With just two weeks to go in the regular season, it felt like time to touch on the college football landscape. A lot has happened on and off the field since our last review so let’s not waste too much time. I’ll kick it off with my Fighting Irish before some quick hits from around the nation.

Notre Dame

Unfortunately this years Notre Dame team will go down as good but not good enough. Year two of the Freeman era has been a bit of a mixed bag. Sitting at 7-3 is disappointing, especially given how close they were to beating Ohio State and how they should have beaten Clemson. The ugly loss to the Tigers two weeks ago was defined by the continued struggles of the offense.

After the first four games of the year that saw the Irish light the scoreboard up, the offense stagnated, for a number of reasons. For starters Gerard Parker’s play calling leaves a lot to be desired. With all due respect to him, watching this unit struggle really makes one wish the Irish had landed Utah’s Andy Ludwig. While Parker may have upside down the line, he cannot return as the OC next year. At an absolute minimum he needs to be demoted back to being the tight ends coach, if not let go entirely. Marcus Freeman and the Athletic Department must go shopping for a big time play caller to elevate the offense.

Of course the struggles aren’t just on Parker. Sam Hartman’s game hasn’t been particularly sharp the last few weeks, as he turned in his worst game of the year at Clemson. Hartman is rightfully well liked by the fans, and he has had a strong year. But his performances against Louisville and Clemson will haunt him and his reputation. Hartman’s also been let down by his weapons, or lack of their of. Neither Jaden Greathouse or Jaden Thomas recovered well from their injuries . Tight end Mitchell Evans became this teams best play maker, which is a disappointing development, regardless of the “tight end U” tradition.

The running game has been good but at times has been undone by an Irish o-line that to me has underwhelmed. Aside from the wonderful Joe Alt, the rest of this group hasn’t done the job up front. Center Zeke Correll and Tackle Blake Fisher haven’t done the job you would expect from veterans like them, while both freshman guards have been up and down. This unit was supposed to be much better and simply hasn’t come through, especially against strong defenses.

Unfortunately this average Notre Dame offense has led to one of the better defenses in program history being wasted. Xavier Watts has had a magical season at safety, while Benjamin Morrison and DJ Brown continue to play well at corner. JD Bertrand has led an excellent line backing core and the pass rush has improved as well. It’s been a true shame to throw away this units work.

All that’s left to root for is winning out, something the Irish should do against Wake Forest and Stanford. Hopefully that leads to an intriguing bowl matchup, which is currently projected to be against the traitor himself, Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers. Beating Kelly would at least bring some satisfaction but it’s hard to put much in a bowl game in the modern era. Once that’s all over it will send Marcus Freeman and company into a critical off-season. While 10 wins (if they win their bowl) would be an improvement from last year, this season will leave everyone wanting more. It was there for the taking in just about every game aside from Louisville. The same mistakes cannot happen again next season.

Freeman has said the program will seek to add another transfer quarterback this off-season, and hopefully add some wideouts and a new OC with it. There are plenty of interesting transfer QB targets that will likely take the place of Steven Angeli as he leaves the program. Duke’s Riley Leonard, Tulane’s Michael Pratt and Utah’s Cam Rising are at the top of the rumor mill right now. Freeman must deliver one more time on the transfer front, so he can have a big season in the all important 3rd year, while red shirting freshman CJ Carr. One thing is for sure, the pressure is on.

Around the Country

Collision Course: What a surprise, it’s mid November and Georgia and Alabama look like two of the best teams in the land. The “Dawgs” have rounded into form with QB Carson Beck leading an explosive offense. Meanwhile the Tide have surprised everyone, in a season that is fast becoming Nick Saban’s best coaching job in years. The SEC title game in Atlanta should be a thriller, sending the winner to the playoff, and the loser to the golf course.

A Set of Steak Knives: That’s the second prize, “third prize is you’re fired,” at least it was in the film Glen Gary Glen Ross. Texas A&M informed Jimbo Fisher he won “the third prize” on Sunday, following their win over Mississippi State. The once “most sought after coach in the nation” is on his way out after a tenure that never quite met expectations. There are a lot of names floating around to replace him, but I’d keep an eye on Urban Meyer and Lane Kiffin. The question is, can anyone satisfy the oil money power brokers that truly run the university? Oh, and don’t worry about Jimbo, he can buy lots of steak knives with his $77 million buyout.

The Victim Card: The BIG 10 finally showed some backbone and punished Michigan. While the punishment in my opinion isn’t enough, suspending Jim Harbaugh is a start. The Wolverines went on to unimpressively beat Penn State Saturday and decided to play the victim card. Offensive coordinator and interim head coach Sherrone Moore’s sobbing rant was frankly one of the grossest things we’ve seen in a long time. Division one football programs are all cult like, but Michigan’s ability to be so insular blows the rest away. They don’t deserve a playoff spot and neither do their conferences rivals in Columbus.

Bo Knows Heisman: Not Jackson of course, the Bo I am referring to is Oregon star Bo Nix. The Ducks signal caller is now the Heisman favorite in my estimation as he is leading one of the nations best teams in style. Oregon looks primed to return to the playoff for the first time since it’s inaugural edition. They’ll have to win the PAC 12 to do so but they pass the eye test and look a lot better than Washington at the moment. This could become a legendary year for Oregon when it’s all said and done.

In The Hunt: Forget being “back,” the Texas Longhorns are squarely in the playoff hunt. While they have some work to do and will likely need some help, the Horns are in position to win the BIG 12. If they can get it done and the right dominos fall into place, it’ll he “horns up” on the biggest stage for the first time in a long time. They look much better with QB Quinn Ewers back under center as well, who led them to their win over Alabama.

That’ll do it for this college round up. I’ll have another before the conference title games as we’ll look forward to those critical matchups. Stay tuned for a jam packed NHL recap this week. Follow me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Enjoy the end of the regular season everyone!