IB Nation Sports Talk: Final Pre A&M Marcus Freeman Comments, Plus We In/We Out

[Music] welcome to the show IB Nation Sports Talk is up and rolling on this Thursday we are just two count I'm two days away from Notre Dame season the way to anys joining us for the show we've had uh had a troll or two this week we've had uh you know some well-mannered well- behaved Aggies fans pop in at times this week just a reminder keep it keep it civil sunshine you know whether it's you know it's all good until someone gets called a Jabron and you know if you act like a Jabron you're not going to be here for long regardless of who you cheer for right right okay so I'm Sean Styers I'll be your pilot for this solo flight tonight Vince and Jesse both have uh other obligations I suppose we've got a lot to get to tonight though we're going to keep it above the board we've got uh some comments from Marcus Freeman that we're going to have to start things out from his noon Zoom Zoom media press conference today not streamed on YouTube so you know you unless maybe you've read a little bit about him and I think I think Brian might have posted one of the stories um that I wrote about it today I don't know if it's quite up just yet but uh that's where we'll start we also have plenty of we in we out questions that we are going to get to as well Tommy says he can't find the we in we out thread on the board it's there I've got it uh sitting here and ready to go so I can bounce those questions in tonight hit the like button if you would on your old YouTube channel as you as you come into the show tonight much appreciated as always so let's not waste any time because there's a lot to get to um we're going to start with some of the marus Freeman comments and I'll start with the injuries stuff that came up today because Notre Dame announced three injuries two of them are going to be season ending tabon Benny pal and styles Prescott both had shoulder surger well Benny pel has had the shoulder surgery Prescott is going to have the shoulder surgery Tay Johnson is gonna miss some time with a broken bone in his foot as well probably both of those guys and You' seen it with a lot of freshman they have pre-existing injuries that probably started in high school and and you know when all of a sudden you get them here and and their shoulder pops out or you know they have shoulder issues you you take an MRI and say okay we have to make a decision do we fix it now and uh have them miss the season but have them back for Spring ball which is so crucial for their development or do we wait until after the season and both of those guys um I don't know what the future would have been if they didn't get surgery but I would say at the moment we felt like they were probably red shirt potential guys and uh we thought it was best to just get their their shoulders fixed now and have them back for Spring ball as far as Tay uh Tay Tay we uh we expect him back at some point during the season uh he's a guy that um he got injured probably right at the very end of Camp you know with his foot uh but you know the other guys I think it was just accumulation of probably things that happened in high school and and um one or two incidents that happened here that that made us get an MRI of those shoulders and say okay need to fix them that's so interesting to hear him talk about it like that you know like basically he he kind of had some pre-existing stuff and that stuff happens time to time maybe even more than you think you know like guys get something happens in high school and they play through it and they think they're okay and maybe they get here and all of a sudden you get popped a little bit harder or you go down awkwardly and you know it's even more painful than it was before and it gets even more injured than it was before so no Benny pal no Prescott this year and like he said they were probably red shirt candidates anyway Tay Johnson probably along the same lines you know in terms of a red shirt this year even though it sounds like he is going to be available or you know at least recovered anyway from a broken bone in his foot uh at some point within the next several weeks DK or uh salty saying he doesn't think that we can top last night show I'm glad you like last night's show salty fired up about it like reiterating it he's all in no DK I didn't ship the starter jacket sorry I know it's the same colors as lions but I I really don't think you'd like it you know if it actually if I actually were to ship it uh some other guys that Marcus Freeman touched on Howard cross there's been kind of some you know at least some Rumblings I guess because of the fact that he was on a little bit of a load Management schedule during training camp with a lower body injury there had been some question about him is he going to be able to be full go you know would he would there be any restrictions on him no no load management no restrictions for Saturday Marcus Freeman said he is a full go not worth playing a sound bite on that because literally the only response that Mark free Marcus Freeman gave was yes he's going to be he's going to be a full go Saturday night now Gabriel Rubio you might remember he broke a bone in his foot the first day of fall Camp so Marcus Freeman updated him and also something here on arml mukum who had a pretty good fall camp and is expected to contribute this season I would say Rubio still probably about a month out uh a month away uh he's in his rehab phase uh as we speak um ARL mukum has really stepped up he's one of the guys that from year one to year two has done a really good job at um physically um developing but also in terms of his production on the field uh he he's definitely