Well, howdy there folks! Welcome back to another season of college football and the first 18 Stripes game preview of 2024. This is my 17th season covering the Fighting Irish and for the first time in a while, I’m ready to change things up. Today, I’ll start a different layout for the game preview articles that I write. But like the last few years, our 18 Stripes team will be mixing up the previews so I won’t write one every week.
Notre Dame (+2.5) at Texas A&M
Kyle Field
College Station, Texas
Date: Saturday, August 31, 2024
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: ABC
It’s time to look at the Aggies. What is an Aggie? It’s a nickname for a farmer. Formerly known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, this was the first public university in the state of Texas. Yee-haw! Today, it’s the 2nd largest university campus by enrollment with almost enough students to fill every seat inside Notre Dame Stadium.
But we’re not at the House That Rock Built, instead we are in a cross-section between Austin, Waco, and Houston only a few miles from Route 6 in central southeast Texas. You’d think this school would’ve re-named their home to Caterpillar Inc. Stadium but they’ve settled for the quite funny and simple Kyle Field, named after a man who first advocated for agricultural teaching in Texas and whose family the suburb outside of Austin is named after, as well.
Vegas Corner
This game had been holding steady at Notre Dame (+1) or (+1.5) all summer but in mid-August the line started moving further away from the Irish. As we head towards Saturday, the most common line at the books is (+2.5) although some places are showing (+3.0) keeping Notre Dame even bigger road dogs.
The over/under has fallen 2 points to 46.5 since the early summer and was closer to 49 and 50 many months ago. Vegas is expecting a rock fight.
Weather Report
Not long ago, the weather for the game was looking dry and toasty. Recently, the threat of thunderstorms has been popping up in the forecast. It’s expected to be in the high 80’s throughout Saturday and dropping down to the low 80’s and high 70’s for kickoff with humidity around 85% or so. Light 7 mph winds are expected from the east northeast which would provide a small cross-wind on Kyle Field’s slightly northwest configuration. Thunderstorms may hamper tailgating throughout the day, then possibly stop for kickoff, and maybe come back again.
Series History
This will be only the 6th meeting against Texas A&M. The series basically breaks down to a trio of Cotton Bowls (New Years Day in 1988, 1993, and 1994) where the Aggies saw the humble beginnings of the Holtz era and the dominant end, plus a couple of Bob Davie Bowls where each side defended home turf in 2000-01.
Fun Fact
Many traditions at Texas A&M are weird. The story of the 12th Man is no exception. The basics boil down to an injury-riddled Aggies team during 1922 playing a school called the Centre College Praying Colonels in the Dixie Classic (a bowl game held only 3 times in the 1920’s) and going on to win 22-14. Except, with the injuries they called a former football player from the stands and had him use one of the injured players’ uniforms. This guy never actually played in the game, but stood on the sidelines, just in case. From that story the 12th Man was born.
The old sign.
In recent years, A&M has upgraded their 12th Man sign inside Kyle Field. The old version is what you see above and the new sign, built in 2018, is the main header photo and changed the font to match the rest of the script used around the field with access to back lightning, as well.
Coaching Staff
Texas A&M dropped bags and bags to go through yet another coaching staff makeover. After a 45-25 record (and only 6 games over .500 in SEC play) the Jimbo Fisher experiment was ended after writing a $77.5 million check for a buyout this past fall. The Aggies turned to Mike Elko who was coming off a successful 2-year stint at Duke and had spent 4 years as A&M’s defensive coordinator in the Fisher era (famously bolting from Notre Dame after one season to do so).
Elko from back when he was DC.
In addition, Elko brought Trooper Taylor with him from Duke as associate head coach, poached talented offensive coordinator Collin Klein from Kansas State, and signed former Army and North Carolina defensive coordinator Jay Bateman to run the Aggies defense after he spent 2022-23 as Florida’s linebackers coach.
Mascot
Say hello to the First Lady of Aggieland, Reveille X. The school has a Corp of Cadets organization on campus and this dog is the highest-ranking member of the group. Texas A&M first introduced this mascot back in 1931 and have been using rough collies since 1966 when Reveille III made her debut.
