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Mandel's final thoughts: Georgia, Ohio State and Texas top the list. After that, make another prediction.

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Mandel's Final Thoughts: Georgia, Ohio State And Texas Top The

Well, 18 thoughts on a Saturday in early September when The Associated Press challenged voters to throw out their ballots and start over.

1. After two weeks, I'm confident that Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas are the top three teams. After that, I'll be guessing just like you. A lot of the top teams had close games against weaker opponents, and one top-five team got soundly beaten at home by NIU despite being favored by 28 points.

2. This was supposed to be the year Marcus Freeman led Notre Dame back to national title contention. Not the year they lost at home to a Group of 5 opponent in Week 2 (Marshall in 2022, NIU in 2024). He already had a veteran defense before acquiring Mike Denbrock, a high-profile offensive coordinator from LSU, and Riley Leonard, a quarterback who transferred from Duke. But on Saturday, Leonard completed just 20 of 32 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions against a MAC opponent. NIU used that second interception to hold the ball for five minutes and make a last-minute field goal to stun the Irish, 16-14.

Freeman has been informally auditioning since Day One for the job he already has at age 35 after Brian Kelly's departure. After a tough first year, he was trending in the right direction. But Saturday completely crushed Notre Dame's confidence and took away any momentum they had gained from their season-opening win at Texas A&M. If anything, it rekindled questions about the state of Freeman's program that seemed buried long ago. Sure, Notre Dame can still make the 12-team playoff, but only if Saturday's game proves to be a complete fluke.

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Sampson: Notre Dame has been in this situation before under coach Marcus Freeman. That's the problem.

3. A team like NIU will never experience a national title, but defying the odds and winning at Notre Dame Stadium is surely just as great a feeling. Huskies coach Thomas Hammock, himself a former star running back at NIU, cried in a postgame interview with NBC. This team has had plenty of glory moments over the past two decades, especially during the Jordan Lynch era circa 2012-13, but this win was their biggest yet. Before the season, I didn't think the MAC could produce a Group of 5 CFP representative, but it's hard to imagine a Group of 5 team getting a more significant non-conference win than this.

4. No. 10 Michigan played No. 3 Texas on Saturday wearing the same uniforms and in the same stadium as the 2023 national champions, but that's where the similarities ended. The Longhorns' dominating 31-12 win in the Big House confirmed the deepest fears about the Wolverines' waning offensive potential. Even more surprising: Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (24-of-36 completions, 246 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions) tore down a Michigan defense that still boasts star power.

The Horns controlled the line of scrimmage and Steve Sarkisian showed off his usual impressive tactics to get guys open, especially from tight end Gunner Helm (seven catches, 98 yards). This should be a confidence booster for Texas as they embark on their first SEC schedule.

5. New Wolverines head coach Sherone Moore, who took over after Jim Harbaugh left for the Chargers, did a good job of preserving the defending champion roster but didn't do much to strengthen it. I was surprised he didn't use a transfer quarterback to compete for the starting spot last spring. After two games, I'm baffled by that. Davis Warren seems like a serviceable reserve who was forced into the starting spot. This doesn't bode well for Alex Orji, who he beat out. We'll see if Moore gives Orji more practice next week against Arkansas State.

6. Nebraska's 28-10 thumping of arch-rival Colorado was exactly the kind of game long-suffering Huskers fans had been waiting for. Five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola played as expected (23-of-30 for 185 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions), and Matt Rhule's second line was fast on offense and fierce on defense. Meanwhile, it was a depressingly familiar story for Dion and Shedul Sanders. Colorado was sacked six times and rushed for just 16 yards, leaving Shedul Sanders (23-of-38 for 244 yards, one touchdown, one interception) and Travis Hunter (10 catches for 110 yards) to make their own catch after the outcome was long ago decided.

While the Buffaloes' defense has improved since 2023, there remains a big gap between their offensive skill talent and their offensive line. Maybe the AFLAC can help fill that gap.

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7. The best player in the country so far has been Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. After a strong 267-yard, six-touchdown performance at Georgia Southern, he ran for another 192 yards and three touchdowns against No. 7 Oregon. But it wasn't enough to beat the Ducks, who won 37-34 on a last-minute field goal thanks to an 85-yard punt return touchdown by Tez Johnson and a 100-yard kick return touchdown by Noah Whittington.

Without them, Oregon may be in trouble as its normally explosive offense just isn't working. With key players missing on the interior of the offensive line, the Ducks have already allowed seven sacks through two games, two more than they've allowed in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

8. On the night Alabama debuted Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Alabama offense delivered a performance that will frustrate his former coach to no end. The No. 4-ranked team scored just twice on its first 11 attempts against a pesky USF team and trailed 21-16 with 6:45 left before exploding with consecutive long touchdowns to win by a 42-16 final score. Cullen DeBoer's team has no shortage of weapons, including running back Jam Miller (15 carries, 140 yards) and freshman receiver Ryan Williams (four catches, 68 yards), but the night brought back troubling memories of Alabama's shaky 2023 season.

9. Tennessee's game against NC State on Saturday night in Charlotte looked like it was going to be Tennessee quarterback Niko Iamareva's debut, but his defense got the better of him. Tennessee, ranked No. 14, contained Wolfpack quarterback Grayson McCall, a former Coastal Carolina star, and held No. 24 NC State to just 143 yards in a 51-10 thrashing. Tennessee knew it had a talented pass rusher in James Pierce, but nose tackle Omari Thomas and the rest of the TN defensive line overpowered the Wolfpack. Iamareva (16-of-23 for 211 yards) had his moments, but he threw six interceptions for NC State's only touchdown.

