Texas A&M Aggies vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish PREDICTION & Preview | Mike Elko, Marcus Freeman

college game day coming to Y sity College Station this will be a blast man Texas A&M minus 2 and a half against Notre Dame 7:30 Eastern ABC Kyle Field y'all that place will be on fire for those of y'all that have watched this show for the better part of the last year and a half you've heard me say this a few times like I worked in College Station for a cup of coffee doing local news there they that entire city that entire Community lives and dies with Texas a& football so Kyle Field will be packed out the atmosphere will be nothing short of electric especially because of what's going on in College Station now Jimbo fer is out Mike Elco is in the Elco era starts here in this game and we've said this many times for Tex A&M this is not some like rebuild for A&M because sometimes you're bringing a new coach and it's like hey we got to tear it down to the studs we got to figure this thing out again and start from scratch that's not an A&M how many times if you heard someone sit behind a microphone and say yeah A&M's really talented look at how they've recruited that's the obvious part it's not rebuild when it comes to a roster it's a reboot when it comes to approach when it comes to culture when it comes to strategy all those things all the things that help you actually maximize the roster maximize the input you've had there for the better part of the last few years winning a game like this against a team that a lot of folks are picking right now to make the college football playoff to start the season you want to start the Elco era off with a bangang you get a big win at home with the eyes of the country upon you to do that college football sios the time is now make sure you are subscribed right here to the on three YouTube channel week one is here baby whether you're a Texas A&M fan whether you're an Notre a fan want y'all dialed in for everything that we're doing right here on the on three YouTube channel this season this is college football the way that you want it discussed I say it a lot no hot takes no clickbait just Ball and only ball the way that you want it discussed and talked about so we appreciate for being subscribed for Notre Dame like we said a lot of folks picking them to be in the college football playoff yours truly I have them in the college football playoff but if you are who you believe you're going to be you win this game you win this game because as much as you talk about A&M and what they have on that roster still a year one coach new coordinators Notre damn you're going into year three of the Marcus Freeman era you got a new quarterback you got through the portal you got him as a guy who the NFL draft absolutely loves in Riley Leonard you brought a new coordinator yourself but like you got the coordinator who is not one unfamiliar with South Ben and how Notre Dame operates two he led the most potent offense in college football last year at LSU so the way that you look at this like there's a lot there for Notre Dame to where really just on paper they should be ahead of where A&M is right now now does that matter in this game when it comes to our prediction remains to be seen everyone has been talking this point to death and I think it's valid but I think we're looking at it the wrong way Notre Dame will be without who would have been their starting tackle in Jag usaw Nick scorton transfers in from Purdue to Texas A&M to wreak havoc off the edge he led the Big 10 in sacks last year that's not by accident especially when you're playing at a place like Purdue you're getting a lot of attention the bottom line here is that's a match of you cirle in red ink highlighted if you're a fan you probably take whatever the props are on a Nick Gorton right I think Mike denrock understands that I think he understands that's a spot where he has to give some extra attention for his offense I'm not so much interested as to who wins that matchup between Nick scorton and the and the Notre Dame young offensive line or or that that defensive line for A&M and the Notre Dame offensive line that's going to factor into some respect obviously my question is how does Mike Den Brock scheme around that how how does he find a way to make up for what just quite frankly should be a talent Gap that favors Texas A&M that's what I'm really curious about because when we watch Mike Den Brock's offenses go back to what he did at LSU he runs what I would call like the modern triple option not the same as an RPO it is an RPO to some respects but he's going to consistently get Riley Leonard the opportunity to give the football based on what the defensive end does and in some cases if they give him the look to pull the football he will be on the perimeter with more than likely Mitchell Evans the stud tight end for Notre Dame as an option to throw the football to in the flat or he'll have a chance to just knife up field get yardage and probably have a first down for Notre Dame how does Texas S&M combat that and when they do combat that how successful are they it because at the end of the day too Riley Leonard and his just physical attributes he is I believe skilled enough if he's able to be consistent throwing the football downfield we know what he can do with his legs like he can give no he he can give Notre Dame a more than punchers chance in this game even though they're two and a half Point dogs you can give A&M fits schematically because you might have it drawn up correctly but you still got to make a tackle in the open field against a really talented athlete in in Riley Leonard like that's just something you're going to have to account for it some point in time there probably going to be a battle we see many a time but but who is it filling against Riley Leonard is it torian York is it one of the safeties trying to roll down and make a tackle on Leonard like I don't know what that looks like but that battle to me will have a massive massive impact on the game whether it's in the Red Zone whether it's something that they just use a lot in second and short third and short and they pick up a big first down like that is the spot to me to where if you're A&M if you take that away you force I think Notre Dame to play you in a lot more of an honest sense and in that way I think you feel better about what you have on the defensive front for Texas A&M because last year they lost some