improved tremendously and um will be a guy that will have a chance to help us on the field um starting this game and so we have a lot of confidence in that deep to tackle room um the depth of the room uh even with Rubio being out for a month or so um but we obviously want him back it as soon as we can yeah so there you go little update on uh on Gabriel Rubio on track to to come back midseason but in the meantime arml mukum all 6'3 and 302 PBS of him going to be a contributor in the middle of that defensive line as well and you know like when you look at some of the guys in terms of full health mukum 63302 hinish 62278 on 65 291 cross is 61 288 Mills 65 295 so you know mukum big body biggest body there in the middle right Now with uh Gabe Rubio out something interesting that they also did today at the end of the zoom call they uh and they they sent an email about this as well Notre name is going to begin like starting next week they're going to start doing an Avail player availability structure to streamline the communication in terms of injuries and stuff like that so like each Monday when they give us the game notes they're to give us a list of all the players who have availability affected for that week they're going to classify him either as out for the season out for that week's game or questionable for that week's game as well as what their ailment is and this is you know like it's it's pretty common you know like the injury report in the NFL pretty common they've been doing it for years and years and years college football never had to you could you could you know kind of use the OSHA as a uh as a shield and and say Hey you know we don't want to release him but uh Notre Dame is is going to do it they're also going to do an availability update 60 minutes before kickoff of uh of games this year as well and they'd kind of been doing that anyway you know like if there were players who popped up injured on on game day you know like from late in the week and and stuff like that they' been doing some updates game day mornings or you know whenever before the game as well uh this one from from Doc Jack is jagas saww really out until December that seems pretty serious for a pack I mean that's the latest update we've got no one has really asked about him lately he might be somebody you know that we that we ask about within the next few weeks just to see kind of how he's doing but you know it was a torn pectoral slsh shoulder so I think it you know might even be more than than just a torn PEC because it sounded like there was a tear up into the shoulder as well so you know again maybe we get an update on that in a few weeks kind of kind of Follow that up see how he's going but as of now that's you know that's that's the last word that we got on that so uh some other comments for Marcus Freeman getting away from the injuries one of the questions I know it's popped up here I know I've seen it on the new Champions Lounge Message Board the premium subscription board at Irish breakdown one of the questions that um you know has popped up from time to time where's Mike Den brck going to be on game day on the field or up in the Press Box and along with that where's the quarterback's coach gin guli gonna be Al Golden's gonna be on the field and it turns out that Den Brock will also be on the field with guli upstairs in terms of who goes up and who stays down I think it's it all starts with the the the Comfort but also what the coordinators feel is is best uh for them to do their job and to um elevate the play of the offense and and when we were together Cincinnati Den Brock was on the field the majority of the years that we were together and Gino was actually up um and so they have a comfort in in terms of you know Den Brock being able to be on the field and see what he needs to see um to call the game to to make the necessary changes and adjustments with the offense but also having somebody upstairs that you have a level of comfort with that can give you uh feedback and see the things you need to see as a coordinator right I was a coordinator that was on the field for the majority of my career um but you have to have people up in the Press Brocks that can give you the information that you need and and obviously he feels comfortable with Gino and and coach Golden obviously feels comfortable with the guys that are up in the Press Box for the defense so there you go the coordinators are going to be down on the field Gino guli quarterback's coach is up in the box and of course Joe with the follow-up good followup there Joe who has the mic for the helmets then the coordinators are going to have the mics for the helmets so Mike Dem will be talking directly to Riley Leonard or whoever the quarterback is Al golden will be talking to the uh most likely the linebacker who is out there on the field as well with the uh the Green Dot in terms of and we're going to get to more on that and that in just a second speaking of the Green Dot stuff but I me you know Press Box it's all personal preference personally you know maybe as someone who's you know called a lot of games set up in press buck i' i' rather have the elevated you know view because you can see everything and you know but it's it's preference and the coordinators are going to be down there on the field you know if Riley Leonard needs to talk to Gina guli all you got to do is get on the phone or put on the headset it's not that hard so that's the way that they're uh they're going to go with that coordinators are going to be down on the field personally I don't think the Field view is that great you know I know everyone talks about how close is and all that kind of stuff but the the actual view I don't think is