10. This one was unexpected. South Carolina, one week after a tough 23-19 home win over Old Dominion, went on the road and thumped Kentucky 31-6. Led by five-star freshman pass rusher Dylan Stewart, the Gamecocks' D sacked Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff five times and threw six interceptions while allowing just 188 total yards.

In addition to starting 1-0 in SEC play, Shane Beamer's team, which went 5-7 last season, made a mess of itself on ESPN's GameDay, which was scheduled to be in Lexington next weekend for the Georgia-Kentucky game, with LSU-South Carolina up next.

11. A few years ago, former star quarterback Brock Purdy led Iowa State's rise under coach Matt Campbell. Enter sophomore Rocco Becht, in his second year as starter. With rival Iowa losing 19-7 to its notoriously stout defense, Becht threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Noel and then again in the final minute for a 30-yard gain and an assist on Kyle Conradi's 54-yard field goal. The 20-19 win gave Campbell his second win over Kirk Ferentz in the past three years after losing his first five Cyhawk games.

12. The Big 12 Conference avoided two upsets in early games on Saturday. No. 16 Oklahoma State trailed 21-7 at one point but held off Arkansas 39-31 in double overtime, and No. 17 Kansas State was down 20-10 at halftime but held on to beat Tulane 34-27.

But the losers of these games will rue them for a while. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino's Razorbacks gained 648 yards but committed three turnovers and were stopped twice on fourth down. Meanwhile, Tulane freshman quarterback Darian Mensah had a spectacular game, completing four passes of 30 yards or more and seemingly scoring a tying touchdown with 17 seconds left. But the officials voided it for a nonexistent offensive pass interference call. Then Mensah threw the crucial interception.

Perhaps one or both quality wins would improve the Big 12 at-large chances.

13. Clemson heard our jeers after last week's game against Georgia and hit it hard against esteemed Group of 5 team Appalachian State. Thanks to a near-flawless performance from quarterback Cade Klubnick (24-of-26 completions for 378 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions), the Tigers scored 35 points in the first quarter and 56 by halftime on their way to a 66-20 victory. It was a great reminder that despite a 34-3 opening loss, Clemson has a good chance of rallying back to win the ACC, and that Georgia is still the Holy Terror.

14. The offensive wizardry that Hugh Freeze showed at Mississippi and Liberty has yet to materialize at Auburn. In the second game of Freeze's second year, the visiting UC shut down the Tigers' passing game, intercepting Peyton Thorne four times and holding Auburn to 286 yards in a 21-14 victory. Auburn fans will no doubt be calling for Thorne's firing. Thorne has been unable to repeat his stellar 2021 season at Michigan State, but it's hard to tell how much of the problem is his and how much is the Tigers' awful offensive line.

15. A year ago, Illinois traveled to Kansas and lost, 34-7, 34-23 in the same weekend. So it meant a lot to Bret Bielema's team not only to win Saturday's rematch, 23-17, but to contain the veteran offensive line of the 19th-ranked Jayhawks. Kansas star quarterback Jaron Daniels was 18-of-32 for 141 yards and three interceptions against the Illinois defense. That could mean Illinois is primed for another 2022-style season, when it won eight games and tormented Michigan. Or maybe Kansas just isn't ready for the preseason Top 25 yet.

16. Last week, Syracuse coach Fran Brown joked that Day should send a bottle of champagne to Ohio State's Ryan Day for signing quarterback Kyle McCord as a free agent. McCord was even better in his ACC debut, completing 32 of 46 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a 31-28 home win over Georgia Tech. Brown, a former Georgia defensive backs coach, was a relative unknown before taking over last winter, but he quickly gained the trust of fans after Syracuse became the Buckeyes' surprise 2023 starter. The two are set to thrive in the new conference this fall.

17. The realignment gods have tried to kick Washington State and Oregon State out of the way, but they aren't going to go quietly. The Cougars thumped Big 12 rival Texas Tech 37-16 in a game that aired on Fox's After Dark, with quarterback John Matthier scoring 197 of the team's 301 yards on the ground. Next week they'll host Washington in Seattle for the Apple Cup in mid-September. Meanwhile, the Beavers are coming off a 21-0 win at San Diego State and next week they'll play the hated Ducks in a big home grudge game, which will also air on Fox.

The future of both teams is unclear — for now they've decided not to continue their Mountain West affiliation next season, presumably in order to schedule more P4 opponents — and for at least a week, it will feel like old times on both campuses.

18. Finally, when UAB's savior, head coach Bill Clark, had to step down for health reasons before the 2022 season, offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent took over as interim head coach and led the team to a 7-6 record. But that wasn't enough for UAB, which made a big hire of Trent Dilfer despite him having no college football coaching experience.

Vincent is currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, which defeated Dilfer's Blazers, 32-6, on Saturday. Dilfer, a former NFL quarterback and ESPN commentator, has three FBS wins in his first 14 games at UAB.

As always, the flashiest hires are rarely the best hires.

(Photo of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers celebrating after a touchdown: Gregory Schamus/Getty Images)

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