guys now don't get it twisted but they are still I believe one of the most talented defensive fronts in the SEC if not all of college football okay so if you can make it a game where they have to play you in the box and you're not able to have so much success in the perimeter if you're Notre Dame that's Advantage A&M that's a a matchup we have to watch all game long now we talked a lot about Riley Leonard he's not the only quarterback in this game now you got Conor Wegman who is you're hoping and praying able to stay healthy for Texas A&M a guy who's flashed multiple times for the aies when he has been healthy five-star cat in his own right this will be the biggest spot in his college career now the benefit for him is it's at home but this will be the biggest game that he has ever played in as a college quarterback so yes what you get from him is going to be a question we have to unpack together but I'm looking at the A&M offense and I'm like okay how much can you help him more specifically how much can you run the football to settle him into the game Ruben Owens done for the year your heart breaks for that guy you definitely would have liked to have him in this game Levan Moss going to be a massive massive part of what they do getting downhill running the football as well as Daniels so those two running backs I think the onew punch if you're able to set him up for some second and five third and two just situations where Notre Dame can't just pin their ears back and get after the quarterback in the biggest spot of his life that's Advantage A&M so I think the number to look at here can A&M average yards per carry three and a half to four yards that's asking a lot because I really like the Notre Dame defense we'll talk about them more in a second but that's going to be huge because what that would do is again gives you some uh some balance offensively kind of puts the the Notre Dame defense in a little more of a position where they probably have to play a lot more honest coverage on the back end and then to go with that now talking about supporting Conor Wegman like if you're a receiver for A&M go win man go freaking win like if if you're a guy that wants to increase your NFL draft stock this is the game for you because you got Benjamin Morrison who is right up there with Will Johnson I believe is one of the best quarterbacks in the whole freaking sport you got Xavier Watts who is up there I believe with Caleb DS is one of the best safeties in the sport like you want to go make some money in the NFL in a more uh instant sense you want to give yourself a chance to win this football game go win against those DBS because if you run the football and you get man coverage Conor Wegman I think is going to give you a chance to go make some plays downfield has to happen in this game has to happen in this game have to find find a way to separate and go in against a really good secondary so in this game now we talked about Trey Wilson for the Florida Miami game and how explosive he is and how much they'll force be him the football in multiple ways to me a name that everyone is going to know after week one of the college football season is Notre and running back Jeremiah Love they're going to throw it to him they're going to get in the ball in space and the reason why I feel that way is whenever you go back and watch the the Mike Den Brock offenses what do they do spread you out yes have a a pretty balanced attack overall for the most part yes great yards per carry numbers yes more specifically they maximize their Playmakers and this Notre Dame offense has a lot of them like I haven't even talked about Chris Mitchell and what he brings to the table Speedy outside receiver for them that they got from the G5 level uh Jaden greous also a receiver for them that's going into his sophomore year that I think will have a massive impact but Jeremiah love I think is just the Swiss army knife to where I don't know who you feel good about matching up with him if you get him out in space like I I don't know who's bringing him down so I don't know if it'll be a thing where he get like 20 plus carries but I do think it's a thing where you get him somewhere in the range of 15 plus touches whether that's again throwing the football to him or handing it off to him I think the defense for Notre Dame is why I feel confident in them going into college station because we talk about like tough environments talked about the swamp we'll talk more about some other places throughout the uh the deration of this show Notre Dame has a very adult defense like seven of their 11 starters are not seniors not Juniors grad students what does that mean it means they're very comfortable playing college football again sounds simplistic but it means that they are not going to be in a situation here when they go to Kyle Field and their heart rate shoots through the roof and they lose their bearings and they missed a bunch of assignments like no they're going to I believe have some acclamation of course in that first quarter playing in a rockus environment and playing college football again in a new season but like for the most part now they're going to be the Steady Hand Jordan Bell is a guy you've been waiting on for a while if you're a Notre Dame fan J really pop he's like the they call it the Viper but he's essentially like a defensive end Edge kind of player for Notre Dame watch him this game I think he'll have a massive effort in getting pressure to Connor Wegman and helping them kind of try and push them into those third and passing situations that we tried to talk about A&M stating out of that's massive the experience and maturity of the Notre Dame def defense I think ultimately will be the difference in this game so I think it's back and forth I think if you are ATT tackas an& M you leave this game saying okay we're head of the right direction with Mike Elco okay I see a real identity now offensively with Conor Wegman and Colin Klein calling the shots like I see a new A&M however there's too much newness to me from the top down for A&M to be picked to win this game even with it being at home I'm going to take take Notre Dame to win a close one in a dog fight in the opener for year three of the Marcus Freeman era 2724 Irish get it done hey y'all thanks so much for watching subscribe to the channel here to make sure you don't miss an episode of the hard count also be sure to check out other videos on the Onre YouTube channel