Dan Wolken

USA TODAY Sports

If the world of college football was fair, Oklahoma State would be 2-0 and Mike Gundy would never have to release a statement Sunday about the circumstances that led to the Cowboys’ 30-27 loss to Central Michigan.

If it was fair, the Mid-American Conference wouldn’t have had to publicly acknowledge that the officials working the game didn’t know the rules.

And if it was fair, there would be some mechanism to acknowledge that the loss on Oklahoma State’s record is more of a system glitch than something that the Cowboys deserved.

Of course, if there’s ever a program that knows the pain of technicalities and ridiculously small margins, it’s Oklahoma State. As injustices go, this doesn’t even compare to 2011 when Alabama was chosen ahead of the Cowboys to play LSU for the national title despite raking second in pretty much every computer poll.

In the end, though, it’s an injustice all the same. And once again, Oklahoma State fans can blame human error.

Central Michigan's Hail Mary win shouldn't have been

Of course, the difference this time is that pretty much everybody played a part. And though it’s clearly the responsibility of the officials to know and apply the rules, how did this slip by Oklahoma State’s entire coaching staff?

If Central Michigan, by rule, should not have been given an untimed down after Oklahoma State’s attempt to run out the clock was flagged for intentional grounding, it’s sort of hard to believe nobody on the Oklahoma State sideline sprung to action to protest.

So yes, the officials missed it. The replay officials missed it. And now there’s no mechanism to reverse the outcome without going down a very slippery slope. (A similar debate took place last year, if you remember, after Miami’s kickoff return touchdown to beat Duke in which replay officials missed that a knee was on the ground.)

But Gundy, if he knew the rule, would have been up in the face of everybody demanding attention to the fact that they were making a major mistake.

That should be the biggest lesson here for every coaching staff in the country: Have someone who knows the dang rules. And even though everyone has now acknowledged the screw-up, it doesn’t make Oklahoma State fans feel any better. The psychology of losing a football game in that fashion doesn’t change, even if fans know their team actually won.

Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy disappointed but moving on

(Disclaimer: This isn't a ranking of worst teams, worst losses or coaches whose jobs are in the most jeopardy. This is simply a measurement of a fan base's knee-jerk reaction to what they last saw. The way in which a team won or lost, expectations vis-à-vis program trajectory and traditional inferiority complex of fan base all factor into this ranking.)

FIVE MOST MISERABLE

1. Oklahoma State: The good news for Cowboys fans is that misery loves company, and there’s plenty of it right now in the Big 12. The conference of One True Champion — and also of the “psychological disadvantage” as Oklahoma President David Boren famously said last year — has a 57.9 winning percentage right now in non-conference play. That’s, uh, not good.

Among the power conferences it’s by far the worst, below even the Pac 12 at 68.2%. Things can certainly change, but it appears the Big 12 will have an uphill battle to make the playoff. Oklahoma’s home game against Ohio State next week is a must-win not just for the Sooners, but perhaps for the entire league.

That’s not totally Oklahoma State’s fault, but in a 10-team league that already has some weak sisters, you can’t afford for one of the contenders to lose at home to the likes of Central Michigan.

2. Kentucky: The situation in Lexington is starting to quickly look untenable. Kentucky’s 45-7 loss at Florida was the kind of effort reminiscent of a team at the end of a bad season that has packed it in on a coaching staff, not a group fighting to redeem itself after an embarrassing Week 1 loss to Southern Miss. There was nothing positive about Kentucky’s trip to Gainesville — nothing — and there are no easy answers for Mark Stoops from here.

As a result of the contract extension Kentucky gave him in 2014, Stoops is owed $12 million if he’s fired after this year. Even for an SEC program, that’s a massive chunk of change. Keeping him around, on the other hand, will only inflame a fan base that has increasingly given up hope that he’s the guy to turn things around.

Stoops has done nothing on the field to merit any job security or belief from Kentucky fans, but the best answer for now may be to grin and bear it.

3. North Carolina State: Now in his fourth season, the list of teams Dave Doeren has defeated is not particularly impressive. Louisiana Tech, Richmond, Central Michigan, Georgia Southern, Old Dominion (twice), South Florida, Presbyterian, Syracuse (twice), Wake Forest (twice) North Carolina, Central Florida, Troy, South Alabama, Boston College and William & Mary.

You can keep a fan base engaged only so long before they see through the promises and focus on the lack of significant wins. The only thing that comes close was beating a 6-7 North Carolina squad in 2014. In other words, the reserve of patience has just about been exhausted.

Athletics director Debbie Yow's contract expires in June of 2019, at which point she's likely to retire, which means Doeren likely has that long to get things turned around. But he better start now.

College football's Week 2 winners and losers

4. Northwestern: We are now at the point where Northwestern’s fan base, such as it is, gets legitimately upset when things look like they’re falling apart. We saw it in 2013 and 2014 when the Wildcats lost so many close games and missed the postseason in consecutive years.

Now the grumbling has started again after a 0-2 start to the likes of Western Michigan and Illinois State. This is Pat Fitzgerald’s 11th year at Northwestern, and it’s fair to say he’s never been more unpopular. It’s crazy — Fitzgerald is a terrific coach and has worked wonders in Evanston — but this is a legitimate rough patch.

