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Ken Schreiber: Notre Dame football falls to 0-2, ending any playoff chances early

Week 2 was a whopper and I'm not talking about the burger! We all know I whiffed on Notre Dame by elevating them to No. 4 in my rankings.

Notre Dame running back Audric Estime is tackled by Marshall linebacker Jace Bobo in the first quarter of Saturday's game.
Notre Dame running back Audric Estime is tackled by Marshall linebacker Jace Bobo in the first quarter of Saturday's game.

I hear all season from Irish fans about how they are underrated. But after their gutsy performance against No. 3 Ohio State, a 21-10 loss, they were elevated. They were competitive and physical against the talented Buckeyes in Columbus right to the end.  How do I get rewarded?  They lose to Marshall, 26-21, at home.  Unfortunately, they didn't just lose; they were thoroughly outcoached, outhustled and outplayed.  A disaster. The Marcus Freeman era is now off to an 0-3 start and the Irish are finished for any CFP national consideration for the rest of the year.  Fuhgeddaboudit!

Irish weren't the only busts

But that wasn't all.  Appalachian State beat No. 6 Texas A & M, 17-14, in College Station? The Aggies and their coach Jimbo Fisher are loaded with talent but short on effort. They are teasers in the SEC.  How about Texas' defense against No. 1 Alabama? Sure they lost at the buzzer, 20-19, on a field goal but what an effort! Texas must be back! NO! They lost their starting quarterback Quinn Ewers and still have a plethora of tough games ahead.  That was their "bowl" game.

Finally, there was Georgia Southern's 45-42 last-minute victory at Nebraska.  The Huskers, three-touchdown favorites, had a chance to tie it on the last play but missed a field goal.  But who cares?  This cannot happen!  This is why coach Scott Frost was given the boot the next day.  Nebraska would have saved $7.5 million by just waiting two more weeks but the stench on the field was so unbearable that there could be no waiting.  5-21 in one-score games.  3-9 last season and 16-31 overall.  He wasn't "fixing" any problem; he was the problem.  Frost played on Nebraska's national championship teams and was the prodigal son when he was hired five years ago. Ultimately, he was an unmitigated disaster.  We told you after the Northwestern loss he was coaching for his job every week and rightly predicted one loss would do him in.  Good riddance!

All this tells you please forget about the preseason rankings.  They are relatively worthless unless you're talking about the big three, Alabama Georgia and Ohio State.

What we know:

◘Iowa lost to Iowa State, 10-7.  In Week 1, the Hawkeyes produced one field goal and two safeties to defeat FCS South Dakota State, 7-3.  In two games, they've punted more times than they've scored (16-14).  Last year, their scoring offense ranked 99th out of 130, averaging just over 23 points per game.  So who has been their offensive coordinator?  None other than Brian Ferentz.  Yes, the son of the coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Kirk Ferentz.  Any other person in that position would have been fired long ago.  Brian Ferentz has been the offensive coordinator since 2017.  The word that comes to mind here is nepotism.

◘Fox's "BIG NOON KICKOFF" has been on-site at campuses in an effort to duplicate ESPN's "GameDay" atmosphere.  The only problem is they usually have their marquegame at noon ET when one-third of the country is still waking up on the West Coast.  Last week's Alabama/Texas game should have been in prime time under the lights for the entire country to watch.  The television audience would have been tenfold larger at kickoff and three times higher overall.  Do they know what they're doing to maximize their audience?  Obviously, not.

On the field

No. 13 Miami (2-0) +7 at No. 24 Texas A&M (1-1):  Why are the Aggies still ranked after last week's 27-14 loss to  Appalachian State? Shouldn't the Mountaineers be ahead of them?  Miami comes to town with hot-shot quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. Or is he?  He's thrown for 456 yards against inferior competition. This is the biggest game so far for Hurricanes' new coach Mario Cristobal, who intends  to take Miami back to the top of the charts.  Take the points but I see A&M prevailing.

No. 12 Brigham Young (2-0) at No. 25 Oregon (1-1):  Why are the Ducks ranked?  They have a long way to go after getting manhandled by Georgia, 49-3, in week 1.  The Cougars have a strong offensive line and defeated a solid No. 17 Baylor team in overtime, 26-20.  Eugene is one of the toughest places to play but it's all about the Bo Nix show for the Ducks.  If he plays well at quarterback, they win;  If he doesn't, well, you guessed it.  Flip a coin.

No. 6 Oklahoma at Nebraska (1-2) +12:  Why this game? History, tradition, heated rivalry at one time.  Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, Greg Pruitt, Steve Owens, Turner Gill, Brian Bosworth, Keith Jackson. The list goes on and on. Two of the top 10 winningest programs of all-time.  The greatest game of all-time: Thanksgiving Day, 1971, both undefeated in a winner-take-all Big Eight No. 1 against No. 2.  The game lived up to all the hype, Nebraska scoring a late touchdown and prevailing, 35-31, with Pawtucket's own Chris Schenkel on the ABC call. Now they are in different leagues and play maybe once every decade.  So why is this newsworthy?  Because the Huskers just fired Frost and are now coached by interim coach Mickey Joseph.  Because it's the 376th straight sell out at Nebraska's Memorial Stadium dating back to 1962 and the first big test for new Sooners coach Brent Venables, That's why I'll be in Lincoln for kickoff.  Not only do the Huskers cover, they win outright.  Go Big Red!

Editor's note: Due to an editing error, an earlier headline on this column stated Notre Dame is 0-3. The Fighting Irish was 0-2 heading into Saturday's game, which they won.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Ken Schreiber's high ranking of Notre Dame football comes crashing down