where it said, "The evidence uncovered during extensive discovery did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing." Fitzgerald was exonerated, but the program’s iconic figure was exiled as a result of the university’s messy house.

On Saturday, the program had terrible looks on and off the field.

According to Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, the Green Wave wanted to wear white uniforms to commemorate the 2005 Tulane team that took the field after Hurricane Katrina. Tulane had to request to wear white, but Northwestern declined the request.

Tulane promptly outclassed the Wildcats 23-3, forcing five Northwestern turnovers and allowing Sumrall to stand on his business after the game firmly.

"When you disrespect the city of New Orleans, you’re going to run into it," Sumrall said, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I’m not trying to be a jerk, but don’t disrespect the city of New Orleans."

Northwestern declining a uniform request isn’t unheard of. According to Matt Fortuna, Tulane requested to wear white on Aug. 17, when these requests are usually made a few months in advance. And wearing purple in the New Orleans heat would have been very warm for Northwestern.

It’s really a lose-lose situation for Northwestern. Put yourself in a difficult logistical situation before a road game, or draw the ire of the home team. 

However, NU isn’t really in a place where it can afford more hits to its public image. Not allowing Tulane to reflect in its own way on a moment in time when homes, lives and livelihoods were devastated was going to reflect poorly on Northwestern, no matter what the result of the game was.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS:

One of the biggest revelations in NIU’s win over Holy Cross was how head coach Thomas Hammock didn’t really enjoy its win over Notre Dame last year. 

That was the biggest win of Hammock’s career. It was one of the biggest in NIU history, too. Hammock moved on all the same. On Saturday, he was clear that he’s going to celebrate all of his wins going forward.

"Every time we win, I'm going to enjoy it until the end of my career," he said. "I'm getting too old not to enjoy this thing."

It’s good he did, too. NIU needed a Week 1 game to get calibrated.

New offensive coordinator Quinn Sanders’ offense struggled to find consistency. Running back Chavon Wright had a 45-yard burst that helped set up a field goal, and his two-yard run created the separation NIU needed.

Quarterback Josh Holst displayed running ability, but needs to find a niche in the passing game. Holst also left the game, but returned near the end. The NIU defense is fine. The defensive line has a clutch gene, and Hammock said defensive end Roy Williams is the engine that drives the Huskies’ defensive front.

NIU doesn’t have much time to get its offense corrected. They have Maryland next, followed by Mississippi State. But, in this day and age of college football, some teams need a get-right game. A team with transfer additions needs to figure out how the pieces fall into place.

They’d rather not do it in real time, of course. But, it’s important that it happens all the same. NIU needed Saturday against Holy Cross.

ILLINOIS:

That’s what you’re looking for, if you’re an Illinois fan.

Western Illinois came to Champaign, and the No. 12 Illini took care of business 52-3 in a game where Illinois is fully expected to win, both well before and during the game. It wasn’t in doubt.

That’s why it’s hard to discern much about this game. Hank Beatty certainly had a game, compiling 133 punt return yards to break legendary Illini Red Grange's 102-year-old school record that he set back on Oct. 6, 1923, against Nebraska. He’s certainly a playmaker.

"Going into bowl prep last year, I could see a really big jump coming," Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said. "He played well in the bowl game and all spring, just the confidence he had."

Still, we’ll know more about Illinois when they take on Manny Diaz’s Duke squad next week.

Then, we’ll know more about this Illinois team.

However, it’s never a bad thing to celebrate a win that’s in hand at halftime.