Notre Dame's secondary is sick with an elite cornerback room in Benjamin Morrison, Jaden Mickey, and Christian Gray. They also have a top safety in the country in Xavier Watts. The last two years they held Ohio St to 21 and 16 points and kept Marvin Harrison Jr to under 100 yards for both games combined with an offense that did them no favors in taking any pressure off them only scoring 10 and 13 points. On top of that, their defensive line is going to have good depth and experience with a great duo of Riley Mills and Howard Cross at tackle. On offense, every position other than a talented but inexperienced offensive line is going to be improved from last year. Although they lost Audric Estime to the NFL, they are replacing him with two dynamic running backs of Jadarian Price and Jaramiah Love. Two promising sophomore receivers are returning in Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Fasion in addition to senor Jayden Thomas. They also brought in Kris Mitchell and Beaux Collins from the transfer portal. I have more faith in three quarterbacks on the roster this year than I have had a long time at Notre Dame. I believe Riley Leonard, Kenny Minchey, and CJ Carr are all better than what we've had for a while.

Respectfully, you really should research the ND Defense.. this is top 3 Defense & Deep! At all levels... 3rd yr in Goldens scheme.. A&M will be lucky to score 12-14pts..

I don't think people are really appreciating just how good Elko is. The TAMU defenses when he was DC were absolutely spectacular, regularly ranking in the top 5 in several metrics and in the top 15 defenses overall. It wasn't until we hired DJ Durkin that our defense really went to pot. We also saw with Duke that he was capable as a head coach and making the most of his team. I think the odds are basically 50/50. TAMU could be exactly what they were last year: a stacked team that underperforms. But man if Elko can get them to play to their potential, they're easily a championship caliber team.

'Stay-away' gm for me. I'm higher on '24 A&M than most. Imo new Ags' hc Elko is worth 2 close wins. I still like A&M IDL vs the run.

Respectfully disagree about ND’s potential on D. They’ve made lots of top-6 lists.

Should be a good game. A&M 24- Norte Dame 21

Placing a pretty big wager on Notre Dame here. We know what we’re getting with Freeman and company while A&M has a ton of question marks in Elko’s first year. Underdog value with a team that should be favored? Give me the Irish, 27-13.

Riley Leonard will have to connect on a deep ball to beat Elko in this game. He's gonna force him to make good passes. Both of these teams are loaded with talent so we will see what happens. Entering this game with untested Tackles is not an ideal situation for ND. A&M will be very disruptive up front.

A&M will win this one by 7-10. It’ll be a tough game for sure. However, A&M has a not so secret weapon in Tommy Moffitt. Rumor has it he has been beating the hell outta the oline this offseason. Aggies will be a tough outing for everyone this year. I see a 9-3/10-2 season for them with losses to maybe Missouri and possibly Auburn or LSU.

Be interesting to see the TexA&M offense, which has been terrible the past few years.. and the OL has also been pushed around the past couple of year. Lets see if new OC Calvin Klein can get the A&M offense in gear.

with A&M's awful o-line and ND's top tier d-line....thats going to be a problem

And Elko knows our QB through and through. Definitely gonna be some 3D chess going on between Elko and Denbrock. I like Riley but he doesn’t have the most precise of passes. However, he’s one tough ass young man! Elko definitely will have a spy on him lol

ND University world champion in combining academics and football program

Wreckin Crew will rule this game close but the loudness will be a factor. 35-28 AGGIES FESHMAN TACKLES WILL HAVE ALONG DAY FOR NORTE DAME. Going to the barn burner.

Rock fight. Take the under

A&M D line has multiple 4&5 stars you give no credit to the talent they have

A&M 17 Notre Dame 27

I'm going with ND 23-17 in this one. ND defense should be elite. dbs are lockdown, dline is great which should be an issue for a&m, only issue is the lbs who are very talented but there are many new starters. On offense, QB, TE and RB should be good. WRs will improve, but the question is how much. Oline looked shakey but they have time to get their act together. Kyle field at night is always a factor, but I'll still take the irish.

