CFB: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Week 1 Preview

Texas A&M Aggies (Kyle Field, College Station, TX); 7.30pm EST; 12.30am IST/BST

This is just the sixth time these two storied programs have met, and only the third in the regular season. The Irish lead the series 3-2, though the Aggies won the most recent matchup, back in 2001, 24-3 in front of what was, at that time, the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in Texas.

ND now has two of the highest paid, and most experienced, co-ordinators in college football. Its veteran defense, with more than half the starters in Grad School, is expected to be at least in the top ten. And it has a more youthful but talented offense that used the transfer portal to significantly upgrade at skill positions. Thus, expectations are pretty high among the Notre Dame faithful.

And they would likely be even higher were it not for the Irish OL. Ironically this perennial strength of ‘OL U’ appears to be potentially its weakest unit. Three redshirt sophomores, a redshirt freshman and a true freshman, at LT no less, means the unit has a grand total of six career starts as it boards the plane down to Texas.

How well this group does as it improves during the season will decide how far into the playoffs Notre Dame can go. How well it can keep its head above water in College Station will determine if the Irish have the chance to go 12-0 and claim the coveted #5 playoff seeding.

What doesn’t help matters from an ND perspective is that the DL is the strength of the Aggies team. Their new Head Coach, Mike Elko, was a very effective DC at both Notre Dame and A&M, and while Jay Bateman came from UNC to be his DC now, expect Elko’s fingerprints to be all over the defensive gameplan on Saturday night.

Much of the stellar 2022 recruiting class has moved on, but plenty of talent remains. And then you can add DE, Nic Scourton, the Purdue transfer who led the Big Ten in sacks in 2023. ND’s new LT, Anthonie Knapp, is likely to become very well acquainted with the Aggies #11 this weekend.

LB Taurean York was a freshman All-American, though much of the rest of that room is made up of transfers, and how quickly they can gel may be something the Irish can exploit.

CB Tyreek Chappell and S Bryce Anderson anchor a very good secondary, though again, the introduction of several transfers may delay that unit from reaching its full potential immediately.

Offensively, the connections between the two programs continue. Collin Klein was a candidate for the OC position at Notre Dame when Tommy Rees left for Alabama. The Irish chose to go in a different direction, and ultimately, it was Elko who persuaded the former Wildcats quarterback to leave Kansas State for the SEC.

He has a five-star QB to work with, which is never a bad start.  Conner Weigman saw his 2023 season end with a foot injury after just four games but is healthy to go in 2024. A pocket passer, his eight starts to date have seen him throw 18 TDs and just 2 INTs.

He has the luxury of some elite speed at skill positions, though not necessarily huge production. Deep threat, Jadhae Walker, and Noah Thomas carry the biggest threat to the Irish secondary.

RB Le’Veon Moss will have an even greater burden to carry in the Aggies’ run game now, with the season-ending injury to five-star recruit Reuben Owens. But the biggest issue for A&M on offense mirrors their Notre Dame counterparts: just how effective will their OL play be?

They were poor in both the passing and run games last season. Several different combinations were tried, with the only consistency being the amount of pressure A&M QBs have been under. Elko brought his OL coach from Duke with him to College Station, and several transfers have come in. But at a position where chemistry and teamwork are vital, A&M OL may also have to wait until deeper into the season before seeing the best and most consistent version of itself.