Notre Dame football schedule deep dive: Kicking off with Texas A&M
Talk about starting the season off with a bang. Notre Dame football heads down to College Station for its season opener in the Home of the 12th Man. It is the second of just three Week 1 matchups between Top 25 teams.
Texas A&M kicks off the Mike Elko Era in this one. Elko returned to College Station just two seasons removed from his stint as Jimbo Fisher’s defensive coordinator.
With him, Elko brings in the 4th-ranked transfer class in the nation (247Sports) with seven 4-star recruits on the defensive side of the ball. In his first offseason, Elko boasts a top-20 recruiting class highlighted by 5-star cornerback Terry Bussey.
Elko has seen plenty of Notre Dame during his one-year stint as the Irish DC in 2017, and he has seen plenty of the new Irish quarterback Riley Leonard while head coach of the Blue Devils. Riley Leonard began his college career at Duke in 2021, one season before Elko took the helm.
As a freshman, Leonard appeared in seven games and earned the starting job in 2022, making him Elko’s only starting quarterback in his head coaching career. If there was anyone who can gameplan against Leonard, it’s Mike Elko.
Notre Dame football has its hands full with Texas A&M
The Aggies return sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman, who had his season cut short last year due to a broken bone in his foot that he sustained against Auburn in Week 4. He was on track for a big year, throwing for 909 yards through the first three games of the season.
Weigman will have three of last year’s top five receivers (Jahdae Walker, Noah Thomas, Moose Muhammad III) to spread the field, as well as Louisiana Tech transfer Cyrus Allen and Troy transfer Jabre Barber.
The three top rushers from the 2023 season also return for Texas A&M. Amari Daniels, Le’Veon Moss, and Rueben Owens accounted for 79% of the Aggies’ yards on the ground. Elko is known for a balanced attack, which should be more than feasible with three seasoned SEC backs.
The Aggies pass rush will be a concern for the Irish. Texas A&M's transfer class is highlighted by DE Nic Scourton of Purdue, ranked the 15th highest transfer in the portal this past offseason by 247Sports. With Notre Dame LT Charles Jagusah going down for the season in training camp, it is tough to say where the offensive line stands heading into Week 1.
Both defenses are stacked. Both offenses have weapons. This is a “what-kind-of-team-are-you” kind of game, and should kickstart a strong CFP campaign for the winner. It is potentially the biggest test of the year for the Notre Dame football program.