ND 27 - 17

A&M defense is going to be nasty, particularly DL.....ND is starting a true freshman tackle against arguably the best DL in the country at a night game on the road

Texas AM does not have a more talented roster overall than ND. ND will win this game

I think this will be a difficult game but I expect Notre Dame to take control. I think it's just too soon for Elko to have A&M running on all cylinders and Denbrock and Leonard will adapt to the OL having some early struggles. By the end of the season I think A&M will be a dangerous team.

Learning and seeing both teams,I am loving this UNDER,the coach from A/M wants to keep Leonard in the pocket and NOT let him run,and at Home he wants to use the crowd to slow ND down,and A/M will run and try to establish themselves..under 49.5

If this game was at a neutral site ND would be favourite (4 ish). Serious RP for The Irish and a lot of new at A&M. If this was Week 8 then I'd give the Elko factor more weight but Game One is different. Worth noting too how well prepared ND were for their two openers vs OSU in recent years. Grand they lost both, but OSU were among CFP favs. They had significant talent disadvantage both times and lasted until Q3 at OSU and were a play short at South Bend.

Wow! After watching practice this last week. Y’all have definitely missed all the players returning. Floor should be 8-4, ceiling should be 11-1.

Life Long ND Fan. 10-2 Absolutely does not make the playoffs. 11-1 only if the one loss is Ta&m or FSU if they're a top 10 team. USC is too late in the season and probably won't be a top 20 team. But with the way Freeman has been making improvements, and a schedule that is the weakest I've seen in a long time. 12-0 is not a stretch for this season. Not Quite a Natty team just yet, but might get 1 or 2 games in the playoff, depending on match up. Notre Dame is O-line and Tight End U, I'm not worried about the next men in. We'll be fiine. Denbrock should be the deciding factor here. Last year's offense had the potential to do so much more, I think the poor OC hire handi-capped them. This year should be different. And the Defense is what should really shine, you mentioned Watts, but Benjamin Morrison is a Top 3 DB. This first game will be the toughest, because of of the tangibles, it makes or breaks the season. If it makes men out of them and they fight with everything they have and pull it off, the rest of the season should come pretty business as usual until at least the first or second round of the playoffs. I'm not saying that FSU, USC, Lville, GT, will be easy, but because of this first game, they will know that they can overcome anything and fight thorugh it together. Again, not a Natty year, but I believe Freeman has them going in the right direction. And he's learning from and correcting his mistakes. Go Irish.

How did an average Texas A&M 7-6 team last year become a favorite. Sheesh! ND was almost a 11-2 or 12-1 team last year. Give me the Irish 🍀🍀

Is anyone else a little surprised that TAMU is only favored by 1?

ND will score 38 points. A&M will score 24 points. Take it from the one who knows!

Notre Dame is loaded and now they have some Dudes ND Offensive line will having growing pains but they have some unreal talent on that line. A&M Offensive line is weak and against that ND Defense that was ranked 5th in the country last yr and will be even better this yr it is going to be a very long night for them. I see the Irish winning by at least 10.

Lost all credibility when you said Notre Dames defensive was a little down from last season.

officiating will be huge in this game, WATCH

I don't like TAMU.. at all. They will however smoke ND

Texas A&M has a stacked defense 🤣🤣

I really don't care who you pick but let's be real..... So the Aggies are gonna hold something back bc they can afford an early season loss more than ND bc of their weaker schedule? 😂 (I'm not saying ND is that bad, just more easy games than A&M.) Do you guys really think that factors into the players heads while they are out the on the field in the heat of battle!!?? "Hmmm, let me analysis how much this loss hurts us based on our schedule the rest of the year?".... lmao The Aggies want to turn around the narrative bad and a week 1 game on national TV with college game day in town will NOT lend itself to taking it easy. Both teams will be giving it their ALL for this game. Big win up for grabs for either team. Should be a great game. 2 great defenses. Take the under!

Love the content

It's always tough going up against "TEXA A&M."

Aggies 34, Irish 22. A hot and humid night at College Station’s Kyle Field.

I have ND going undefeated in the reg season and getting the #5 seed. ND is ready to roll they're silly a QB away and now have that QB. Elko and A&M will be fine long term but short term Game 1 I like the Irish. Simply rule of thumb when both rosters are even or close to who has the better HC, QB and or Home Field. Irish QB edge, HC draw but I'd lean Freeman to this point, home field advantage A&M. Irish ML

The plus one line does not make A&M a favorite. Vegas wants money bet on A&M and need to set the line so that the money comes in equally. ND fans will run to the window at plus one.

