Notre Dame vs Texas A&M Game Preview | College Football Game Predictions

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football deal it's officially game week one of the biggest games we're going to see week one Notre Dame heading on the road to play Texas A&M I think the first thing that you know jumps out of the paper for me you're looking at two of the best defenses that I think you'll see in the country heading into 2024 and I think this is a massive game in the college football landscape I mean you make no mistake about it both of these teams have college football playoff aspirations and you look at their chances to go to the college football playoffs it really starts with this week one matchup fired up to get into this one now before we doing as always let a fly in the comment section the best part about doing these game predictions is hearing from you guys whether you agree with the boys whether you disagree with the boys whether you're mixing it up with the opposing fan base that is really the beauty of college football the beauty of these game predictions and if yall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the Channel all the offseason support D it's been absolutely amazing we appreciate you guys and D without f further Ado let's get into this one I feel like you got to start with this Texas A&M defense going up against this Notre Dame offense where I think the big talking point that you'll get on a lot of national media Outlets is hey this Texas A&M pass rush is going to be elite in 2024 going up against the Notre Dame offensive line that obviously first you have to replace two NFL tackles in Jo Walt and Blake fiser but also some injuries that are popping up during fall Camp I think you said it best before we got on I think the best way to mitigate this Texas A&M pass rush is if you're able to run the football and stay on schedule and stay out of some of those obvious passing situations where this Texas A&M front seven can just pin their ears back and get after the passer can Notre Dam do that in this football game that's a massive storyline because for such a long time you just kind of expected Notre to be able to do that whether whoever they were playing they were GNA be physical on the offensive line they were gonna be able to run the ball in that Smashmouth kind of like foam Booth style and last year like there were some moments they could but you go to games like Louisville or Ohio State like those big Premier defenses they play their interior offense of line just wasn't itself that's to me the big storyline for this noow Dame program because if they can't run the ball and like be physical on this Tex ANM defensive line they're gonna get torched in the passer so I just don't see when you lose Charles Jaga you lose the two NFL guys that's a lot to replace and you're going to have a young guy I think Anthony knp it sounds like he going to start as a true freshman in a very hostile Kyle Field that's a really tough matchup but again I'm kind of looking at this A&M team they GNA replace guys like McKinley Jackson Isaiah Rees adran Cooper like some big forces that they have in the middle of that defense and you kind of look they're composed a little bit different on this defensive line they're a little bit smaller a little bit more athletic you look at guys like Shamar Turner or whether it's it's a Rus Johnson from Wisconsin like those guys they're not like the big time gaping defensive linemen and do they have that ability if notame wants to come to just slam it on them can they hold up yeah and you look at that's kind of a big match up because Texas A&M last year was Elite against the Run 3.3 yards per carry allowed that was top 15 in the country Notre Dame was really good running the football 5.2 and a 5.2 yards per carry that was 15th in the country that's kind of where the rubber meets the road in this matchup D I think one of the other storylines that at least I'm looking for is this Notre Dame passing attack with Coach Dem Brock coming in you know we've heard a lot of offseason butts Around The Playmakers on the outside for Notre Dame it's kind of left a little bit to be desired over the last couple of years I think a lot of Notre Dame fans are fired up about the talent that they have coming into this program on the outside and then you look across the field and say hey we think Texas S&M secondary is going to be pretty good but it's a lot of new faces coming into this program can you scheme up some explosive plays like you make no mistake about it there's not going to be a lot of points put up on the board I think both offenses will struggle to move the football if does feel like a few explosive plays Will kind of be the difference in this football game can Notre Dame find those against a bunch of new faces in this Texas a&n secondary and that's frankly why I think establishing the run and being able to lean on him a little bit early is so important because again I don't think if they can't get that going I just don't see a world where they can hold up and pass protection to let let some of those yeah new found weapons if you will whether they're true freshman whether they're guys from the portal go make plays cuz that is is probably something Notre am's gonna need to do if they're going to win this game frankly I think both teams are going to need to hit big plays because I just don't it's hard to see a consistent Avenue both these teams to just like kind of dominate one side of the ball on on the respective offenses if you will but I do think you're kind of said it like A&M's got a lot to replace and a lot of moving pieces and again if if you can capitalize on those couple mistakes should A&M give them up that's going to be huge and that's where I think Riley Leonard is almost being slept on because he he's been a guy in his career that he's been big in big moments he's been a gamer he's been able to create big things whether that's using his legs whether that's with his arm I kind of like that they have him rather than Sam Hartman because Sam Hartman was kind of like the opposite a little Sam Harman was afraid of the moment and I love Sam Hartman I'm a Wake Forest guy but Sam Harman in big games even going back to his career Wake Forest just never played his best football Riley Leonard just the complete opposite you said it he's a gamer now flipping the sides here you look at this Texas A&M offense coach Kong kin coming in going up against the Notre Dame defense that D we were kind of talking before we went live here how do you attack this Notre Dam defense I don't know if there's really an answer where do you think coach Colin Klein goes to move the football on a consistent basis against the Notre Dame defense that just it's got legitimate NFL talent and then also just very little holes in their defense either honestly where I look it'll it's kind of throwing back to what Colin Klein