EARLY LOOK: Texas A&M Aggies vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Riley Leonard vs Conner Weigman

week one is here baby you got Texas A&M you got Notre Dame in College Station college game day is going to be there this is one of those that just kind of gets the blood flowing a little bit this is one of those games obviously every game for Notre Dame is a non-conference game but it's one of those non-conference games from week one that you look at and it kind of gets you all the way through to week one like you were looking at this game back in March and it looked like it was just a little blimp on the horizon maybe one day we'll arrive there well it's here it's this week it is week one this is the Onre YouTube channel this is the show The Hard count it's college football nothing but college football so lock in here make sure you are subscribed we have our game pick for you in this one on Tuesday okay so Tuesday 11:00 a.m. eastern live show do not miss it best way to make sure you don't miss it first being subscribed here second making sure you're following me on the socials at JD pel on Instagram and on Twitter so it's not as early a look as maybe it used to be but it's week one it's Sunday morning let's take an early look at this game here's my big question something I've been asking really for the part of the last few months not just for this game but for Notre Dame overall was like how consistent is Riley Leonard able to be throwing the football I've had my question marks around how consistent can he be throwing the ball downfield not saying he can't I'm saying I need to see it in this game because as talented as Riley Leonard is and he's Uber talented there's a reason the NFL draft loves this dude my question is which Riley Leonard shows up in this game his first game in a new system in one of the most difficult places to play in college football and College Station this offense is built on being able to maximize playmakers that sounds simplistic but when you look at all the speed that Notre Dame now has on this roster and on this offense Riley Leonard's job as much as he has to be able to run the football as well himself and push the ball downfield a lot of it too is like hey make your layups hit hit the quick game hit the the intermediate game and there were games throughout Riley Leonard's career granted with less Talent on his roster call Spa Spade but there have been games throughout his career where we'll see a really great showing from him and then we'll see a pretty lackluster performance from him like last year he goes and has a game against uh I'm making sure I have this correct let's start with 2022 four games under 60% completion percentage in the 2022 season now he progresses obviously you get better year in and year out in 2023 going back to what I was saying a second ago the game against Northwestern he goes 15 for 20 great completion percentage he's dialed in everything's flowing how it should they play Notre Dame and granted I'm I mean Notre Dame defense is better than Northwestern let's just be honest there he's 12 for 27 44% completion percentage like just the ups and downs to me the all over the map is something that's concerned me I'm not telling you he can't be vastly improved but the consistency has got to be there in this game because as Talent increases and the environment becomes more difficult and it's your first year in the system the margin for err starts to shrink because as much as Texas A&M hasn't done over the course of the last couple of years it's a new offense with Colin Klein running the show con regman at quarterback I say all that to say they're going to be able to capitalize on your mistakes if you leave some out there for them all right now my other question with in this game is can Texas A&M capitalize on the perceived opportunities on the offensive line against Notre Dame like it's been very well documented Notre Dame lost their starting tackle for the season in Jag us saww that's tough it's extremely tough us makes it even more tougher when you got Nick scorton the big 10's leading sacker from a season too on the other side of the football and so when I say what's what's the the uh ability to maximize your your opportunities there it's not so much a thing where like I'm curious can Nick scorton get a good push can he create some pressures that's absolutely going to be a massive part of this game but I'm talking like hey when it's third and call it five third and six you dial something up and Nick scorton is able to get off the edge and get a sack for a fumble like a little strip sack action to totally changed the game is it a situation where the offensive line is just a little leak for Notre Dame at that part or is it a situation where like you're gushing you're taking on water and we have a hard time even getting our play started I think Mike Den Brock full transparency will have some answers for some perceived uh deficits on the offensive line at different points but like that's going to be a very massive part of this game the impact of the defensive line with the 12th man at their back with Kyle Field on fire that thing could get even more on fire it could be borderline explosive if they're able to get some early momentum get toy Leonard throw him off base and potentially create some situations now where you're a little bit gunshot whenever you're back there you think you're seeing one thing it's the other you're having that you know internal clock kind of speed up that could lead to things really starting to roll down Hill for A&M all right now speaking of A&M on the offensive side of the football I mentioned Conor Wegman this is sort of cliche but cliches often times man they're cliche because they're true does your five-star quarterback meet the moment because as much as we have spoken about Connor Wegman in a positive sense because we've had some small sample sizes that have been encouraging this is going to be the biggest game biggest stage biggest spot highest Stakes of his entire career make no mistake about it like like this is the game now where if you're Conor Wegman and you are going to be who everyone believes you are you show up in this game especially in a situation where you're at home and you have a really talented I believe really really good qu as much as I question his consistency really good quarterback and Riley Leonard can you go toe-to-toe with a guy who the NFL seized to be based on last year's you know uh Power Rankings like a top five guy when it comes to the NFL draft like that's going to be something that I think is a massive massive part of this especially because of what you lost in Ruben Owens being done for the year you got to elevate now A&M they still have some dogs in that running back room do not get a Twist they still have a lot of options but I'm just saying like you lost some depth you lost some uh some juice on the ground there so when you lose something at a certain position you look at other positions to elevate even more now I'm not telling you Conor Wegman's going to go out there and throw at 4 times a game but I do think in this moment he needs to elevate his teammates step up and be able to pick up whatever slack is left by having less bodies in that running back room and in this spot too where you play I believe a really good Notre Dame defense like you're going to have to be on your Ps and q's they're going to try and mix it up they're going to bring pressure they're going to have a lot of guys that can just quite frankly play Man coverage with Benjamin Morrison and what he's going to bring to the table you have to take care of the football make good decisions all the cliches in the world you can't let the moment impact you if he can do that anam's going to be in good shape do you put the pressure on the transfer quarterback in his first year in the system on the road can you force them to have to be the ones to answer scores now the Run game is obviously going to be a massive part of of helping a Connor Wegman I'm not you know shying away from that the defense has their part to play but I do think if you're Connor Wegman this is the moment you elevate you take your team to where a lot of people nationally have believed maybe they could have been in in previous years so I'm excited for this one man A&M Notre Dame in College Station it's the college Game Day game it's going to be electric we're so back we're so so back make sure you're subscribed right here to the on3 YouTube channel follow me on the socials JD pel Twitter and on Instagram again we'll have our pick for you on this game on Tuesday we love y'all we appreciate y'all we'll keep this party rolling and we will see y'all next time hey y'all thanks so much for watching subscribe to the channel here to make sure you don't miss an episode to the hard count also be sure to check out other videos on the Onre YouTube channel