that great myself now speaking of the headset communication because that is going to be a new thing this year so Freeman was asked earlier this week about who gets the green dots to to to have the the speaker in your helmet you've got to have a Green Dot on the back of your helmet that means you're the designated person on the field who can have the headset communication with the coaches on the sideline so the quarterback is you know pretty much always going to be the guy on offense linebackers obviously make the most sense on defense now you can only have one Green Dot on the field at the same you know at at a time like Jack Kaiser is going to be the main Green Dot guy but guys like Drake Bowen and Kingston and vamu ASA have also you know they'll they can have green dots if Kaiser's not on the field so the question that I asked you can only have one Green Dot on the field at the same time so does that mean that those other guys like you know maybe even Kaiser for that matter but if Kaiser is the main guy but Bowen and KVA can also potentially have the green dots but they can only have them a Green Dot on their helmet if Kaiser's not on the field as well or another Green Dot on the field as well does that mean that these guys are going to have to have two different helmets during the game exactly right and it's not limited to three um you can have as many Green Dots as you want but only one can be on the field at a time unless it's the the kickoff kickoff we can have everybody in a Green Dot but um the guys with green dots will all have two helmets and uh obviously Jack Kaiser will start out with a Green Dot on defense and the guys that um have the chance to wear a Green Dot will wear their second helmet and if something happens where you know either Kaiser is out uh or we um put somebody else in to to to be the Green Dot the person wearing the green dot then their helmets will change but um you have to have two helmets for the guy that have green dots gotta have to have two helmets for the guys who are wearing the green dots on the defense so you got that so all those guys have to have two helmets and you know it's like Thurman Thomas yeah remember him back in the Super Bowl like I realize that's been a while maybe some younger people don't but Thurman Thomas had a hard enough time keeping track of one helmet during the Super Bowl let alone two helmets so now you got to have two helmets for the Green Dot guys because you can't have two green dots on the field at the same time so that'll be curious like you know are we GNA see guys throwing one helmet off and you know putting another one on as they're running on the field and and that kind of stuff you know and vice versa when they're coming off the field and and whatever else I'm going to be really curious to see how this looks since you can only have one green dotted helmet guy out there on the field at the same time but all these linebackers are going to have to have multiple helmets because of the green dots and the helmet communication and the speakers and all that different stuff so finally the running of Riley Leonard and what makes it unique I think it starts with his size um he is a physically impressive person right if he's six almost 6'4 and 200 plus pounds that that can take um a hit we don't want him taking a lot of hits uh we we obviously want him to get down when he has a chance to get down um and and limit the the the hits that a quarterback has to take but um he has speed he has athleticism um you know and and he's not afraid to run right he wants to run wants the ball in his hand so um I think that's an added element to your offense uh I don't want to see our our quarterback running the ball every play and that's not our plan but to have the ability to have design quarterback runs or or truly read uh Defenders with a quarterback that can pull it um is something that's going to help our offense have success absolutely it's going to help the offense have success and I think it's going to be a huge factor in this game especially if there is rain to have a quarterback like Riley Leonard with his running ability and have the ball in his hands he averaged 5.6 yards a carry two years ago in 2022 when he played the full season you know and I know like every like people want to point to his stats last year and all this different stuff but in the five games before he got hurt against noted Dame last year 47 carries for 326 yards that's in five games so like multiply that out in the pace that he was on you know he was on he was on Pace to be over 800 yards in a season if he hadn't got hurt at the end of the Notre Dame game he was averaging 6.9 a carry before that injury and I I just was GNA say I don't I I wasn't sure if I'd seen DJ post anything I knew I'd seen DK post something but DJ was talking about the Conor wigman numbers and uh I went and did the splits you know because like you look at the like what's the knock on Riley Leonard the accuracy well you can live with a little bit lower accuracy you know if you're able to hit some deep shots from time to time to time he again he's not asked to run a West Coast offense there's not going to be all this precision timing patterns and all this different stuff that's that's not what he's going to be asked to do Riley Leonard completed 57% of his passes overall last year he was 62% before the injury 57% in the two games after the injury he was almost at 64% in 2022 flip that over to Connor wigman who's going to be asked most likely to run more than he's ever had to run before because he's in Colin Klein's offense now and the quarterback is asked to do a lot of running in this offense unless they're going to change plans and and Colin