Adjustments Will Be Key in Texas A&M-Notre Dame Clash

The first few drives of Saturday night’s matchup between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 20 Texas A&M will be a feeling-out process. 

Notre Dame’s defense will be the only side of the ball with more answers than questions, as both offenses will have new coordinators and the Aggies will be breaking in a new defensive scheme. 

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko knows Notre Dame’s offense will have a different feel after bringing in a transfer quarterback and three portal receivers in addition to Mike Denbrock, who led the nation’s top offense a year ago at LSU. 

“I think one of the unique things as you’re watching film on openers, you’re watching film from about eight different colleges as you get ready for this offense,” stated Elko. “You got Duke film on there. You got FIU film, Clemson film, Notre Dame film, LSU film, it’s one of the unique things about going through these openers.

“You never know what teams are going to run because they have different personnel. For us, it’s about watching film, watching what they’ve done before and the coordinators to try and game plan off of that.” 

The Aggies added over 20 transfers to the program in the offseason, so Notre Dame’s coaching staff is in the same boat, but perhaps even more given Texas A&M has two new coordinators. 

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden echoed Elko’s statements. He has spent countless hours figuring out what each player does well, which means he’s also watched several programs during the offseason to prepare for the A&M offense. 

That said, preparation can only go so far and Notre Dame’s focus is on themselves as they can control that piece of the game. 

“You’re trying to put it all together,” explained Golden. “What did the guys returning to A&M do well? What did the transfers do well? Then you make a guess how they would be used in that system. Again, first games, it’s always better to control your variables because you really don’t know what the other variables are. We have to execute, play really well, and play with great effort and intensity. Just do our job and don’t make it bigger than it is."

The other challenge for Golden will be defending Collin Klein's unique offense. The former Kansas State offensive coordinator has one of the most creative run games in the country. Klein will pull players who aren’t normally used to for pulling while also having blocking schemes to get angles most teams don’t attempt. 

“Incredible respect for Collin,” said Golden. “He’s done an unbelievable job everywhere he’s been. Love the scheme. Challenging scheme. A lot of different variations to it and a lot of formations, a lot of shifts and motions and a lot of different personnel groups. It’s a challenge. They the quarterback it can run through, so we’re going to have to be on our game.” 

Fifth-year defensive lineman Rylie Mills has been diving into Kansas State film to fill his mind with potential schemes he could see on Saturday from Klein. 

Can there be film overload? Not in Mills’ mind

“I think it's good to get exposed to everything,” Mills said. “It doesn’t hurt to watch too much, especially for the line, it’s really about these are the kind of looks you can get. Ultimately you have to come off the ball and knock someone back. It’s good to have that in the back of your head, but ultimately, you have to play football.” 

What will it take to be victorious on Saturday? It will likely come down to which team makes the best adjustments and wins the turnover battle. 

“We have to be able to adjust on the sideline to what we’re seeing on both sides of the ball, special teams,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “That’s something we’ve talked about in-depth as a coaching staff is that this game’s going to be about adjustments. How do we settle down based on what we’re seeing from our opponent to say, ‘Okay, here’s the things we want to do on each side of the ball.’

“We understand that. It’s been like that since the first couple of years as the head coach that you have to be able to make an adjustment, especially in that first game.”

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