Notre Dame Wins Defensive Battle in College Station, 23-13

A Week 1 game doesn’t get much bigger than this for Notre Dame. 

The Irish certainly didn’t waste the opportunity either, knocking off Texas A&M 23-13 in a gritty defensive battle Saturday night. 

“That was a huge victory for our program,” Freeman said. “That is an impressive football team that is going to win a lot of football games.” 

The first half was what many going in thought — a messy, defensive battle.

Notre Dame opened the game with the foundations shaking at Kyle Field and they could feel it. A pair of costly offside penalties allowed the Aggies to put together a 10-play opening drive that resulted in a 34-yard field goal off the foot of Randy Bond. 

Riley Leonard then stepped onto the field for his Notre Dame debut that has been over eight months in the making. It wasn’t smooth sailing to start for Leonard as he collected a bad snap but hit Jaden Greathouse over the middle for a first down. The Fair Hope, Alabama native then used his legs that made him famous to convert another third down. A third-down screen to Beaux Collins set up a Mitch Jeter field goal. 

The 12th man made themselves known once again as the Irish defense committed offsides and defensive pass interference on the same play. Fortunately, defensive coordinator Al Golden dialed up the third-down pressure, forcing Conner Weigman to throw out of the pressure. 

A&M’s defensive front continued to cause Leonard problems as he had virtually no time to process. Besides a couple of first down tosses to Kris Mitchell and Jayden Thomas, the Irish didn’t have much going. Especially on third down. 

The Aggies began to slowly chisel away with a solid drive that included five runs for 31 yards, but once again the Irish got the stop and Bond hit his second field goal of the night. 

Success didn’t last long for Texas A&M as Weigman sailed a throw over a receiver and instead found the chest of Adon Shuler. The Irish turned it around for another Jeter field goal, but not without the help of Greathouse drawing a pass interference running down the sidelines. 

Xavier Watts picked up where he left off in 2023 as he had a diving interception late in the half  for Weigman’s second of the night. Notre Dame was content to let the clock run out after a Anthony Knapp holding penalty pushed it back to start the drive. 

Both teams had their shares of injuries in the first 30 minutes. Notre Dame’s Jordan Faison got rolled up after reeling in a first-down catch and did not return. Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton also suffered a lower-leg injury but was able to return. 

The second half began with both offenses starting to show their teeth — still without much success. 

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman caught A&M by surprise as Riley Leonard bulldozed through the line to pick up a fourth-down conversion. The second time Leonard wasn’t as lucky as he stalled out with just about an inch to go. While the replay appeared to show Leonard crossing the line, the replay officials upheld the call on the field. 

“We want to be aggressive,” Freeman said. “I want to be aggressive but also smart.”

Freeman’s desperation appeared to influence Aggies’ head coach Mike Elko as he took a chance on a 4th & 8. Weigman seemed to think he had a free play, but his deep shot fell limply to the ground. 

America, meet Jadarian Price. 

The sophomore running back gave Notre Dame the life it had been grasping for as he exploded for a 47-yard house call. Irish left guard Sam Pendleton set up the touchdown with a gap clearing block. 

The Irish defense carried over its dominant first half performance to the second, swallowing up A&M’s run game. Elko continued to stay on the side of caution when it came to airing it out, but that didn’t stop him from going for it on fourth down for the second consecutive drive. He never got the chance to see how that would play out as a false start led to an Aggies’ punt. 

Fortunately for Elko, he didn’t need to rely on Weigman’s arm to get A&M back in the game. A marching 10-play drive, with eight runs for 45 yards and a pair of Irish penalties, resulted in Le’Veon Moss punching into the endzone for the score. 

Moss’ touchdown seemed to wake up the sleeping giant in Kyle Field as the crowd started to bother the offense once again. Another false start by Notre Dame pushed it back to a long third down and an energetic Aggie defensive line gave no time for Leonard to make a play. 

Now, with under seven minutes to go, Leonard and the Irish offense showed why the received all the hype throughout the offseason. Consecutive first down throws to Greathouse and a gutsy sideline catch by Beaux Collins got the offense rolling down the field. Leonard mixed in his legs to pick up a third-straight first down. 

“(Leonard’s) a competitor,” Freeman said. “I have a lot of confidence in a guy like Riley Leonard at the end of the game.”

Then that inexperienced offensive line started to step up. Jeremiyah Love exploded for an 18-yard run and followed that up with a 21-yard burst between the tackles to reclaim the lead. 

“They got baptized today,” Freeman said. 

The offense as a whole seemed to snap out of its bad dream in College Station in what could become a defining drive.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Freeman said. “The defense played lights out. Our offense did a great job of trying to move the chains and win the battle of field position.”

It was now Weigman’s turn to answer Leonard. The Irish didn’t break. Sophomore Christian Gray jumped Jahdae Walker’s fourth-down route to silence the 12th Man for good. 

Notre Dame flies back to South Bend with what may be the biggest win of Freeman’s career, and sets itself up to make a serious push for the College Football Playoff.

“When you have success like that you get emotional,” Freeman said. “We appreciate our fans.”