Klein's not going to do that but wigman nine career games just under 62% overall 56% is his completion percentage against Power five teams 76% against group of five teams so he's 20% better against group of five versus Power five in the nine games he has played 62% overall so it's lower than Riley Leonard but everyone's acting like Conor not everyone but you know I I guess the farther south you live and the more in SEC country you live everyone's acting like Connor wigman is the most accurate quarterback in the world and and Riley Leonard you know couldn't couldn't hit the open broad side of a b bar you know with with a pass if he threw it but when you look at at just the numbers and and Riley Leonard has played in what almost three times the the amount of games that Conor wigman has played in and his completion percentage is better and you throw in the fact that he's a dual threat quarterback as Mike demock would tell you earlier this week dual threat he's not a running quarterback he's a dual threat quarterback but so between those two Riley Leonard is the more accurate quarterback back of the two and he's got the multi-dimension uh you know of of being able to run he is an elite runner in terms of quarterbacks in college football so doc says I like you calling him wigman I mean it's like you know this is another thing you know like everywhere I turn I see a different pronunciation for his name is it wigman is it Wegman is it wigman everyone has said it a little bit differently Carter Carls included who we had on earlier this week so some thoughts from Marcus Freeman final thoughts before the game 7:30 kickoff we are just a little bit more than as of right now as I speak we are 50 a little bit more than 50 hours away from kickoff Notre Dame and Texas A&M don't forget Friday countdown to kick up off is going to drop on our IB platforms it'll be up on YouTube it will be you know of course on the podcast platforms and all that it's not a live show because we have to like one Brian does his own show on Fridays and we have to work around the schedules of my co-hosts Vince and Jesse so we're not always recording at the same time we have to have some flexibility in there so the show will be up though and you'll have plenty of time to watch it or listen to it prior to Saturday's game so look for that coming up in the meantime who's ready for some we in we out Tommy did you ever find the Wei in we out thread on the uh on the Champions Lounge I hope you did hope you're were able to find it let's go to the questions let's go to the phones let's just fire it up with beaser 12 what is this beaser 12 washing beard it's a hell of a handle I don't think I've ever seen that one before we in we out Riley Leonard Jeremiah Love and jadarian price will all score a touchdown on Saturday I will give you two of two of the three of those but I'm not going to give you all three because you know again without revealing my score which will be revealed both tomorrow I think it's tomorrow when Brian puts out our prediction Fridays I think is when he puts out the predictions on the website and then it'll be in the countdown to kickoff show as well I don't have many more touchdowns than that scored I can see Riley Leonard running one I see love or Price scoring one but I also see like either Mitchell Evans or one of the wide receivers scoring at least one so I'll give you two of those three but I've got to be out on all three scoring a touchdown Saturday night another one from we in we out the Notre Dame defense will force two turnovers on Saturday I am in on this I am big in on this and as I've said before I think if this game turns into a bigger margin than a lot of people are expecting Notre Dame fans not withstanding because I know a lot of Notre Dame fans are expecting a you know a pretty good margin or pretty good scoring output gee I'm shocked Texas A&M fans think it's going to be lopsided or high scoring in One Direction Notre Dame fans think it's going to be high scoring lopsided in the other direction but I think if it gets to that it's going to be because of turnovers I'm I'm fully in on Texas A&M's front on on their defensive line I think most everybody is but I'm more in on Notre Dame in totality the totality of the defense and the fact that you got a ball Hawker at the back there in Xavier watts and you got a guy in Adon Schuler who like what did he do when we got to see him late in the spring for some turnovers of his own I think both of those guys are are are going to be crazy good back there and then you throw in Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray I mean that's I just don't see I don't see a good matchup for Texas A&M's receivers against Notre Dame Secondary Notre Dame's linebackers I think are the position group to look at on Notre Dame's defense I don't think it's going to be a big weakness but there is some inexperience and they're going to have to adapt and adjust to what Colin Klein and Conor wigman are trying to do offensively at the start of that game but I will buy two turnovers created by the Notre Dame defense Connor oh Connor I was just scrolling up on a a on a Conor question here on the uh on the thread and Conor says he sees a force fumble and a special teams turnover hold that thought and watch or listen to countdown to kickoff because like that the Special Teams part is going to play in there I can't blow like all the content before we get to it right there's like another day of content on this show before the game even shows up so I like what you're thinking there Connor I like that I like the thought process so Connor's question Notre Dame will win by two touchdowns but score less than 30 points against A&M we in