I’ve always thought the rough collie was the dumbest looking dog breed (someone has to have the honor!), but that’s just my opinion. ALF looking dog. The current mascot Reveille X has been in place since the start of the 2021 season and is taken care of by Company E-2 in the Corp of Cadets.
Portal
Texas A&M has been a top 5 portal drama team in recent years and was especially in the thick of a makeover this off-season with an unofficial 23 transfers out of the program with 28 new players coming into College Station for 2024. This should’ve been their historic 2022 recruiting class, which finished #1 in the nation, coming into their junior year, but that collection has since been blown up.
For 2024, the Aggies do have 7 players set to start in key roles from that 2022 class which isn’t terrible for an average class (Notre Dame has 5 projected starters and 4 quality backups from their 2022 class in comparison). It’s just not a type of class that was ever going to succeed at a historical level given its poor cultural beginnings. Here’s a list of all the 2023 A&M starters or impact players who have moved on from the team:
WR Ainias Smith – 5th round pick Philadelphia Eagles
WR Evan Stewart – transfer to Oregon
TE Max Wright – undrafted
TE Jake Johnson – transfer to North Carolina
OC Bryce Foster – transfer to Kansas
RG Layden Robinson – 4th round pick New England Patriots
DT McKinnley Jackson – 3rd round pick Cincinnati Bengals
DT LT Overton – transfer to Alabama
DT Walter Nolen – transfer to Ole Miss
DE Fadil Diggs – transfer to Syracuse
DE Isaiah Raikes – transfer to USC then Auburn
LB Edgerrin Cooper – 2nd round pick Green Bay Packers
LB Chris Russell – undrafted
LB Sam Mathews – undrafted
CB Josh DeBerry – undrafted free agent Dallas Cowboys
CB Deuce Harmon – transfer to SMU
S Jardin Gilbert – transfer to LSU
S Demani Richardson – undrafted free agent Carolina Panthers
S Jacoby Mathews – transfer to TBD
S Sam McCall – transfer to Georgia State
Texas A&M has brought in a handful of transfers this off-season that are set to start against the Irish include right guard Ar’maj Reed-Adams (Kansas), center Kolinu’u Faaiu (Utah), wideout Cyrus Allen (Louisiana Tech), defensive end Nic Scourton (Purdue), defensive lineman Cashius Howell (Bowling Green), linebacker Solomon DeShields (Pitt), corner Will Lee (Kansas State), and safety Trey Jones (Central Michigan).
Top Men
QB Conner Weigman – The former 5-star (pronounced WIG-min) is heading into his redshirt sophomore season after being one of the gems of that vaunted 2022 class and is both lacking a ton of experience but also someone who has flashed plenty of hype. He won the job last year but a foot injury limited him to just 4 games played in 2023.
Prognosticators are sniffing 1st round potential for Weigman.Â
In 9 total games with the Aggies, he’s thrown for 1,875 yards and 16 touchdowns with just 2 interceptions. He’s a dangerous weapon to use in the new Klein offense.
RB Le’Veon Moss – A&M was rotating a deep cast of running backs last year but looked to be turning to former 5-star sophomore Rueben Owens this year until a knee injury shelved him for 2024. We can expect former top 100 recruit, and another 2022 recruit who stuck around, Le’Veon Moss to step up coming off 5 yards a carry and 5 touchdowns last year.
WR Jahdae Walker – A couple key losses at receiver hurt A&M this off-season but 3 out of their top 5 pass catchers did return, including senior Jahdae Walker who transferred in from Grand Valley State prior to 2023. He’s a big body who finished last year on a hot run with at least 80 receiving yards in 4 out of the Aggies’ last 5 games.
TE Donovan Green – Another star 2022 recruit who is still on campus. Green was a freshman All-American a couple years ago finishing 4th on the team in receptions (22) but tore his ACL in fall camp prior to 2023. He’s back and healthy now with some believing he’ll be a big weapon in the new Klein offense.
