ESPN

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After Oklahoma called a timeout with 1:21 to play and the ball at the Notre Dame 17-yard line on Saturday, "Boomer! Sooner!" chants began to rain down from the crimson-clad contingent seated near Notre Dame Stadium's northeast corner, threatening to turn this place into Owen Field North. The Irish's student section responded with furious chants of "Let's Go, Irish!"

Two kneels and one final horn later, everyone was left to figure out where these Irish go from here.

Notre Dame had been flirting with a result like this in its previous three games. And, just like they did against Michigan three weeks ago, the Irish once again ran into a team more than happy to take advantage of another rough opening.

Starting painfully slow is just no way to live. And after a 35-21 loss to Oklahoma, Notre Dame's second defeat this month, neither is essentially having to win seven remaining games to return to a BCS bowl for the second year in a row.

"You never expect those things, but they happen," coach Brian Kelly said of the Irish's early mistakes. "That's why we have ulcers in this business."

In front of a green-out crowd against the Sooners, those gaffes were interceptions on back-to-back Tommy Rees throws on the Irish's first two drives, leading to an early 14-0 deficit. Much like Michigan showed in Notre Dame's other loss -- and much like Purdue and Michigan State couldn't, try as they might -- Oklahoma proved once again that shootouts are not conducive to the Irish's style.

Rees threw three picks against the Sooners, which accounted for one more than the two he had thrown in four starts entering the contest. Oklahoma converted those turnovers into 21 points, including a 24-yard Corey Nelson pick-six on the game's first possession.

Andrew Hendrix provided a nice wrinkle in some zone-read packages, and the Irish finally got the ground game going behind George Atkinson III, who tallied a career-best 148 yards.

But after falling behind by two scores, they began just two drives while trailing by just one score -- the second of which ended with Rees getting picked off by Julian Wilson on third-and-10 with the Irish in field goal range. Oklahoma then went 88 yards in 10 plays to take a 21-7 lead 42 seconds before halftime.

"I don't know about a dream-like start," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said, "but a good start."

Stoops went on to say that toughness was not a problem with his Sooners, and that they did not lose to the Irish at home last year because of physical football.

Call it what whatever you want, but it was something that Notre Dame mastered last year, especially in its near-perfect outing in Norman.

Then, the Irish won the turnover battle 1-0. They limited Oklahoma to just 15 rushing yards. They won 30-13.

On Saturday, they lost the turnover battle 3-0. They surrendered 212 rushing yards. And they were down 14-0 less than three minutes into the game.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I don't know how we fix our slow start," co-captain TJ Jones said. "I think it's just kind of a collective thing to come out with -- I really don't know what it is. Whether it's feeding off the energy and executing plays or not letting the mis-execution of plays slow us down."

Added Kelly: "Look, if I knew what that was, I would not be standing here right now. I'd be doing something else. This is my 23rd year as a head coach. You never expect to not pick up the simplest of stunts and have your quarterback get the ball stripped. You never expect not to run the right route when you're supposed to."

No, Notre Dame does not know how it got here, and it does not exactly know how to leave here, either. The student section booed heavily when the Irish began to head up the tunnel instead of staying for the alma mater. Fifth-year senior Carlo Calabrese urged his teammates to come back out and sing, per postgame ritual. They obliged, though it turns out a new team policy, instituted two years ago, calls for the players to regroup first in the locker room following a loss before reappearing and crooning.

Notre Dame had not lost in the 10 home games since the creation of that policy, a streak that came to an end against the Sooners. The Irish's national title dreams -- the Jan. 6 date at the BCS National Championship that is listed inside the football complex for all to see — are long gone. Their BCS bowl hopes are on life support.

"This season's a new season, we're a different team," co-captain Bennett Jackson said. "We have different characteristics as a team, and we take each game each week. We can't do anything about the past. As a team, we're going to come together and try to win the rest of our games. That's our main objective."

Wes Lunt has finally decided on a new home. He's transferring to Illinois, a source told colleagues Joe Schad and Brett McMurphy.