or we out had to hydrate I'm just slightly out again I can't give away my prediction yet but I I don't quite have Notre Dame winning by two touchdowns and I do see them scoring less than 30 points so I've got to be out on this but it's going to be close and again like if there's a late turnover I could see it swinging it where they do end up winning by two touchdowns doc Jack Driscoll said 24-6 well he's already given out his prediction so I'm not far off from that but I'm not right on that number Connor says he's predicting 27- 13 I'm I'm in between Driscoll I'm you know I'm pretty close to both of those go Irish go Irish says stop sandbagging look I can't I can't I can't blow everything right we want you to listen we want you to watch countdown to kickoff so I can't give you all our predictions Vince and Jesse are gonna have their own as well you know so if you want to lose money listen to Vince if you want to maybe win a little bit listen to Jesse Jesse's done well lately he's got a wedding defund so he's trying to turn this into an art form right now but uh yeah I'm I'm pretty close to what what it right in there between Connor doc Driscoll Joe's prediction that's close drock you're not far off DJ you're a little bit higher on Notre Dames points but I you know I'm in that ballpark as well so I think we're I think we're all thinking fairly similarly we're not too far off domber Grizz the storyline coming out of the A&M game will be something other than the offensive line weather or atmosphere at Kyle Stadium we in or we out on that I'm completely in on this because I think that's a predominant story you know like if you want if you want me to give some predictions that you know I'm not going to spoil in tomorrow's show but I've I've already sent it and I think DJ and I are you know pretty Lux Connor wig wigman however you say his name he's a good quarterback but he's played in nine games this is a big environment for him as well I know he beat LSU a couple of years ago but he doesn't have great skill Talent around him I think his performance and not in a good way is going to be a huge storyline coming out of this game and I think the performance of the the noted Dame offense is also going to be a big performance coming out of this I'm not the offensive line is not going to get they're they're not going to be perfect so like they're going to be some mistakes made by the offensive line because they are so young and they are so raw as talented as they are but don't go in expecting a perfect game go in knowing Texas A&M's defense is going to make a few plays over the course of the game but I think overall end of the game we're we're going to we're going to come out of that you know maybe pleasantly surpris you know I guess depending on sort of your perspective I think I think a lot of people are going to be more than pleasantly surprised by what they get out of the offensive line I don't think it's going to be the disaster and they're they're not going to be completely overmatched like so many are saying by Texas A&M Ley NDC A&M will be concerned with the run and mobile quarterback they will try to stop they will try to run stop in Blitz which will open up the passing game everyone doubts Riley completes 65% of his passes lights them up through the air um I'm mostly in on that I don't know if he completely lights him up through the air but I definitely think Riley Leonard is going to have a better passing game than most people think I do think A&M is going to commit to the Run try to shut that down I think it's going to be hard because again if Mike Den Brock's not out there and all this 12 Personnel that everyone's used to seeing from Notre Dame over the last few years you can still run the ball by manipulating the box and spreading out personnel and lightening up the box from the defensive perspective and opening up run lanes that way and when you've got a Jeremiah Love in the backfield or a jadarian price in the backfield and O'Reilly Leonard I think it it it leads to what should be you know even if they even if they think they can shut that that down I think Riley Leonard's going to be able to hit plenty of passes in that passing game with this completely new look receiver core that he's going to have because that's another part of it as well I think so many people are basing their opinion on what they think Notre Dame's receivers are based on last year without looking at the fact oh you brought in Chris Mitchell oh you brought in Jaden Harrison oh you brought in Bo Collins and uh Jaden GR and Jordan fison by the way they're not too bad themselves and it's going to look a lot different going to look a lot different I think it's gonna catch a lot of people nationally by surprise a tonsil man Andre we and we out Jeremiah love will catch a touchdown and run oh catch a catch a pass and run a touchdown in the game versus A&M I think he's going to score a touch down so somewhat in the middle there yes I think he's going to catch a pass yes so I think he's going to score a touchdown so I'll be in for that we in we out Jeremiah love will have 100 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing um sorry Andre I've got to be out on that I don't see I don't see 100 receiving and 100 rushing against that defense because again you know it's it's not Steel Curtain defense but it's a it's a good defense I don't think I don't think that Jeremiah Love is going to have that kind of numbers especially when you've got your next question is about Riley Leonard so I'm out on love 100 and 100 I do see him with the opportunity to combine for somewhere around 150ish yards like 150 or so total yards I would be in on that but I can't go 100 and 100 