liked to do at Kansas state that was a heavy dose of tight ends of running backs out of the back field and try to attack these younger linebackers for Notre aame because that's really the only place you don't look and say like oh there's like two first round picks on that unit defensive line Howard cross he he might be the most underrated college football player in all country yeah obviously are loaded with Xavier Watson Benjamin Morrison in the back end but I do look I think A&M's got some interesting tight ends whether green can come back and have a big year off that injury I think that's kind of where they have to go because Colin Klein shown in the past even when he's been outgunned if you will that he can get get some magic working with the middle of the field in being able to scheme some things up I I think it's going to have to rely on a decent amount of scheme here because again it's really hard to just go at this Notre defense kind of pick a weakness in attacking because there really is not many weaknesses on this Notre Dame defense it what makes it one of the best defenses in the country you said it best with the linebackers can you give him some eye candy like Colin Klein loves to go to pre- snap motion Crossing Guys across the formation and giving safeties and linebackers a lot to look at and then getting it out in space quickly we look at this very similar conversation at least in my opinion we have question marks about this Texas A&M offensive line holding up in pass protection no re got an Elite pass fresh as well and so one of the keys I'm looking for is hey whether it's swing passes whether it's quick screens can you get the football out in space to your Playmakers and let them operate that way very similar to we saw to how we saw coach Colin Klein run that Kansas State offense to to me that seems like the thing that Texas A&M's going to have to lean on on the offensive side of the football here and having said that we're also going to need to see some guys merge I think for this A&M and it's I think you're still kind of wondering even following the fall Camp notes like who is the guy I think obviously they like they like Nash on they like Noah Thomas I should say sorry as one of their boundary receivers but it doesn't sound like anyone else has really emerged in that real Premier threat and mik is a guy I think you certainly look at and be like well when he got the ball in his hands he can do some things and you look at Donovan Green that that'll be a fascinating point because I don't really see Notre being challenged on the boundary just because of how good combination of how good they are and maybe a& I'm not having a premier wide receiver group right now but I do think I I agree you have to go to you have to go to the matchups that that slightly favor you like whether that's running backs and tight ends matched up on linebackers because I'm I'm kind of with you right now I I like the talent in Texas A&M's wide receiver but I don't know if there's a true wide receiver one and I don't know if there's a true wide receiver one that's going to have its way with a guy like Benjamin Morrison right so you have to find those matchups that might favor you and that's running backs on linebackers tight ends on linebackers those are type of the things that I'll be looking for from this Texas A&M offense and I think you gotta talk a little bit about Conor wigman like can this kid be a Difference Maker for Texas A&M I've been very vocal that I think Conor wigman's a great quarterback I thought he played phenomenal during those first four games in 2020 23 behind a dreadful offensive line I think Conor wigman's a guy can he be a guy against Notre Dame is obviously a massive question mark one thing you love about wigman is he gets the ball out of his hands he's not one to hold and he's gonna need to because at the end of the day I don't see this Tex A&M offensive line being able to really control this Tech or not offensive line both from the fact that again we have a lot of questions about A&M's defense or offensive line and almost no questions about how good Notre Dame is going to be so wigman he's going to need to play like he did against Miami last year where the ball was out really quickly on time and try to let guys again go to work on maybe some of these younger players that they might have in that linebacker safety room now getting to the pick here Texas A&M sitting at around two and a half Point favorite at home this game's bounced around I think at one point Notre Dame was one and a half Point favorites I'll go to you first who you got Notre Dame Tech saying that I mean purely on the game I got Notre Dame I I think Notre Dame is being criminally underrated I am such a big fan of Riley Leonard I don't think they're going to need to score a ton of points frankly in this game I think Riley Leonard will figure out a way to get them a little bit but I I mean on my guts telling me just pick the under no matter what the number is because I don't see this game going above yeah the under it's low at 46 and a half but I'm kind of with you like I look at how we just broke this down for the last 10 minutes like these defenses are stout and they match up quite well against the opposing offenses I'm going to go go Texas A&M and I think this is a complete tossup game I'm going to go Texas A&M at home here you look at young young tackles on the offensive line like some big question marks going up against I think some of if not the best group of edge rushers that we'll see in the country I think coach Colin Klein will be able to find a few explosive plays to move the football again I think this is going to be a very tightly contested game when I have these kind of games I'm going to lean to the team that it's going to be so r at Kyle Field give me Texas A&M I also say in part of my pick and I don't think we talk enough about Jeremiah love I think he's a guy who can also create a play or two that that kind of creat a seismic shifts and when you don't have Ruben Owens on the other side who's kind of the guy I think we both looking for from as a potential like big playmaker offensive Creator I don't know I think Notre name just has maybe more paths to it but at the end of the day I just game's hard because I don't really see how the other team's really fav yeah this this line of spot I mean it is the definition of a pick them game I think it's going to be one of if not the most competitive football game we see all Saturday really excited about this one D this is one that we're gonna hop on immediately and talk about right after because we are going to learn a lot about both these programs we'll cut it there again appreciate you guys rocking with the boys all the support means the absolute world to us if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel let it fly in the comment section and we'll talk to youall later peace is