DE Nic Scourton – Texas A&M’s deep defensive line got deeper this off-season with the transfer of Purdue’s Nic Scourton. His 10 sacks led the Big Ten and he’s slid in as a starter for the Aggies against the Irish.
DT Shemar Turner – Many expected the rising senior Turner to turn pro this off-season but he decided to come back for a final campaign in College Station. He’s a big presence in the middle at 6’4″ and 300 pounds with 17 career tackles for loss.
LB Taurean York – Here’s a pretty cool story of a lightly recruited 3-star who came in last season as a true freshman and unseated a returning starter for the entire year. With 74 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss, York was a freshman All-American in 2023.
Bad Matchup
Texas A&M DL vs. Notre Dame OL
This was looking like a very tough matchup for Notre Dame and that was before the injury to Charles Jagusah. Not only did A&M bring in Scourton from Purdue, they also added Bowling Green’s Cashius Howell who was the co-leader in the MAC last year with 9.5 sacks. In a combined team draft, Irish star Howard Cross might be the top pick but I think it’s possible the next 3 or 4 along the defensive line would all come from the Aggies.
A quiet game from Shemar Turner would be a huge win for the Irish.
Texas A&M is hoping end Shemar Stewart (rising junior, formerly the no. 9 overall Composite player) begins to reach his ceiling, too. There’s no two ways about it, this is potentially a game-deciding bad matchup for Notre Dame.
Good Matchup
Notre Dame DL vs. Texas A&M OL
On the flip side, the Irish will enjoy their own advantage against the Aggies offensive line. They haven’t been very good up front in recent seasons (30 sacks allowed and 95th in yards per carry in 2023), although left tackle Trey Zuhn (3rd-team pre-season All-SEC) is well regarded, left guard Chase Bisontis is coming off a freshman All-American season, and Kansas transfer Ar’maj Reed-Adams hopes to stabilize their right guard position.
Look for Cross and Rylie Mills, plus blitzers from the second level, to target A&M’s center and right tackle combination as their line is the clear weak spot. Notre Dame has to win this matchup in a big, big way.
Special Teams
Both teams will be breaking in a new punter. Redshirt freshman Tyler White was the no. 1 punter in the 2023 class according to 247 and the first special teams player to receive a 4-star grade. That’ll be a fun juxtaposition with Australian James Rendell making his collegiate debut, too.
Redshirt junior kicker Randy Bond returns for the Aggies and he missed 9 field goals in 2023. That may seem like a lot, but he tied for the national lead with 35 attempts last year.
Prediction
I haven’t felt great about this game for a while. I can’t get over the talking point thrown out this off-season that this is the most talented Notre Dame team in 30 years. The Irish open the season as underdogs against a talented but flawed Texas A&M! The offensive line situation is potentially really, really bad and something the team might not be able to overcome in College Station. We’ve seen very well-regarded and veteran offenses and offensive lines from Notre Dame drop stinkers in matchups like this, but with a super inexperienced line it’s frightening.
However, 3 areas for hope:
1) Notre Dame should be very stout against the run and that should negate some of the advantage of Collin Klein’s tricky scheme that brought him success at Kansas State. This has to be a phenomenal run defense performance for Notre Dame.
Local news: Hold on to your butts.Â
Connor Weigman’s got a big arm with a baseball background. The Irish have to confuse him because he has a quick release, looks confident with his first read, and let’s hope it leads to some bad decisions and really poor reads that cost the Aggies. Perhaps a Christian Gray pick six because he’s staying away from Benjamin Morrison?
2) This has to be a more desperate Notre Dame team–it just has to be a must-win situation with so much more on the line. Elko’s just getting started at A&M and this is year 3 with Marcus Freeman in South Bend. I like this mental edge for the Irish, a lot.
3) I’m looking for 3 or 4 big plays from Riley Leonard. Big chunk plays. Maybe a couple with his feet and another couple through the air. Notre Dame has to take advantage of Leonard’s mobility and athleticism as a matchup problem for A&M. Also, while it may be asking a lot for the Irish passing game to be a well-oiled machine in Leonard’s first start with a golden helmet, this is one of those games where completions of something like 38 yards and 53 yards could be the difference, even if they only throw for 180 total yards all night.
