College Football 2011: Notre Dame, Texas and the Teams Riding Name Alone

For some reason, Jennifer Aniston still gets choice roles in movies despite the fact none of them ever live up to the hype.

Notre Dame is sort of like the former Friends star. Each year, expectations are sky high for the Irish, but they just never live up to it.

Sputtering out of the gate against South Florida and then blowing a 17-point lead to Michigan show us how Notre Dame is living off history and tradition and not results.

The Irish are not alone, though. Keep reading to see who else is riding its name instead of being a legitimate contender this year.

Miami Hurricanes

Since Miami lost to LSU 40-3 in the 2005 Chick-fil-A Bowl, the Hurricanes have steadily declined and become pretty much a non factor in any championship race.

Since 2005, Miami’s overall record is 43-32. Not bad, but not up to The U standards.

For a program that supposedly has top 10 or 15 recruiting classes each season, you have to ask what’s going wrong in Coral Gables?

Maybe Al Golden can revive the Hurricanes, but with possible NCAA sanctions to come soon, it’s hard to believe that turnaround is coming any time soon.

It’s also hard to believe the prize of ACC expansion has never won a conference championship.

Texas Longhorns

Just two seasons removed from playing for in the BCS Championship, Mack Brown’s squad is a shell of its former talented self.

Remember, Texas has stockpiled 5- and 4-star recruits for years, but for some reason, it’s not translating into a dominant program.

Texas may have the Longhorn Network and may still be the “premiere” program in the Big 12, but right now, the Longhorns don’t scare anyone in college football.

Right now, every team in the state of Texas probably feels it could take down the Longhorns.

Iowa Hawkeyes

It’s not like the Hawkeyes have ever been considered a major power, but with a coach like Kirk Ferentz expectations are always high at Iowa.

So losing to in-state rival Iowa State 44-41 in overtime is unacceptable. The Hawkeyes have better talent.

Now we’re in the second year of Iowa living off its outstanding 2009 season, and the results don’t back up any claim that Iowa should be considered anything more than a mid-level program.

Penn State Nittany Lions

Let’s stay in the Big Ten where Penn State has been good, but not special for most of the past two decades.

OK, the Nittany Lions have won three Big Ten titles since 1992 and went 12-0 in 1994. So they have won some games.

But if you watched Joe Paterno coach Penn State from the press box Saturday, you saw a team that was not even in the same class as No. 3 Alabama.

Because Penn State has great fans, a national following and a coach who has been on the “sidelines” since Lyndon Johnson was president, the Nittany Lions are considered a major player in college football.

When in fact, anyone who follows college football realizes Penn State isn’t even considered a serious Big Ten contender.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Let’s just finish off the Big Ten bashing now.

One week after whipping a lackluster Akron program, the Buckeyes almost took its first loss to an Ohio school since Oberlin in 1921.

On Saturday, Ohio State’s offense looked like Jim Tressel had returned and was not about to call anything but conservative plays.

Toledo could have won, and you could argue should have won at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes still pulled out a 27-22 win, but Ohio State is living off reputation right now.

USC Trojans

Lane Kiffin and the Trojans may be 2-0, but it’s the least impressive two wins anyone could ever get.

Of course, I had an old coach who said he’d be fine with winning every game by a point as long as he won every game.

Still, this USC team is not your pay-for-play Pete Carroll teams.

The Trojans have Matt Barkley, Marc Tyler and so on, but for some reason, USC is averaging just 21 points through two games.

That’s a far cry from the explosive USC offenses we all remember.

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia’s 0-2 start is one of the season’s biggest disappointments for the early going.

Most fans realized the Bulldogs’ first two games were arguably the toughest two they’d play this season, but a 1-1 start was a realistic expectation.

Right now, Georgia can’t play defense or protect quarterback Aaron Murray.

The schedule gets a lot easier now, and the Bulldogs may end up with nine wins. But will it be enough to save Mark Richt?

We will all wait and see.

Notre Dame Irish

The Irish offense can rack up the yards, but through two games, Brian Kelly’s quarterbacks can’t stop throwing it to the opponents.

Notre Dame looked much better against Michigan Saturday night, but the Irish have been living off reputation and national appeal since 1993.

Until the Irish show they can beat a legitimate Top 25 team, no one is going to take them seriously.

The Notre Dame fans can blame coaches like Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham, but the reality is the talent in South Bend is just average.