rushing and receiving for love we in we out Riley Leonard will have 300 yards passing and 75 yards rushing I've got to be out on this as well um mostly because Riley Leonard I think he has had well he's had three career 300 yard passing games against Wake Forest Kansas and Temple not exactly light them up defenses so those are the three teams in his career that he's had 300 yard passing games against that's not really his thing you know because again when you factor in the rushing Joe says 225 and 60 I think that those are very attainable numbers if not a little bit more uh from the rushing standpoint for Riley Leonard like I could see Leonard popping you know like a 4050 yard run just on on one play and then kind of churning out a few other yards I could I could easily see him around 70 for like 200 passing 60 to 70 rushing would be something that I would feel really comfortable on with Riley Leonard and we've actually got some of Leonard's uh season passing props and specific game passing props that we'll have in the countdown to kickoff show on Friday as well so you can look forward to that final one from Andre we in we out the Notre Dame defense will outscore the offense um you just can't predict defensive touchdowns I think the defense is going to put Notre Dame's offense in great position all night long yeah but I would have to agree with DJ on this I've got to be out on that I think I think A&M's offense is going to score a little bit so you know I don't think that they're just going to Dom domate Texas A&M I I think that A&M will hit you know hit some plays and I think most of it like I I think the greater chance like if you watch the Georgia Tech Florida State game both teams just marched right down field and scored on their opening possessions like Florida State went right down and scored and you're thinking oh boy here it goes it's going to be a long day Georgia Tech but then Georgia Tech answered they went down and scored right away this goes back to the question that Marcus Freeman talked about on Monday this is a season opener and you've got new offensive coordinators on both sides of the ball and you've essentially got new quarterbacks on both sides of the ball because Wegman obviously didn't play all last year because of his own injury and rile L Leonard obviously we know about his injury but so you've got new quarterbacks new coordinators on both sides of the ball that that first possession or two little bit I I liking it to Navy this is traditionally Navy I'm not saying specific to last year Navy but what you know like Navy it's there's like when you're playing defense it it takes a little bit to get settled in but season openers they're gonna they're gonna throw the kitchen sink out there they're gonna everyone's going to come with stuff that no one has seen before and so odds are you're not I'm not going to be shocked if both teams do what Florida State and Georgia Tech did and go down and score early on but I've got full confidence that Al golden and his defense are going to be able to adjust as the game goes on because that's what he's shown that uh that he's great at doing is making those in-game adjustments and and and shutting things down even if there's some early success from Brother Thomas Jordan Faison if not the most productive becomes the most valuable receiver on the team and is catapulted into National recognition by the end of the year Well we did some wide receiver predictions yesterday and we were talking about Jaden great house having the potential to be the thousand yard receiver for Notre Dame but like Faison I think because of I what you're going to see from Faison like the question here is most valuable receiver as of going into this game he's the number one punt returner as well so I think that that combined with the speed and the shiftiness that he has like he's got the ability to get lost a little bit and because he can play in the slot or play outside as well he could very well end up being the most valuable guy on the team you know again when you throw in the punt stuff and you know you're saying catapulted into National recognition by the end of the year so I'll buy that you're not saying any specific Awards you're not saying he's going to win Awards and all that kind of stuff you're G you're just saying he's going to get some national recognition and I am definitely in on that and Ryan says on the second part that I can promise and I'm more and I think I'm more convinced about that as well the most valuable receiver that's the only place I get hung up on this because I think he's going to be valuable but as salty will remind you you know Jaden grous I think is going to be really valuable as well so so I'm kind of in kind of out we don't have a hold on this but that's where I'm going to be on this I still like it I still like the fact that that Faison is going to be a big part of the offense this year brother Thomas also says if capital I capital F Notre Dame wins a championship Irish fans after years of outside abuse and self-doubt become unbearable to the rest of the nation I don't know how to break this to you brother Thomas um but the rest of the nation would probably already tell you that Notre fans are unbearable you know like that's that's just the way it is like just the whole Independence thing it you know you like the fact that you always have to answer to the is Notre Dame relevant they're irrelevant join a conference all this different stuff most other people already think Notre Dame fans are uh unbearable but I'll just go in because I do think that it goes to another level for sure so I'll go in on that Jim howerin we in we out the young offensive line plays better than anyone