GAME THREAD | No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M

No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M

Kyle Field | 7:30 PM ET | ABC | Line: Texas A&M -3 | O/U: 45.5

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Football is back.

Kyle Field will host one of the more interesting games of the weekend as no one really knows a great deal about Notre Dame or Texas A&M. Both programs didn’t allow the media to see too much over the last month and A&M even banned a reporter from practice. 

There is no doubt this is a big game for both programs as Notre Dame will likely solidify a playoff push with a win, while the Aggies are looking to start the Elko Era off with a signature win over a Top 10 program.

What does Notre Dame need to do to win? The Irish need to find a way to create four explosive plays on offense and then force two turnovers. It has a feel of the Ohio State-Notre Dame games of the past two years as explosive plays came few and far between, but the Buckeyes made just enough. 

Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame OT Anthonie Knapp
All eyes will be on Notre Dame's new left tackle, an unexpected starter as a true freshman. Congratulations to Knapp, his reward is facing a loaded group of edge rushers led by projected first round pick Nic Scourton. Knapp has impressed everyone with intelligence and toughness going up against Notre Dame's starting defense. We'll see how he handles his first game day as a college football player.

Texas A&M DT Shemar Turner
Everyone is talking about Scourton and have seemed to forget that Texas A&M has another projected first round pick starting for them up front. Turner moved from defensive end and gained 30 pounds this offseason. He still looks like the same disruptive athlete and he could be a game wrecker in this match up.

Notre Dame LB Jaylen Sneed
Notre Dame will probably have three linebackers on the field more often in this game than they typically do as a nickel defense because of A&M's use of multiple tight ends. That means we should see a good amount of Sneed in the base defense as well as on third down. The former 5-star recruit appears on the verge of a breakout season in his third year at Notre Dame.

Texas A&M WR Noah Thomas
A&M has plenty of great athletes at receiver, but not many who have proven production. Thomas had a good season in 2023 and has emerged as their WR1 after a standout spring and summer. He's known for his ball skills and is a tough cover at 6-6, but he'll likely be matched up against All-American corner Benjamin Morrison for most of the night.

Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard
Notre Dame brought in Leonard to win this type of game. They'll need him to be a threat in the running game and to create when escaping A&M's pass rush. Will he turn some potentially negative plays into positive ones for the Irish? If the answer is yes, the Irish have a very good chance of coming out of College Station with a win.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”Texas A&M, very talented team. As you watch last year’s....the guys that return from last year’s team, they’re a very talented group. I have a lot of respect for Mike Elko and the job he’s done at Duke and previously as a defensive coordinator at different places and the way he’s developed his football teams. So, we know it’s gonna be a challenge. We’re looking forward to it. It’ll be a great environment and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to facing another top 20 program Saturday night down in College Station.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock:
”It can be a little challenging, obviously, always with first games. With the turnover in college football these days can be, from a personnel standpoint, [it’s] a little challenging to make sure you’ve got a real beat on what they can do. You have to go back and kind of research each individual player as much as you can and try to get some clips of them playing the game and evaluate them that way.

“That's really the only way to do it. We've had an opportunity because of the amount of time we've had to prepare for them, where we've been able to kind of look at that and see how we match up in certain spots and certain things that may be issues or whatever, and try to offset those as much as we can.”  

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
”You can only change what they know. If you’re drawing it up in the dirt, it’s going to be a long night. There may be X coverage instead of X coverage. Y coverage, there may be X pressure instead of Y pressure. There may be a certain run fit as opposed to the next one. Those are really what we’re talking about. If you’re not making them as the game evolves, halftime is going to be too late. That’s our methodology in the opener.”

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko:
“A lot of respect for Marcus Freeman. Him and I have known each other for a long time going back to our days in the MAC when he was at Kent State and I was at Bowling Green. We would cross paths in recruiting. Defensive guys tend to follow each other in this profession. Certainly have watched him and watched his defense over the years and he’s a tremendous head coach.” 

For Your Nerves 

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