Maybe down the road the offense will be really spread out but for this opener I think we’ll see plenty of two tight end sets with some interesting misdirection wrinkles thrown in to get Leonard the ball on the ground, or a cheeky play-action hitter down the seam to someone like Eli Raridon.
FEI 2024 PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
| STAT | IRISH | AGGIES |
|---|---|---|
| FEI Overall | 6 | 15 |
| FEI Offense | 17 | 24 |
| FEI Defense | 7 | 15 |
It’s difficult to assess Texas A&M to start the season. A talented roster? Sure looks like it. Some high quality transfers? It looks like they picked up several. An improved and more serious coaching staff trying to put an underwhelming era behind them? Plenty of people love the Elko/Klein duo in College Station.
The media voted the Aggies as the 9th best team in the pre-season, sandwiched in between Oklahoma and Auburn, and I know these new super conferences are deep but the Irish being an underdog against a program that far down in their own league in perception is weird.
I’ve always said the difference between a B offensive line and an A offensive line isn’t that great when compared to players with those differences at quarterback, or more increasingly in the modern game, wide receiver. However, the difference between a C- and B- offensive line is potentially massive–and that’s probably what is driving the bulk of the line favoring Texas A&M. If Notre Dame’s offensive line is the worst unit on the field, and it’s not debatable, this is probably a loss and A&M covers easily.
The decision to roll with a combined 6 career starts on the offensive line against this Texas A&M defensive line is so bold and so daring, hell it might just work! I probably would feel worse overall with Tosh Baker at left tackle but I don’t see how the Irish get through this game without several hiccups on offense and an overall frustrating day. Mike Denbrock should be able to throw a couple haymakers and break a few big plays, which could be the difference. Although, I would be surprised if Notre Dame ends up averaging more than 5 yards per play in this contest.
I’m thinking it’s ugly to the end, and a decisive turnover from Notre Dame’s defense seals things.
Glad to see that you predicted a win after reading all of the stuff above it.
While I’m hoping for a less close game, possibly even one that would allow us to migrate down from the upper deck to someplace closer to the ND bench in the waning minutes, I’ll accept anything that doesn’t involve me crying and driving for 2 hours afterwards on the way home.
GO IRISH!! Beat the Dog Cult!!
More Noise and have fun!
Great preview!
The only thing that gives me comfort with our OL is Leonard’s legs. He’s used to playing behind a weak OL and thrived (when healthy). In addition to the few big plays that he hopefully will break, it’ll also be important for him to avoid big losses (so a few 1 yard gains after breaking away from a sack could be big too).
I expect our D to be suffocating. So I like your close win prediction. Sounds about right to me.
I’m still predicting that this is not quite our year, and the O-Line struggles were a big part of it. I think our skill positions aren’t quite there either.
Of course, I thought this year would be Angeli giving way to Carr or Minchey, and one of them to take off next year.
And so I’m hopeful that with Leonard and the deeper WR room transfers we have a chance. However I’m getting strong Tyler Buchner vibes from Leonard. From the minute I heard TB messed up his ankle going down a flight of stairs I had a feeling he’d never last as a running QB, and I get the same bad feelings about Leonard. So my pessimistic side thinks this year will be our own AD 69, the year of the four
emperorsQBs.Last, I’m also 100% on board with rolling with the best talent not just at O-Line but everywhere else (MOAR KVA!). Expanded playoffs mean as long as we keep this game close, if we’re humming by the end of the year and the young guys get experience, we still get in.
Why are you getting Buchner vibes from Leonard? In 2022, he played in all 13 games that year for Duke while having 114 carries.
He clearly had a freak injury with Cross’s sack in 2023 and seems to be fully recovered at this point.
He clearly had a freak injury…which required a second surgery because a stress fracture developed unexpectedly. Remember the part where he missed spring camp?
“Riley Leonard will be out a few weeks due to an additional surgery he had on his ankle on Friday to address a stress fracture that was beginning to develop,” Freeman said. “Basically, the surgery was to exchange the current plate he had in his ankle with a new one.