Lunt, who grew up an Illini fan, believes the spread offense operated by offensive coordinator Bill Cubit would be a good fit.

Lunt also has a relationship with coach Tim Beckman and could potentially succeed as a senior starter and help turn around a program in front of his home-state fans.

Lunt heading back to the flagship school of his home state was mostly predictable all along (I called this one in print on May 17), and it's probably the best move for him after he decided to leave Oklahoma State. Homesickness had to play a big role in his decision to leave.

From purely a football perspective, his decision to transfer made no sense. Still, people far too often forget that the guys in helmets every Saturday in the fall are human, and if you don't enjoy the other 352 days a year when you're not playing football, it's hard to stay somewhere if you're happy just for those precious 13.

He won't win as much at Illinois as he would have in Stillwater in the next three years, but he's still got a path to the NFL and he'll probably enjoy his day-to-day life a little better, too. That's nothing against Oklahoma State -- it's mostly just a "different strokes for different folks" type of situation.

Lunt's exit and coach Mike Gundy's decision to limit him from nearly 40 schools drew criticism from plenty of folks (rival coach Bob Stoops was the only notable person I heard come out in support of the decision), but Lunt landing back close to home to help rebuild a program he loves likely won't draw any complaints from the Lunt camp.

Good spot for him. He'll have to sit out 2013, but will have three years of eligibility remaining. That's a lot of time to rewrite a legacy for a player who showed he's got a whole lot of talent, even in an abbreviated season in Stillwater.

Another list, another debate — though this one should again have Notre Dame fans pleased following the Irish's 2012 campaign.

The Sporting News' Matt Hayes released his list of college football coach rankings this week, one week after AthlonSports delivered a list of its own. Athlon had Brian Kelly ranked fourth. Hayes has Kelly fifth.

His reasoning:

5. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame: How impressive has Kelly been at ND? The weight of the program hasn’t crushed him like it did every other coach since Lou Holtz retired. The Alabama loss in last year’s BCS National Championship Game was brutal, but he somehow managed to get a team with significant flaws (freshman quarterback, tight-end-oriented passing game) all the way to the big game. He won championships at the NCAA lower divisions, won conference championships at the non-BCS and BCS levels, and will win a national title at Notre Dame.

The usual suspects top this list: Alabama's Nick Saban and Ohio State's Urban Meyer. After that? The debate really begins.

Boise State's Chris Petersen is No. 3, followed by Oklahoma's Bob Stoops.

Athlon's list, meanwhile, had Kansas State's Bill Snyder at No. 3.

There really are no right or wrong answers with any of these, depending on your view. Program-builder? Hard to argue with Snyder, Petersen or Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, who comes in at No. 8 on Hayes' list. Length of success? Few can doubt Stoops' mark in Norman, though consecutive BCS-bowl-less campaigns have not made him the most popular guy among the die-hards lately.

Then there are the real head-scratchers, guys like Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, who comes in at No. 34 on Hayes' list but is No. 9 on Athlon's. Les Miles is another one who seems to draw opposing reactions, as the LSU coach is ninth on Hayes' list but 24th on Athlon's.

Most can agree with Saban and Meyer at the top. After proving this past season that Notre Dame can succeed at the highest level, Kelly is making a case for himself to be right up there, too.

Former Notre Dame coaches Charlie Weis and Bob Davie check in at Nos. 57 and 87, respectively.

Much of college football debate is based on lists and rankings. Notre Dame fans know this as much as anyone after a 2012 regular season that did not see the Irish rise from fourth to first in all of the major polls until the three teams ahead of them dropped games.

Those same fans will have a hard time being upset with the list that AthlonSports released this week: College football head coaches, Nos. 1-125.

Brian Kelly's spot? No. 4.

