Week Two in College Football: Upsets and Close Calls

Published: Monday, September 9, 2024

by Kyle Ferreira

There was plenty to scream, panic, and be excited about this past Saturday.

From noon until well past midnight, the college football world experienced another memorable day in its rich history. Close games, strange blowouts, and, of course, major upsets—week two did just that. Time to revisit a weekend that was hectic and joyous for many fans.

No. 3 Texas traveled to Ann Arbor to play at historic Michigan Stadium to face the reigning National Champions, #10 Michigan. Here’s the Sparknotes explanation of this game: Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns played well. Michigan did not. Ewers aerial attack was on display with 246 yards and 3 touchdowns, as he added another signature win to his resume.

Ewers’ early season success could catapult him in the Heisman Rankings and NFL Draft Boards. Michigan, on the other hand, is clearly not finding similar success like the previous seasons. They struggled a bit against Fresno State in Week One and were clearly outplayed by the Longhorns. Even with Arkansas State next up for the Wolverines, their matchup against USC on September 21 has a lot more stakes now.

Moving down to South Bend, Indiana, No. 5 Notre Dame was embarrassed... by a MAC school. Northern Illinois, yes, Northern Illinois beat one of the most prestigious football programs in the country. It was pure emotion for NIU’s head coach, Thomas Hammock, who was very proud of his team.

“They believed! And we came here and got it done,” said Coach Hammock in the NBC postgame interview.

NIU's win over Notre Dame was their first win against a top-10 opponent in program history. For Notre Dame, there was no luck for the Irish, and there may be concerns over QB Riley Leonard, who took responsibility for the loss.

“I got to fix it, and it starts at practice,” Leonard told the media after the game. “I got to have better practices all week.”

Going over some “fly-over” states to Nebraska, Memorial Stadium was electrifying. The Colorado-Nebraska rivalry continued in front of a sold-out crowd of 86,906. From Coach Prime to freshman standout and Patrick Mahomes impersonator Dylan Raiola, this was a must-watch game.

After the first half, it was 28-0 Nebraska. Colorado fans were shocked like Verne from "Over the Hedge" in that one meme. In all seriousness, the Colorado offense line was the issue again, and QB Shedeur Sanders had virtually no time to do anything.

The Cornhuskers deserve a lot of credit though for their win. Raiola looked confident in primetime; the defense was fantastic with six sacks and a pick-six. College football is better when Nebraska is good, and they could be 7-0 once they play Ohio State on October 26.

The rest of the weekend was interesting for many Power 4 programs. No. 8 Penn State nearly lost to Bowling Green, No. 4 Alabama and USF were battling until late when Bama won, and Illinois upset No. 19 Kansas. But two other games got the attention of the college football world.

Iowa State and No. 21 Iowa had their annual rivalry game for the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Like the last few seasons, it was a close, low-scoring game—a typical game for the Hawkeyes. But the hero of the game was Iowa State’s kicker Kyle Konrardy, who hit a 54-yard field goal to help ISU win.

Then, to conclude a crazy day, No. 7 Oregon struggled again versus another university from Idaho. Boise State and Oregon duked it out at Autzen Stadium in Oregon, and early on the Broncos were in the lead. Despite BSU running back Ashton Jeanty marveling fans with 192 rushing yards and 3 TDs, the Ducks hit a game-winning FG to survive.

Kyle Ferreira can be reached at kyle.ferreira@student.shu.edu. 

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