Arguably one of the best matchups of the College Football Week 1 slate happens down in Texas, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish find themselves up against the Texas A&M Aggies. This is one of three Top 25 matchups in this first week of football as the 7th ranked Irish travel to College Station to face the 20th ranked Aggies to start their season. New QB Riley Leonard transferred from Duke and will try to do what Sam Hartman couldn’t last year: Lead the Irish to a College Football Playoff. Now, it’ll be much easier this year with the 12 team expanded playoff format, however, the Irish have no easy schedule.
The best independent team in the nation, the Irish face the Aggies on the road to start the year, and then travel west to take on the #23 USC Trojans to end their year. In between, they play @ Purdue, host both #10 Florida State as well as Louisville, who could compete for the ACC Championship. Without a conference championship, Notre Dame will not receive a bye in the CFP even if they are the #1 overall squad. Point being, they will certainly make the most of their games at hand to impress the committee.
As for the Aggies, Conner Weigman returns from injury and will try to pick up where he left off. In his first 3 games last year, Weigman completed 70.4% of his passes, throwing for 303 yards per game and 8 total TDs. New coach Mike Elko actually faces his QB from last season to start his tenure at Texas A&M, and he has one of the best D-Lines in the SEC chasing down Leonard. A couple of transfers improve the secondary, and I truly believe this team will be very good defensively with a coach like Elko.
Can Leonard and the Irish pull off the upset at College Station? Or will Texas A&M send Notre Dame home packing their first loss of the season?
#7 Notre Dame vs #20 Texas A&M: Top 25 Matchup in College Station
Conner Weigman threw for over 300 yards per game before his injury
Matchup Information – Notre Dame vs Texas A&M
- Venue & Location: Kyle Field (College Station, TX)
- Date: Saturday, August 31st, 2024
- Kick Off: 7:30pm Eastern
- Broadcast: ABC
Betting Odds
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Spread
- Notre Dame +3 (-115)
- Texas A&M -3 (-105)
Money Line
- Notre Dame +132
- Texas A&M -152
Total
- Over 46 (-105)
- Under 46 (-115)
Can Riley Leonard Lead Irish on Road?
How will Riley Leonard do facing his old Head Coach to start the season?
The fact the transfer portal mixed with NIL has brought us a hell of a Week 1 matchup. Former Duke QB Riley Leonard will start against former Duke HC Mike Elko to begin their campaigns at new schools. While Leonard is a solid leader, the Fighting Irish lost plenty of talent, especially in the running game with Audric Estime. He rushed for over 1,300 yards while Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price added a combined 550. Those two will look to pick up the slack behind Notre Dame’s offensive line.
Head Coach Marcus Freeman is very defensive minded, much like Elko, and I think we see that play a role in this game. This will be Freeman’s 3rd season leading the Irish, finishing 19-7 over the past two years with 2 bowl wins. The Irish lost their two leading receivers, but retain Senior TE Mitchell Evans who lead the team in receptions, as well as adding Clemson transfer Beaux Collins and Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison to catch Leonard’s passes. However, they face this Texas A&M defense.
Texas A&M Aggies Defense
Texas A&M allowed just 23.1 points per game to SEC opponents last year, and they are very strong up front. Purdue transfer Nic Scourton teams up with Shemar Turner, DJ Hicks, and Shemar Stewart to chase after opposing QBs. The secondary also improved, adding Will Lee III from Kansas State and Dezz Ricks from Alabama as defensive backs. Not to mention, Kyle Field is a tough atmosphere to play in. The Aggies lost just one game at home last season, to the 11th ranked Crimson Tide, 26-20. I have little faith in the Irish to move the ball in chunk plays against this Aggies defense, and I will be backing the 12th man at Kyle Field.
Notre Dame vs Texas A&M Best Bets
Back the Aggies’ Defense to come to play on Saturday
Notre Dame vs Texas A&M Prediction: Texas A&M Wins & Covers, Under 46
Best Bets: Notre Dame TT Under 22.5 (-135) BetOnline
Defense wins championships. Both of these head coaches will tell you that. And this Texas A&M defense is the real deal. They have playmakers on all 3 levels of the ball, and don’t even think about running it against these front four. If Notre Dame is going to move the ball, they will have to do so in the air. This is going to be an extremely hostile environment for Leonard to play in, and let’s face is, Notre Dame football has much more pressure behind it than Duke.
The expectations are high, they have a very tough first game, and I simply don’t think the Irish will be able to score more than 3 touchdowns. I am more than willing to pay the juiceman in this scenario, as I see the entire game staying under. While Texas A&M’s offense might not be as good as Notre Dame’s on paper, they are also facing a tough Notre Dame Defense. Point being, I think we see the defenses show out, especially on the Aggies side, resulting in a low scoring contest. Both coaches know this game will be won on the defensive side of the ball, and I certainly side with Texas A&M if that’s the case.
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