I’m bearish on running QBs coming back from surgery until they prove me wrong, especially with what our hockey brethren call “lower body injuries.”
And the Buchner vibes are injury vibes, not talent vibes.
I see what you mean. Freak injury that one has and comes back from is very different than constantly getting nicks and bruises and having trouble staying in the lineup. Most people I would think wouldn’t see one injury and think “injury-prone.”
He missed the spring but it was because there was something still a little wrong with the previously fixed ankle. ND even said he could have played if it was the season (which I don’t think would be true if it was a stress fracture). They were being extra-cautious. Obviously all we can go on is the reports and it seems like now the ankle isn’t giving him any trouble.
….Buchner vibes from Leonard? I’m not convinced Leonard’s ceiling is all that high, but I’m pretty confident he can complete more TDs to our team than the other team.
The game I keep thinking of is Georgia Tech 2006. A 14-10 final score either way would not surprise me in this one. Hopefully Aggy completely forgets about their best offensive player like GT did.
I am more optimistic than we can overcome what will be a likely talented, but inexperienced line. The fact that Pendleton supplanted two prior starters should mean good things for the interior.
Unlike our past 2 OCs who would likely keep running duo until the end of the game whether it worked or not, Denbrock has experience to try different things and can hopefully adjust. Give Knapp help on pass pro, throw quickly, move the pocket and we should be ok.
Also, given the lack of athletes Leonard played with at Duke, he is used to seeing defenses that really gang up on the QB so he should be able to adjust to whatever Elko/Bateman put out there.
I think our D is better than their D, and they aren’t great after the front 4 or all that deep on the DL.
I know home field is worth about 3.5 points to the bookies and Kyle Field is probably worth more. Still surprised that given the FEI rankings we are that big of a dog. Probably just shows those preseason FEI don’t mean a thing.
I agree it won’t be a pretty game, but I think we score more than 20, and the 17 for them feels about right. I am thinking a late TD makes it 27-17 or something like that.
My prediction is we lose and then run the table after that. 11-1, 6 seed, make the national semifinal. Choo choo.
On the analysis I think you’re underselling Scourton. He’s showing up as a top-10 pick in early mock drafts. This is a team I’d much rather play in two months then right now.
Why would playing them in 2 months make them easier to play?
Behold the Aggycoaster
That plus our offensive line is probably going to be pretty bad for the first half of the season (at least) but maybe will improve by mid-to-late October.
I suppose the contrary argument would look at the fact that Elko is actually a pretty good coach and that they’ve had a decent number of transfers come in (who could use the extra time to come together). So with a little more time this year they could round into a much better team under Elko’s leadership.
In the end, it might be a wash actually. At any rate, it’s hard for me to tell at this point that it would definitely be better to play them later on.
I know I posted this the other day and I’m ready to push kool aid on everyone unsolicited, baby! I spent the 12 hours in the car driving up and back to Mackinac Island listening to podcasts be somewhat as down as most of the posters I’ve read and I have to say it’s had zero impact on me. If you’re going to be dumb, you better be tough I guess is the saying.
I really think this team is going to surprise on Saturday night and I don’t think this game is all that close starting halfway in the 3rd quarter. I think ND’s defense is going to swarm A&M and I think it’s going to be a flurry of interceptions ala NC State/USC last year. I think the oline holds up just fine, Leonard continues to impress me with the read option keys, and ND scores touchdowns off turnovers.
I’ve firmly been in the camp that CMF is the guy and putting in Knapp/Pendleton instead of choosing the lazier/easier route with the upperclassmen reinforces that thought. I think they have a lot of DUDES on this team who are great players, but more importantly want to win for ND and themselves and that isn’t going to show up in Vegas. We had Ohio State beat last year with an interior oline that they’ve fully replaced, a QB who I don’t think was as mentally tough as Leonard, a bad WR room and a first year OC. I know the Clemson and Louisville game happened but again we had come brutal mistakes by Tyree in those games at terrible moments and of course Hartman threw 4 picks.
