Where, when, weather and TV
When: Saturday, Aug. 31, 6:30 p.m. central time
Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
Weather: 50% chance of rain, high of 89
TV: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe)
Notre Dame offensive depth chart
Texas A&M defensive depth chart
Injury update
Notre Dame: LT Charles Jagusah (Pectoral) is out for the season.
RB Gi'Bran Payne (ACL) is out for the year.
OL Styles Prescod (shoulder) is out for the year.
TE Kevin Bauman (recovery from two ACL tears) is doubtful.
Texas A&M: DE Enai White (recovery from an ACL injury) is out.
Notre Dame returning statistical leaders
Passing: Leonard, 95-165 (57.6%), 1,102 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT (at Duke)
Angeli, 34-44 (77.3%), 504 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Love, 71 carries, 385 yards (5.4 YPC), 1 TD
Leonard, 58 carries, 352 yards (6.1 YPC), 4 TD (at Duke)
Price, 47 carries, 272 yards (5.8 YPC), 3 TD
Receiving: Mitchell, 64 catches, 1,117 yards (17.5 YPC), 7 TD (at FIU)
Collins, 38 catches, 510 yards (13.4 YPC), 5 TD (at Clemson)
Evans, 29 catches, 422 yards (14.6 YPC), 1 TD
Texas A&M returning statistical leaders
Tackles: York, 74
DeShields, 58 (at Pitt)
Williams, 52 (at Florida)
Tackles for loss: Scourton, 15 (at Purdue)
Turner, 10.5
Howell, 10.5 (at Bowling Green)
Sacks: Scourton, 10 (at Purdue)
Howell, 9.5 (at Bowling Green)
Turner, 6
Interceptions: Saunders, 3 (at Cal Poly)
Lee, 2 (at Kansas State
Mayes, 2 (at UAB)
Forced fumbles: Turner, 2
What Notre Dame wants to do on offense
Like A&M's offense, it's pointless to put up last year's full stats because they don't mean anything. The scheme is different and so are most of the players. As Tyler James of insideNDsports.com put it, the major changes under new offensive coordinator MIke Denbrock "Will likely come in three forms: more pre-snap motion, more quarterback runs and more trust in the wide receivers to make plays down the field."
Denbrock was the OC at LSU last year. He's going to try to largely get away from the grind it out approach Notre Dame used last year, where Sam Hartman was hamstrung by a lack of talent at receiver. That's why they went and got Mitchell from Florida International and Collins from Clemson. They're an upgrade, and Evans is an All-American at tight end. Notre Dame may be one of the few teams that compares favorably at that position to A&M.
The running game will still be critical for Notre Dame, and Leonard will be a big part of it. We saw Jayden Daniels do a lot of running last season, and Leonard is known for being a guy who will take off and run. The Aggies have to expect that Saturday night.
A&M coach Mike Elko said he and his coaches have watched game film of LSU, Clemson, Florida International and others to get ready for this one. The talent level may be different, but Denbrock's plan will likely stay the same. He'll try to spread you out with a 3-wide set, run the ball up the middle and try to take some shots deep. He doesn't have Daniels or Malik Nabers, so the results may not be as effective. Having a front line with both the left tackle and guard making their first career starts and a line with six total career starts won't help a whole lot either.
What A&M may try to do to counter
Considering the lack of experience Notre Dame has up front, it stands to reason that they're going to be aggressive and give Leonard as little time as possible to throw. If Leonard is stuck in the pocket, odds are things will be positive for the Aggies. They need to keep him there, though.
I expect either York or Sanford will spy him in an effort to prevent him from breaking containment. They must be disciplined, something they were not under DJ Durkin. If they're not disciplined and aren't where they need to be to stop Leonard from escaping the pocket, that's going to be serious trouble for the Aggies.
Leonard knows Elko's defense, so they may try to mix a few things up. But what he doesn't know this defense with this level of personnel, which is very different from Duke's. There aren't many Scourtons, Turners or Stewarts anywhere, and the Blue Devils certainly didn't have any (though RJ Oben's pretty good).
One thing to remember: Durkin's defenses got to the quarterback by blitzing. A&M's defense under Elko would blitz on sure passing downs, but their leading sack men were defensive linemen. In 2021, DeMarvin Leal, Micheal Clemons and Tyree Johnson were 1, 2 and 3 in sacks for the team, and they ended up seventh in the country in that category.
The Aggie defense will probably do a lot of mixing and matching, though that doesn't mean 3-man fronts or rotation entire units every other series -- DJ. They're going to look to find ways to confuse Leonard and give him (and his line) discomfort. If A&M slows down the running game and Leonard is stuck in the pocket, the Aggies are going to have a lot of success.
