Winners and losers of the second week of college football: Michigan and Notre Dame have to work hard to reach the playoffs

Michigan and Notre Dame are far from ready for the playoffs. Especially on offense.

The two top-10 teams will fall in the AP Top 25 on Sunday after embarrassing losses. The No. 10 Wolverines were overwhelmed by No. 3 Texas in a 31-12 loss that wasn’t as close as the final score suggested. And No. 5 Notre Dame followed its 10-point win at Texas A&M in Week 1 with an embarrassing 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. The Fighting Irish entered the game as 28.5-point favorites.

Both teams are 1-1 largely because of their inability to pass the ball effectively. Michigan did not sign a transfer player following JJ McCarthy’s departure to the NFL, and a quarterback competition ensued between Davis Warren and Alex Orji. After signing a transfer QB in Sam Hartman last season, Notre Dame went the transfer route again, signing Riley Leonard from Duke for 2024. In addition to Leonard, Notre Dame re-signed former offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock from LSU, where he coordinated an offense that included 2023 Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and first-round picks Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas.

Neither Warren, Orji nor Leonard have been effective passers so far this season. Warren was named Michigan’s starter because Orji had limited playing time for the second straight year. After throwing for just 118 yards on 25 pass attempts against Fresno State, Warren wasn’t much better against the Longhorns. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 204 yards, but many of those yards came after Texas had taken a 31-6 lead. A big reason for that deficit? Warren’s two interceptions.

Warren’s story is phenomenal. The senior was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 while in high school. He spent more than four months in the hospital receiving treatment and now competes for the reigning national champions. His ambition and perseverance are beyond question.

But one can question the performance of the Michigan offense over the past two weeks. The Wolverines have scored just three touchdowns and 36 offensive points in the first two games of the season. Yes, Michigan lost a lot in its offense last season. Given the changes in Ann Arbor during the offseason, it was realistic to expect some initial teething issues when offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore took over as the team’s head coach.

It’s hard to find bright spots on offense, though. Jim Harbaugh’s offense has been based on play-action passing after a dogged running game. So far, Michigan has recorded 57 carries for 228 yards. Are teams gearing up even more to stop the run now that they know McCarthy is now in the NFL? Warren averaged 4.7 yards per pass against Fresno State and didn’t top that mark until after the Longhorns knew the game was unwinnable.

Leonard, on the other hand, has not shown the traits that make some draft analysts believe he is a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. In the first two games of the season, he averaged just over five yards per pass attempt, and his second interception of the game on Saturday was ultimately the decisive moment.

With Notre Dame up by one point with less than six minutes left on second-and-short, Leonard fired his pass down the middle to a two-high safety.

Northern Illinois then stormed down the field and scored the decisive field goal with 31 seconds left.

The expanded playoffs aren’t out of reach for any team. Alabama made the playoffs last season after losing in Week 2. Notre Dame has just two top-25 teams on its schedule for the rest of the season starting Saturday, and Michigan has a chance for big wins against USC, Oregon and Ohio State.

But the margin for error is virtually zero for either team. We’re not ruling Notre Dame and Michigan out of the postseason, but we’re much more pessimistic than we were at the start of the season unless the passing offense takes a big step forward.

Here are this week’s winners and losers.

winner

Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord: The Orange defeated No. 23 Georgia Tech 31-28 on Saturday thanks to a strong performance from the former Ohio State quarterback. McCord completed 32 of 46 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns. McCord threw his first two touchdowns to Trebor Pena before hitting Oronde Gadsden II for two more scores. His touchdown toss to Gadsden with 8:39 left proved to be the deciding point as Syracuse ran out the clock after Tech cut the lead to three with 2:31 left.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik: The Tigers have rebounded from their Week 1 loss to Georgia in style. Klubnik threw 24 of 26 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns in a 66-20 win over Appalachian State. The deep passing attack, which was nonexistent against the Bulldogs, exploded against the Mountaineers as Bryant Wesco Jr. and Jake Briningstool each had at least 100 receiving yards while Phil Mafah had 10 carries for 118 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown run. Clemson scored 35 points in the first quarter and had 56 by halftime.

