College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And the second Saturday of the 2024 season did not disappoint, from an emotional Thomas Hammock and his Northern Illinois Huskies upsetting No. 5 Notre Dame to Nebraska’s emphatic return to national relevance and so much more.
Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.
Here are my top takeaways from Week 2:
1. The Marcus Freeman era at Notre Dame includes yet another bad upset.
The third year Fighting Irish coach has some marquee wins to his name, but he also has a major problem. He’s the head coach of a blueblood program, and he’s having trouble beating the teams he’s supposed to beat. Two years ago, it was Marshall in Freeman’s home debut. This time, it was Northern Illinois pulling off the first win over an AP Top 10 team in program history. “We’ve been here before,” Freeman said after Saturday’s 16-14 loss to the Huskies. That’s not a good thing. Notre Dame should easily dispatch overmatched opponents, and instead it sleepwalks through games against teams who believe they can actually beat them. The Irish are everybody’s Super Bowl, as the saying goes. And they forget that.
Beating Texas A&M last weekend was a huge deal, one of the best wins anyone has so far this season. But the luster of a shiny victory like that wears off quickly when you follow that up with a major letdown and inexplicable loss. Quarterback Riley Leonard hasn’t done much to show he can lead an explosive offense that can stretch the field vertically and sustain drives. I think he’s capable of both of those things, but we haven’t seen it yet.
2. Texas is a true national title contender.
If anyone thought the Longhorns’ run to the College Football Playoff last year wasn’t replicable, what we saw from Texas in Ann Arbor should erase any doubt. Of course, the 2024 Michigan team is a far cry from the 2023 version that won a national championship, but the Longhorns’ dominant performance on both sides of the ball against a team that used to control both in every game was nonetheless remarkable. Texas has a Heisman Trophy hopeful in quarterback Quinn Ewers (along with the most enviable backup quarterback situation in the nation), physicality along both lines of scrimmage and playmakers at skill positions. It’s time we list Texas among the small group of national championship contenders (with Georgia snd Ohio State) for the season.
3. Michigan has problems that may not be fixable this season.
I didn’t expect the Wolverines to beat Texas on Saturday, but I thought they would hang. By the end of the first Michigan offensive possession, it became clear that the Wolverines would not have enough offensively to do that. That’s on the offensive line. That’s on the lack of a run game. That’s on the quarterback. There are a few reasons why Michigan couldn’t go portaling for a quarterback better than what’s on the current roster — the Wolverines’ postseason went so late; their only opportunity would have been in the spring, and I don’t think there were better options — but it’s a limiting factor. Davis Warren can throw a nice ball, but can he make up for a weak O-line? Alex Orji can run, but can he throw the ball effectively and efficiently if needed? And if this offense can’t control the game at the line of scrimmage and run the ball on demand, what chance will its defense have? With a challenging schedule ahead, it’s hard to imagine an in-season fix. We might need to chalk this season up to a rebuild and see what happens in the offseason.
4. Nebraska is for real.
I spent most of this past week embedded with the Huskers, who were feeling pretty confident that they could avenge last year’s loss to Colorado as long as they didn’t make a bunch of self-inflicted mistakes. So, I wasn’t terribly surprised to see a fully dominant defensive performance — the defensive line felt it was going to get Shedeur Sanders on the ground early and often — and an impressive performance from true freshman Dylan Raiola. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said afterward that a lot of the buzz heading into the game was about Colorado’s stars, but the Husker defense is what actually starred in the game. He’s right. But I’d argue the most significant development for this team overall is that Raiola doesn’t turn the ball over. He hasn’t through two games, and the -17 turnover differential a year ago is what cost Nebraska its chance at bowl eligibility. If the Huskers can play clean football as they have through two games, they’re going to be bowling by mid-October. They could even be 7-0 heading into their matchup against Ohio State — which is both mind-boggling, considering the Huskers’ recent history, and also perfectly in line with the second-year bump that tends to accompany a Rhule rebuild.
