No. 16 Texas A&M vs. No. 8 Notre Dame
Notre Dame Stadium| 7:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -6.5 | Total: 50.5
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Five Players To Watch
Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse
Greathouse was only targeted twice vs Miami and Notre Dame needs to find more ways to get him the football. He was a big game player for the Irish last season and he’ll have to deliver another great performance against Texas A&M.
Texas A&M Edge Cashius Howell
It doesn’t get any easier for Notre Dame’s offensive tackles this week. They have to face Howell, one of the best pass rushers in the country. He had three sacks on three consecutive plays against Utah State and the Irish have to give him extra attention in pass protection. They also should run at him. He’s not Rueben Bain as a run defender and Notre Dame needs to get back to their identity on offense.
Notre Dame LB Drayk Bowen
It wasn’t Bowen’s best game in week one, but this is perfect opportunity for him and the defense to bounce back. He’s the leader of Notre Dame’s defense and A&M is going to challenge Bowen and the linebackers with the run game. Expect Bowen to meet that challenge with violence.
Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion
Concepcion has been great for A&M in his first two games after transferring from NC State. He’s made an impact after the catch and already returned a punt for a touchdown in week one as well. The Irish need to limit him and Mario Craver. Their speed has made the Aggies much more explosive on offense.
Notre Dame Edge Boubacar Traore
Traore picked up where he left off before being injured last season. Notre Dame will need him to harass and contain QB Marcel Reed as much as possible. Reed was barely pressured in the first two games and that has to change for Notre Dame’s defense to get back to the havoc everyone is used to seeing from them.
Quotes of the Week
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:“
“They've done a tremendous job of developing relationships with these young guys and the families. We're going to have a lot of our commits here and a lot of younger guys who are interested in Notre Dame football.
“It speaks volumes to the program, the team, the opponent that we're having, right? They want to be at the game where you're facing a top-tier opponent. This is a group effort and our personal staff has done a tremendous job. Our football program has put ourselves in a place where a lot of top recruits want to come see us play, and so the best recruiting we can do is put on a good performance.”
Notre Dame Defensive Backs Coach Mike Mickens:
“We're just going to be aggressive in everything we do. We attack. That's who we are as a back end. That's who we are as a team, as a defense.”
Notre Dame RB Jadarian Price:
“That was a while ago. As far as Texas schools, A&M was bottom of the list for me with schools. The reason I said it was personal was because they didn’t have as much of an interest in me early on, compared to other Texas schools. But it’s in the past. I’m at the greatest university in the world.”
Notre Dame DE Boubacar Traore:
“The best takeaway is just basically just starting fast as a defense. Like playing together, playing more violent. I feel like we could have played better as a defense, like just taking the line of scrimmage. That's something that we've just been emphasizing this week, just playing more violent, playing together.”
For Your Nerves
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