Army: The Black Knights had no problems against Florida Atlantic. Army won 24-7 as it rushed 58 times for 405 yards. FAU was helpless to stop Army’s attack and also allowed a 44-yard touchdown pass on Bryson Daily’s only completion of the day.

The real highlight, however, came from backup punter Matthew Rhodes. Check out his wheels on this 23-yard fake punt TD.

Tennessee: The No. 14 Volunteers ran away from No. 24 NC State. Tennessee won 51-10, rushing for 249 yards against the Wolfpack. Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava threw two interceptions, but Dylan Sampson ran 20 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns as Tennessee’s defense didn’t let NC State’s offense do much. The Wolfpack had just 141 total yards and were abysmal on third down attempts, going 3 of 12.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks dominated defense in a 31-6 win over Kentucky in the first SEC game of the season. Kentucky quarterbacks Brock Vandagriff and Gavin Wimsatt completed just 6 of 17 passes for 44 yards, while South Carolina recorded five sacks and forced two turnovers. It was a big win for South Carolina and coach Shane Beamer as the team looks to bounce back in 2023 after a disappointing 5-7 season.

Louisiana Monroe coach Bryant Vincent: The Warhawks earned a commanding 32-6 victory over UAB. The loss drops UAB’s record to 3-9 against FBS opponents during former NFL coach Trent Dilfer’s time as head coach. Dilfer was hired ahead of the 2023 season after Vincent spent 2022 as the team’s interim coach when he was promoted following Bill Clark’s resignation. Rather than keep Vincent after a 7-6 season, UAB opted to retain Dilfer. On Saturday, Vincent got a little revenge.

loser

Cincinnati: Things were looking good for the Bearcats in the third quarter of their game against Pitt. Cincinnati had a 27-6 lead and seemed on its way to an easy win. Instead, Pitt scored 22 unanswered points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, to secure a 28-27 victory. Pitt’s game-winning points came on a 35-yard field goal by Ben Sauls with 17 seconds left, while Cincinnati’s final four possessions ended with three punts and a final fumble as time expired.

Auburn: The Tigers’ offense is far from mature in Hugh Freeze’s second season. Cal went to Auburn and won 21-14 on Saturday after forcing five turnovers on Auburn. The Tigers fumbled once and QB Payton Thorne threw four interceptions. His final two interceptions came on Auburn’s final two drives of the game after the Tigers had cut Cal’s lead to seven with 6:06 left. With a schedule that includes Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri and Alabama, a win over Cal would have been a huge step toward bowl eligibility. Instead, Auburn needs to get at least three wins in the SEC to make the postseason.

Arkansas: You were so, so close, Razorbacks. Arkansas led Oklahoma State 21-7 in the first half before the Hogs were outscored 24-10 in the second half and OSU won 39-31 in double overtime. OSU’s first point came on a pick-six and Arkansas fumbled twice in the second half. Those turnovers led to 10 points for the Cowboys, who slowly clawed their way back into the game. It’s a bad loss for the Razorbacks, but there’s still reason for optimism. Oklahoma State is a Big 12 title contender and Bobby Petrino’s offense is working. Arkansas has totaled 648 yards on offense after scoring 10 TDs in 10 possessions in Week 1.

SMU: The Mustangs were a potential surprise contender in their first year in the ACC. They are now 2-1 after an ugly 18-15 home loss to BYU on Friday night, and a quarterback controversy is brewing. Preston Stone started the game but was benched after throwing four passes for four yards. He was replaced by Kevin Jennings, who wasn’t much better. Jennings finished the game 15 of 32 passing for 140 yards and an interception. SMU has played two games against FBS opponents so far and hasn’t looked good in either of them. At least the Mustangs have next week off before playing TCU.

Kent State: It’s been a rough couple of years for the Golden Flashes. Kent State fell to 1-13 during Kenni Burns’ tenure with a 23-17 loss to FCS St. Francis (PA) on Saturday. The Red Flash entered their Week 2 game after an 18-10 loss to Dayton in Week 1 and switched their quarterback to redshirt freshman Jeff Hoenstine. He completed 11 of his 22 passes for 195 yards and St. Frances rushed for over 200 yards against the Kent State defense.