First game of the year in Texas at Kyle field! It’s going to be 🥵 and loud!

ND will not be holding anything back. A huge win to open the season is key to making the playoffs. If ND wins big (I think they can) it is huge for their poll positioning. They have a mediocre schedule this year and no conference championship, they need to get this first win. I think A&M will struggle mightily on offense. ND and that defense will take the crowd out. ND has a Heisman level QB, and a stable stable of stud running backs. The recruit 2-3 of the O lineman in the country almost every year, so there is plenty of talent there. If A&M overcommits to stopping the run, Leonard will destroy them thru the air. All the receivers have to do is catch the ball.

ND-31 A&M-17

Long time ND fan, lives about 2 hours from TAMU. The heat down here at the end of August concerns me more than anything. It will be HOT, even at night. It will be LOUD. The Aggies usually play well at home. Nothing is a given. I'd guess that's why TAMU is favored. I think ND is stacked top to bottom better than TAMU. TAMU has lost more than half of that vaunted recruiting class they bought a few years ago, but there is still good talent there and now has a coach who knows what to do with it. I think Elko will prove to be a good hire. I don't see this being a high scoring game. Both teams are under a new offensive system. ND's defense should be able to control their side, which should be the difference. I am not sold on Riley Leonard simply because I haven't seen him play, but I trust Mike Denbrock. ND's passing game should be much improved in the coming years. This year? Probably not so much. Too many transfers. Another band-aid year for the passing game. Freeman has recruited the QB position much better than Kelly so hopefully this is the last year their starting QB is a transfer. They just need a bit more time to mature. If Riley Leonard isn't healthy, Angeli should do fine. He ran the 2nd string offense well enough in the bowl game. However, ND needs this win far more than TAMU. ND should win somewhat comfortably, but that's why we play the game.

All I’m sure of is take the under

T A&M will win this game to much talent

UNDER.

aggies being a 1 point favorite is so much disrespect towards nd as a program, freeman as a coach, denbrock/golden as oc/dc and nd's talent level....from 1 to 85, a$m isn't even close to where nd is as far as talent...major advantage is that night kickoff and that home opener under a new regime, but still a 1 point favorite for a$m with that oline and that nd dline

You guys are nuts if you think Texas A&M will face Notre Dame with the thought that hey, we can still make the playoff with a loss...Other than Texas, this is the most important game on TAMU's schedule...And a statement game for Elko. You guys did not mentioned that he was the former DC at Notre Dame, and left it for a lateral move to TAMU. Or that Riley Leonard was Elko's QB at Duke for the last two years. And the fact that I will assume that Elko took most of his staff with him to TAMU, and the OC know Leonard. A new QB with only 2 starting lineman, against a Elko coached D with better athletes, and that Kyle Field Crowd...ND is use to playing in front of big crowds, but other than maybe the shoe at Ohio State, they have not played in the type of environment. And ND is a subway alumni team...favored by bettors... I think TAMU should be favored by 2 or 3 points...And I think TAMU will win by 6 +...and that's coming from a UT-Austin alumnus...

You guys do a pretty darn good job. 👍 #GoIrish

A&M will not be able to Handle Notre Dame

"Games like this..." What is that supposed to mean? LMAO

I got Irish winning 27-20

aggies 36- nd-14 easily

ND 35 A&M 9

Why should we be “terrified” genuinely asking? Terrified? Not hyperbole?

No doubt the crowd will be loud at Ky-YELL Field for this one.

Take the U. Could be an ugly game and probably decided by TO’s and special teams like a walk off FG. Kyle Field will make the difference imo. I’m taking A&M for that reason, but not my lock of the year.

A&M fans are legit one of the most delusional fan bases in the country. They go 6-6 7-5 every year and yet somehow beginning of every season they think there winning the sec

Imagine thinking ND will be good... cause they never beat any good teams...

You misspelled Texas.

45-24 ND

Everyone is glazing A&M, can’t wait for ND to show that the SEC is overrated once and for all

Thank you for the upload! 🫵🤘