It also hurts Fitzgerald more than anyone that the Big Ten is getting better. There are simply fewer and fewer dysfunctional programs in the league Northwestern can take advantage of.

Pittburgh holds off Penn State rally to win 42-39

5. Penn State: A headline in the Onward State student newspaper last week declared that “Penn State Deserves A Better Rival Than Pitt.” In addition to being overly provocative, it also shows the poor self-awareness of Penn State fans at this point in time.

Whether they like it or not, their program is where it’s supposed to be: still struggling with the aftermath of severe NCAA sanctions and probably fortunate to be on the same level as Pitt. In fact, Pitt was the slight favorite in the game and won 42-39.

There are actually a lot of positives in Penn State’s comeback to nearly steal the victory late, but some fans won’t be able to get past the fact James Franklin has lost to “lesser” in-state programs like Pitt and Temple in consecutive years.

Nick Saban has a great choice of words to describe outburst at Lane Kiffin

MISERABLE, BUT NOT QUITE MISERABLE ENOUGH

Alabama: What a bundle of joy Nick Saban has been this season. After beating Southern California 52-6 in the season opener, he essentially said the Crimson Tide didn’t play very well. Then after throttling Western Kentucky on Saturday — and throwing a sideline fit at Lane Kiffin late in the game — Saban told reporters, “I don’t know that I’ve ever been this disappointed after winning a game, maybe ever.” He won 38-10.

Northern Illinois: These are tense times for the program that thinks of itself as the class of the Mid-American Conference. After going 31-9 in his first 40 games as head coach, Rod Carey’s Huskies are on a five-game losing streak punctuated by Saturday’s 48-17 loss at South Florida. Being defeated so soundly by another Group of Five team is the clearest sign yet that Northern Illinois has slipped.

BYU: It’s hard to blame first-year coach Kalani Sitake for deciding with 18 seconds left to go for two and the win after Taysom Hill’s touchdown brought the Cougars within 20-19 of Utah. The play call, however, was so predictable that it never had a chance. BYU fans now have to stew on a sixth consecutive loss to Utah while desperately hoping the Big 12 grants them an invitation.

Snap judgments from college football's Week 2

Kansas: Maybe school officials should have let those poor souls rush the field last week after all. The “euphoria” of Week 1’s 55-6 victory against Rhode Island, which prompted the public address announcer to implore fans to stay in the stands, was quickly doused by a 37-21 loss to Ohio. It’s going to be another brutal season for the Jayhawks, who will be significant underdogs in their next seven games before hosting Iowa State on Nov. 12.

Georgia: Despite being 55-point favorites, the Bulldogs were in a life-and-death struggle to beat Nicholls State, a program that lost by a combined 95-0 to the two FBS opponents it played last season. Even more alarming is when things got tight late, Kirby Smart pulled freshman quarterback Jacob Eason and defaulted to his veteran, Greyson Lambert. Georgia is fortunate not to be the victim of the biggest upset in college football history.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 2

TOO SHOCKED TO BE MISERABLE

Clemson: Fans expected Deshaun Watson & Co. to put on a show every week, but the offense has been lethargic at best through two games. With nine returning starters, it’s a little unnerving to see Clemson struggle to run the ball and Watson completing just 53% of his passes.

Arizona: Falling behind 21-3 to Grambling State at halftime is not the sign of a completely healthy program, even though the Wildcats came back to win 31-21. Arizona seems to have lost some of its verve from Rich Rodriguez’ high-water mark two years ago.

UConn: If the Misery Index had its way, every coaching staff in America would have somebody on the sideline whose job is nothing but clock management. UConn completely botched its attempt to beat Navy, wasting a timeout when the clock was stopped anyway with 17 seconds left and running (and getting stuffed) from the 1-yard line on the last play when it could have had two shots at the end zone by passing.

Duke: It’s easy to take the Blue Devils’ recent run of success for granted, but this year may be a reminder of just how difficult it is to make bowl games annually at Duke. Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Wake Forest doesn’t bode well for a team that still has six very difficult road games ahead.

Texas Tech: It’s pretty hard to score 50 points and lose a college football game without overtime padding the point totals. Remarkably, Saturday was the third time it has happened to Kliff Kingsbury’s team in the past 11 games. There was really no pretense of the Red Raiders being able to stop Arizona State in a 68-55 loss. Whatever those two teams were playing, it didn’t look much like football.

Amway Coaches Poll stock watch: Florida State jumps to No. 2 behind Alabama

FIVE TOTALLY REAL AND IRRATIONAL MESSAGE BOARD THREADS

“I hope Spurrier has the yips for the next decade” — thebigspur.com (South Carolina)

“Did we play 12 year old girls on the left side of the line today?” — dawgvent.com (Georgia)

“No Fire in Fuente” — techsideline.com (Virginia Tech)

“These types of Sundays make me glad I don’t live in Utah” — cougarboard.com (BYU)

“Program damaging loss” — wildcatreport.com (Northwestern)