5. Colorado is not for real.
Last year, it took until the fourth game for the Buffs to face the cold, hard truth … that they weren’t a great college football team. That they weren’t a Pac-12 or CFP contender. This year, that dose of reality hit earlier, in the Week 2 loss to Nebraska. As it turns out, Colorado’s offensive line is just as porous as we thought it was. And Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. can only do so much as individuals — especially if Nebraska has figured out effective ways to limit you. What does Deion Sanders do next? How do you respond to a loss like Saturday’s to Nebraska? We haven’t seen Coach Prime recruit. We haven’t seen midseason adjustments outside of panicked staffing changes. We also haven’t seen him take concrete steps to build a program that will last beyond him (or even takes into account next season and the one after). So, I don’t know what that means for this season. But I do know this isn’t a team that’s built to win a lot of games.
6. Oregon is still a work-in-progress.
The Ducks are supposed to be a national championship contender. They are not supposed to give up more sacks (7) through two games than all of last season (5). It isn’t supposed to take a last-second field goal to beat a Group of 5 opponent — even if said Group of 5 opponent is Boise State. Oregon coach Dan Lanning was visibly frustrated at the end of Saturday’s game, which was understandable. Two games, two underwhelming victories. That’s not how anyone expected the Ducks’ season to start, even considering all that was lost to the NFL draft. While I would say it’s good to have about a month between now and the big game against Ohio State, that’s not exactly comforting because Oregon has struggled against teams it shouldn’t. The Ducks’ next three opponents are precisely the teams they should beat handily, but we’ll have to see how they go.
7. Fran Brown is right – Kyle McCord is a great fit for Syracuse.
Maybe he is going to send some champagne to Columbus after all. We’re seeing production out of McCord that we never saw out of the quarterback during his one year as the starting quarterback at Ohio State. Through two games (and two wins), McCord has thrown for 735 passing yards and eight touchdowns. He’s thrown for four TDs both games, after never having a four-touchdown performance as a Buckeye with significantly more talent surrounding him. But it works at Syracuse! He seems more confident. He’s playing with more emotion. There’s something about this place and this player, and this is why the transfer portal can be a good thing in this sport. It provides second chances and the opportunity for a better fit.
8. We’re already seeing one byproduct of the expanded CFP.
Group of 5 teams have a lot more to play for. I’m not saying they had nothing to play for before, but when there’s a designated spot in the 12-team CFP field, it just feels different. Northern Illinois just picked up a win that might be unmatched by any of its peers with a top-five win over Notre Dame. Boise State had an opportunity to get a win over Oregon to majorly boost its CFP resume and just missed out — but should still get credit for playing the Ducks so closely. The committee is well-aware of Ashton Jeanty and what damage he can do. This matters! And I think we’re already seeing that in effort, motivation and even in results so far.
9. Is Hugh Freeze’s seat heating up?
At the very least, it is warming up. An ugly 21-14 Auburn loss to Cal is not what you want to see in Year 2 for a coach that was brought back to the SEC because he’d won pretty much everywhere he’d been, scandals be damned. Payton Thorne is not talented enough to help Auburn take a step forward — certainly not when he throws four interceptions in a single game. Freeze has said he didn’t want to spend six figures on a quarterback out of the portal this offseason, and it’s looking like that was a mistake. In Thorne’s 15 Auburn games against FBS teams, he’s averaging 126 passing yards per game — and has thrown a total of 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, per CBS Sports. There is some talent around Thorne, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll be capable of maximizing it. Which is going to turn an impatient fan base even more frustrated.
10. Kentucky was sacked five times. Its quarterbacks completed just six total passes.
That was about as bad an outing as the Wildcats could have had, particularly in the second half on Saturday. They never led against South Carolina, a team that was predicted to finish among the worst in the Southeastern Conference back in the preseason. Georgia transfer quarterback Brock Vandagriff completed 3-of-10 passes for 30 yards. Backup (and Rutgers transfer) Gavin Wimsatt completed 3-of-7 passes for 14 yards. Each threw an interception. It was one of the most putrid offensive performances I’ve seen in some time in a conference game — in the conference that believes it is the strongest in the nation. I’m kind of at a loss here, but I find it notable and something to track as we follow Mark Stoops’ program moving forward.