expected in on that he says doesn't get dominated no one is talking about the defense and dline the o line has been going against all Camp well we have a little bit here if the o line hasn't been a complete disaster in Camp how could it he says offense won the Jersey scrimmage why would it be at Texas A&M so basically the question is we enter we out the young offensive line plays better than anyone expected and doesn't get dominated I am totally in on that and in fact look the biggest question is on the outside at the tackles neither one of them has started a game before but like I said to Vince earlier this week everyone's talking about nap because he's a true freshman on the left side but Mill Wagner even though he's a couple years older he hasn't started on the right side either but those three guys in the middle are just going to Maul people that's just the way it is and in this game specifically like you can talk about how good Texas A&M's line is defensive line across the board and like the edge matchup with scorton you know like that's that's an advantage in Texas A&M's favor but those three guys on the interior you got a converted defensive lineman who or converted defensive end I should say moving inside because of his sick and one of the you know one of the things that's kind of the knock on that guy is the fact that he hasn't always been that intense and you're moving him inside Notre Dame's gonna win some battles in that interior Saturday night write that down they're gonna win some they're gonna they're they're going to have a lot of wins inside and the offensive line you know again biggest question is going to be the tackles I don't think it's going to be bad as bad as most people think because I don't think that they would be putting those guys out there if they didn't have confidence in them and your point about going up against Notre Dame's defensive line is completely Fair now the last couple of weeks it's mostly been going up against the scout team but when they were trying to earn the job they were going up against one of the best defensive line lines in the country thank you very much DK remind me bring that back up on Monday I'm sure you will especially if I'm wrong but I'm I'm pretty confident that I won't be so and know salty likes to keep score as much as possible also from Jim we in we out the defense gives up at least two 20 plus yard runs with missed tackles and busted run fits more hydration uh yeah I think it's likely to happen again going back to what I was talking about especially early because of this Colin Klein offense if you didn't see Jesse's whiteboard the other day it is up of course on our YouTube channel we posted it separately so you can go right to it you know like they're going to pull some guards they're going to pull some tackles they're going to have some false movements up front what Jesse called I candy to try to get Notre nam's linebackers going in One Direction and then go the other direction whether it's a pass play or a run play or whatever it happens to be um the question is going to be Are Notre Dame's linebackers on top of that right away and if they're not on top of it right away how quickly do they adjust but I would give them a A&M a good shot of popping a run or two of 15 to 20 yards early on as as noted aame is is is kind of getting you know its feet set and figuring some of those things out as they look at that offense live for the first time so I'll go in on on that obviously wouldn't be wouldn't mind if I was proven wrong on that DJ I just found out by the way that DJ is formerly chansy stucky's hoodie and I still I see he still has a uh a hoodie uh photo up there DJ DJ of course is in we in we out Riley Leonard's qbr will be greater than Conor Wegman's I'm hesitantly in I think that again the biggest thing in well let me let me start with this one it doesn't Riley Leonard's qbr qbr doesn't matter as much because of the fact that he is a runner he had a 93.2 rating last year against Northwestern that was his best of the season um he's had passer ratings in the high 100s um in all but one game back in 2022 his worst in 2022 was 79.8 and a loss to Georgia Tech like his qbr was 91 last year against Clemson but he ran for 98 yards Conor Wegman other hand had a 22.6 quarterback rating um against Auburn last year but he's generally like mid 80s to mid 90s I think because of the skill talent that Riley Leonard has I think that his I think that his qbr should be at least slightly better if not you know like eight to 10 points higher than Connor Wegman's because again I'm not sold on that skill Talent if it's raining that hurts them even more and it helps Notre Dame Secondary even more so but again I go back to because of Riley Leonard's running ability his qbr isn't nearly as important as it should be for a guy like Wegman who is still even though he might be asked to run a bit more than he's used to because of the new offense that he's going to be in he's still REI you know mostly reliant on his arm so I think that that because Riley Leonard is the better quarterback and the more experienced quarterback and he has better receivers to throw to and he'll be going against a solid secondary that is not great whereas Wegman has worse receivers to throw to and we'll be going against a secondary that should be one of the best secondaries in the nation this season I think Wegman's will be lower so I'm in DJ probably maybe a little bit too long-winded but again to me like like qbr is not what I'm going to be looking at for Leonard this year because of the fact that you know obviously you want him to be efficient but I don't think it's going to be as important because of the the the running element