The No. 3 Texas Longhorns walked into The Big House and easily defeated the reigning national champion No. 10 Michigan Wolverines in the most anticipated game of the day.

While the Longhorns looked like they were the national title contenders many expected at the start of the season, the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish made fools of themselves at home, losing 16-14 to the Northern Illinois Huskies while finishing as four-touchdown favorites.

Here’s what we learned from week 2 of the 2024 American football season.

Texas entered the game in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a 7.5-point favorite against Michigan according to FanDuel and left absolutely no doubt about a convincing 31-12 victory.

Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 24 of 36 pass attempts for 246 yards and three touchdowns, while the running game was just enough to keep Michigan’s talented defense off balance throughout the game.

On the other side of the ball, Texas forced three turnovers on Michigan, including a fumble and two interceptions by Davis Warren. The Wolverines’ offense struggled to get much going for the second straight week.

Texas has cemented its status as a serious contender for the national title, while Michigan is on the verge of taking a step back after the departure of Jim Harbaugh and several key players from last season’s national championship team.

First things first. Congratulations to Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock and the Huskies for coming to South Bend, playing strong defense, and grinding out an improbable 16-14 victory over the Irish. This was the first win over a top 10 team in the 57-year history of the Northern Illinois football program, and it deserved every penny.

But my goodness, Notre Dame.

That was a terrible, terrible performance, coming one week removed from a thrilling 23-13 win over the then-No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas. Notre Dame’s Week 1 win, which seemed to put the Irish on a clear, straightforward path to the College Football Playoff, was completely negated by a dismal home performance.

Unfortunately for Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, the confusing home games have become somewhat of a trend since he took charge in 2022. Saturday marked the third time in the last three seasons that Notre Dame has been a multiple-score favorite to lose at home.

2022 vs. the Marshall Thundering Herd: ND (-20.5 according to FanDuel) loses 26–21

2022 vs Stanford Cardinal: ND (-16 according to FanDuel) loses 16-14

Saturday vs. Northern Illinois: ND (-28 according to FanDuel) loses 16-14

Freeman has improved Notre Dame’s recruiting since taking over and has won his share of big games. However, disappointing performances like Saturday’s (which complicate Notre Dame’s CFP path at best) have overshadowed the victories in his 28 games leading the Irish soccer program.

Expectations are exceptionally high at Notre Dame and Freeman has certainly done himself no favours with this latest home disaster.

Speaking of coaching, Arkansas Razorbacks’ Sam Pittman and Baylor Bears’ Dave Aranda entered 2024 with two of the most coveted spots in college football. Neither will leave Saturday feeling any better about their future prospects at their respective programs.

Arkansas led 21-7 at halftime, but suffered a series of mistakes in the second half, including a botched punt, a missed field goal, a turnover on downs, a series of defensive lapses, a sloppy sack in overtime that put them out of field goal range and a personal foul penalty that gave the Oklahoma State Cowboys a new set of downs on third-and-long in double overtime.

The Cowboys scored in double overtime, which was extended on a personal foul penalty, to take the lead for good in the 39-31 victory.

Cruel for Pittman.

As for Baylor, the offense looked incredibly suspect on the road at Rice-Eccles Stadium against the No. 11 Utah Utes. The Bears managed just 223 total yards of offense and went 4-for-16 on third down in a largely uncontested 23-12 loss.

The Bears’ Week 2 test was a huge opportunity for Aranda to prove his program was headed in the right direction in 2024. But after looking vastly outmatched in their first conference game of the season, there’s no indication Baylor is getting any closer to a Big 12 spot, and that’s not what the program’s leadership is looking for in Year 5 of Aranda’s tenure.

Tennessee Volunteers star forward Nico Iamaleava completed 16 of 23 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 65 yards and a score on the ground as the Volunteers overwhelmed the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday night in Charlotte.

NC State had no answer for Tennessee’s explosive offense, as the Volunteers were also buoyed by a performance from starting running back Dylan Sampson, who had 20 carries, 132 yards and two touchdowns.

But as explosive as Tennessee has looked on offense under head coach Josh Heupel, the Volunteers’ defense has been even more impressive, limiting the Wolfpack to just 143 yards of total offense and going 3-for-12 on third down.

Tennessee’s offense can score with anyone in the country, but if the defense continues to perform like it did Saturday night, it should be a warning sign.

The Colorado Buffaloes simply couldn’t block the defense of the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The outcome of the match was therefore not surprising: Nebraska won 28-10.

Just like in head coach Deion Sanders’ first season in Boulder, Colorado, the Buffaloes seem completely unable to handle the ball and protect star forward Shedeur Sanders from top-conference competition. That will certainly make the season a long one for the program as it returns to the Big 12.

Colorado’s offensive line surrendered six sacks, and the Buffaloes’ leading rusher was Dallan Hayden, who carried the ball five times for 32 yards. Give credit to Nebraska’s fighting defense, but it’s clear the Buffs still have plenty of issues to solve offensively, outside of Sanders and All-American Travis Hunter.

The odds of winning are updated periodically and may change.

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