Kirk Herbstreit Makes Blunt Admission on Kirby Smart and Curt Cignetti’s Programs Despite Conflicting Natty Prediction

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Kirk Herbstreit was pretty confident when he picked his College Football Playoff field before the season. Georgia, Indiana, Notre Dame, and Ohio State made the cut. Two weeks in, that confidence has taken a hit. The Buckeyes already blew up the preseason picture by letting Texas storm back in the fourth quarter from a 20-point deficit and win 24-23. That unexpected result leaves Herbstreit standing by his Notre Dame national title pick while simultaneously admitting we actually know very little about the teams he put alongside them.

“We don’t know anything about Georgia,” Kirk Herbstreit said on the Nonstop podcast with Joey Galloway. “I like Georgia, but I don’t know anything about them. They play Arkansas this week.”

That wasn’t a shot at Kirby Smart. It was more a warning against getting carried away with two weeks of football. Georgia has certainly done its part to make the early hype look reasonable. The Bulldogs opened with a 63-3 demolition of Tennessee State, then followed it with a 70-20 win over Western Kentucky. Those scores are loud, but the competition isn’t. The Bulldogs hold the No. 2 ranking, but they haven’t had to show much yet. But that changes soon.

Georgia has Oklahoma waiting in Week 4, and Alabama remains a major measuring stick. Ole Miss also sits on the schedule, making the road through the SEC more challenging than these first two Saturdays suggest. Kirk Herbstreit feels much the same way about Indiana.

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“I don’t know a whole lot right now about Indiana,” he added. “They look great, but we don’t know. Indiana hadn’t been in a game yet.”

That is hard to argue. The defending national champions have so far spent two easy weeks. Indiana crushed North Texas 52-16, then blanked Howard 55-0. The Hoosiers have scored 107 points and allowed only 16. There has been no late-game panic, no real fourth-quarter test, and no moment where Curt Cignetti’s team has had to dig itself out of trouble. The test will come when Ohio State arrives in October, followed by a trip to Michigan.

Then there is Notre Dame. Kirk Herbstreit picked the Fighting Irish to win the national championship before the season. His projected playoff bracket had Notre Dame beating Texas in the quarterfinals, Georgia in the semifinal, and Indiana in the title game. But Joey Galloway isn’t feeling nearly as confident anymore.

“You picked them to win the national championship, though,” Galloway said. “Listen, that schedule and I just said their schedule’s not great. So, the problem we may not know. We’re going October 17th. BYU is the first time we’re going to find out if they have what it takes. I’m going to say right at this moment, I don’t feel as good about Notre Dame as I thought I would.”

Notre Dame is 2-0 and has outscored Wisconsin and Rice 93-13. The Irish followed a closer-than-expected opening win with a 52-0 demolition of Rice. So, like Georgia and Indiana, Notre Dame has won everything put in front of it. That puts all three programs in roughly the same early-season boat. Unbeaten, impressive, and still somewhat untested.

Ohio State, meanwhile, has already learned the hard way that preseason projections don’t mean much once the ball is kicked. The Buckeyes fell from No. 1 to No. 6 in the AP poll after the Texas collapse, while Texas climbed to No. 1. And right now, Kirk Herbstreit is not changing his mind about Notre Dame. He may not know much about Georgia or Indiana yet. Or even his alma mater. But for now, his national championship pick remains just where it was.

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