I know I’m rambling, but I can’t wait for Saturday to get here. Going to be a special season and starting out with a 35-10 win is the perfect tone setter.
I’m liking a Def. TD and one on ST too. Game ball to Al Golden. Final ND 27 TAM 13.
I am ready to be hurt again
If our D is as advertised we’ll be fine.
This offensive line scares me more than maybe any position group for a Notre Dame team in a long long time
But also I’m choosing to believe This Is The Year with the spirit of notre dame and the watchful eyes of touchdown jesus with a generational asspull in College Station
(also if they lose i don’t know what i’ll do with myself)
Part of my pessimism is that modern ND simply does not win These Types of Games — big, hyped, primetime road night games against ranked opponents. At least that’s how it feels. But is that true? Let’s take a look. I’m going back to 2017, because that’s a pretty clear demarcation line in the program:
2023 — at #17 Duke W, at #25 Louisville L
2022 — at #2 Ohio State L, at #6 Southern Cal L
2021 — None
2020 — None
2019 — at #3 Georgia L, at #19 Michigan L
2018 — at # 24 Virginia Tech W
2017 — at # 7 Miami L, at #21 Stanford L
So 2-7 in the last 7 seasons. Not encouraging. The pattern here seems to be that if ND wins one of these games, it mostly means the opponent wasn’t very good after all.
The good news is that Freeman has one of the two wins and it was against Mike Elko.
that 2017 stanford game is maybe the stupidest game i can remember
injured josh adams and brandon wimbush passing experience
how quickly we forget Northwestern 2014. Or is that just the dumbest ending?
I am not at all confident with how this game is going to go (especially with it being an opening game of the season). I could see the o-line collapsing like it did a few years ago while Elko takes away Leonard’s strengths, and then A&M crushes ND. I could see A&M not gelling as a unit because of the roster turnover, leading ND to cruise to victory. Or I could see ND struggling to put it together against a respectable opponent in a loud road atmosphere, and losing a somewhat close one. Or perhaps the young ND o-linemen play a solid game and Golden’s defense makes some plays to squeeze out a victory.
In other words, be ready for anything this weekend.
Defense travels and ours is going to be very good. Our new collection of fast and shifty skill players and an athletic QB will be explosive enough to find the end zone a few times.
Irish 24
Aggies 13
Wow wow wow. Fun and nervous posts to read, everyone. I am all about Eric’s deep concerns on our O-line. But I liked kevinnd21’s brand of confident hype (and whatever it was in the water he was drinking on the way to the Upper Peninsula) and at the same time shared Spider-man’s all the different scenarios take.
Lou Holtz used to say when you went on the road you’d better bring your defense (to your point, Gambit 1077) and your kicking game. I hope the Aussi punter and that new FG kicker hold up!
Very mixed feelings on how this game will go. On one hand, we’ve seen this movie before. ND just does not win these tough road games and has showed up looking completely unprepared on multiple occasions (Louisville 2023, Michigan 2019, Miami 2017). There’s a degree of “same ole story” here.
The offensive line is the obvious achilles heel and we have no idea what to expect from Leonard. I can also see the argument for A&M hitting a couple more big plays than we do which could be the difference. This is shaping up to be a frustrating loss from a pessimists’ POV.
But come on, ND is the better team from top to bottom even with the situation at offensive line. They should win this game because they are more experienced and have more cohesion than A&M which is in a transition year. Georgia Tech has a good offensive line and showed FSU that importing talented transfers does not equal a great defensive line. An okay performance from the o-line should mean a win and I think ND has enough talent there to pull that off.
Clemson’s line was absolute trash last year and they still managed to almost run for 200 yards on us. I think a 30 carry, 120 yard performance should be good enough to win. We just can’t afford to have a 2019 Michigan (31 carries, 47 yards) or Louisville (28 carries, 44 yards) type garbage fest. And maybe I’m having an ND Nation moment but it’s time for this program to win one of these damn games. I’m getting real tired of the excuses about hostile crowds, weaknesses at some spots, and humidity. We are better and we should win. If we are a playoff team, we should win. Other elite teams figure it out and win against 2nd tier programs like A&M.