Steven Lassan writes:

Not many coaches in college football can rival Kelly’s resume in four stops as a head coach. Kelly’s first head coaching gig came in 1991 at Grand Valley State, and he stayed in that capacity until 2003. During 13 years with Grand Valley State, Kelly went 118-35-2 and won two Division II titles. After his success with the Lakers, Kelly went 19-16 with Central Michigan, which included a MAC championship in 2006. Kelly moved on to Cincinnati at the end of the 2006 season and guided the Bearcats to back-to-back Big East titles in 2008 and 2009. After back to-back 8-5 seasons with Notre Dame, Kelly led the Fighting Irish to an appearance in the BCS National Championship game at the end of the 2012 season. Despite the blowout loss to Alabama in the title game, Kelly clearly has the program back on track to be an annual top 10-15 team.

The three men ahead of Kelly? Alabama's Nick Saban, Florida's Urban Meyer and Kansas State's Bill Snyder. Few can make a legitimate argument right now against the first two, as each is the owner of multiple national championships at college football's highest level. The Snyder spot could be up for debate, but when you take into account his longevity -- and remember just how bad the Wildcats were before his arrival -- it is tough to top what he has done in his 21-year career, ring or no ring.

How about some of the names above whom Kelly is ranked? South Carolina's Steve Spurrier (No. 5), Oklahoma's Bob Stoops (No. 7), LSU's Les Miles (No. 24) and Texas' Mack Brown (No. 28) are title-winners who finished behind Kelly on the list, though Miles is the only of that quartet whose best years have been among his most recent ones.

Other names of note to Notre Dame fans are UCF's George O'Leary (No. 68), New Mexico's Bob Davie (No. 89) and Kansas' Charlie Weis (No. 106).

Notre Dame's Saturday trip to Norman, Okla., will mark its 10th meeting with Oklahoma. ESPN Stats & Info has 10 interesting tidbits to mark the occasion.

• Notre Dame's 1999 win over Oklahoma was Bob Stoops' first loss as the Sooners' head coach. Oklahoma started the season 3-0 and led 30-14 lead with 10 minutes left in the third quarter before losing 34-30.
• This is the Irish's second true road game of the season, the only other coming Sept. 15 at Michigan State.
• Notre Dame has allowed three first-quarter points, second to only Penn State (zero).
• The Sooners have lost just four home games since Stoops arrived in 1999. They have never lost two in a season under Stoops. (Kansas State already beat them there on Sept. 22.)
• Oklahoma has five Heisman Trophy winners, including two under Stoops (Jason White in 2003, Sam Bradford in 2008).
• Notre Dame has won the last six meetings in this series.
• The Irish have seven different Heisman winners, most all-time. (The last was Tim Brown in 1987.)
• Notre Dame has won eight AP national titles, the most recent coming 24 years ago (1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988).
• Notre Dame and Oklahoma have met nine times, with the Irish winning eight of those games. The Sooners' only win over the Irish was in 1956. Notre Dame’s most memorable win over Oklahoma was in 1957, when its 7-0 victory snapped the Sooners' 47-game winning streak.
• Notre Dame has not started a season 8-0 in 10 years (2002).

Notre Dame entered the preseason USA Today coaches' poll on Thursday at No. 24, marking the third time in the past four years that the Irish have been ranked in the preseason poll.

Five of the Irish's 2012 opponents appear in the poll ahead of them, led by No. 3 USC and No. 4 Oklahoma. Michigan checks in at No. 8, followed by Michigan State (13th) and Stanford (18th).

Brian Kelly is one of the 59 head coaches who is listed as having a vote in the poll. Seven head coaches who will play Notre Dame this season are also listed as having a vote: Lane Kiffin (USC), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Brady Hoke (Michigan), Mark Dantonio (Michigan State), Al Golden (Miami), Bronco Mendenhall (BYU) and Jim Grobe (Wake Forest).

Since 2002, Notre Dame has appeared in the preseason USA Today coaches' poll five times -- 2003 (18th), 2006 (3rd), 2009 (23rd), 2011 (18th) and 2012 (24th). It has appeared in the final poll three times — 2002 (17th), 2005 (11th) and 2006 (19th).

LSU is No. 1 in this year's preseason poll, edging out No. 2 Alabama and the No. 3 Trojans. The Crimson Tide actually had the most first-place votes -- 20 to the Tigers' 18 and the Trojans' 19 -- but LSU had the most points (1,403).