that he brings to the game J Moore one we in we out Anthony knp will hold his own against Nick scorton and end up a freshman All-American I mean this is going to be a huge test for nap right out of the gate I doubt that they put scorton exclusively over Anthony nap all night I you know I imagine they're move him around a little bit um but I do think that you know like hold his own yeah I think he'll have a solid night I don't think he'll be spectacular against a guy who led the Big 10 in Sachs last season but again I don't think scorton is only going to be opposite of Anthony nap and there are some things that Notre Dame can do you know to help him out but I think he'll I think nap will more than acit himself in this game so Saturday night regardless of who's lined up against him from Joe we in we out the Leonard Elco Saga will be brought up more than you suck from Leonard's mom man this is like I'm gonna go yeah I'm gonna go in on this I think you'll I think you'll get maybe three you suck references I'd be shocked if you didn't get five to 10 references to Leonard and Elco playing against each other you know like especially any like if if Texas A&M gets to Riley Leonard they sack him they stuff him whatever sure they'll cut right to Mike Elco on the sideline and remind you that they played you know with each other they played together you know Leonard played for him last year at Duke and that connection and all that kind of stuff I think that'll be more of a storyline than you suck but I do think you suck will come up I would almost guarantee it's going to come up in game day by the way there should be a Riley Leonard feature in game day Saturday so look for that as well I'm pretty sure they're gonna do that Riley Leonard feature little uh little fishing that he did hessberg Mafia we in we out I win my 20 leg parlay that I put 20 bucks on and win 10,000 uh you know I'm not overly confident in that hurg Mafia but I'll give you a good you know some good Juju and I'll just go in I'll say I'll say in on that you know we know the the more legs you add to the parlay the uh the greater your odds go down which is why you have a chance to win so much in or out Jeremiah Love catches a receiving touchdown against A&M I'll go in again I'm not not completely you know like how how love and price are going to be used and all that kind of stuff I think if it's a touchdown it's going to be a long one you know like a short pass that turns into a long touchdown that love just outruns everybody to the end zone but I'll go in on that and then the last one from him there will be two Texas A&M turnovers during this game definitely in on that I'm I'm I'm in on multiple turnovers for Texas A&M especially if the weather is uh is shaky out there wanted to check on something here real quick okay from third and seven duo we in and we out a quarterback not named Riley Leonard will start two games this season for the Irish I mean so basically what you're asking is Riley Leonard going to be healthy this season because that's the only reason that a quarterback not named Riley Leonard would start Sam Hartman made it all through last year so I'm GNA have to agree with DJ Ryan and WT land I'm going to be out I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to say that like this whole I think we're going to forget about Riley Leonard and the injury by the end of the season I think that that will be a distant memory and Riley Leonard excuse me will be the starting quarterback from start to finish you know it's fair td4 ND says wannabe out again I'm going I'm going the positive vibe I'm not going to go negative two days before kickoff with any of this stuff so I'm going to stay positive on this coach Vic s Jeremiah love being a finalist for the do Walker Award and being a top five in the country in allpurpose yards I meant to look up The allpurpose Yards earlier like what what the leader was last year I'll go in because I think that he's going to have a chance now all purpose we're throw do you mean I assume you mean like yards from scrimmage man I'm sitting here see I wish I wouldn't have looked because td4 andd says too many weapons and I think you're right like Riley Leonard's going to take some yardage away with his rushing those receivers are too good I think it's going to be really balanced I think that that like Jeremiah Love yeah I'm gonna have to be out Jeremiah Love's Gonna have a really good season and I think that what he does in some of the electrifying type stuff that he's capable of doing is going to set him up for those kind of accolades next year basically so that's how I'll go on that so I've got to be out but that doesn't mean I don't think he's going to have a really good year now this is the long one from Gavin kgd we in or we out I'm hearing and reading from Texas A&M fans that they believe their secondary will be a strength right out of the gate but they also admit their lack of proven linebacker depth and they are worried about our tight ends with Den Brock's X's and0 abilities he will be able to exploit the middle of the field and make A&M safeties cheat enough inside that it leaves their Corners in no man's land which leads to a dynamic passing attack for Leonard and the new improved wide receiver room so I want to make sure that I see this right I think Jaden grous and Mitchell Evans and you can even throw fison in there because he can get lost in the middle depending on what they do I'm going to go in on this I think that there are going to be a lot of mismatches that Notre Dame can create with that middle of the field with those three guys that I just mentioned and then you throw Jeremiah Love in there as well with his receiving ability I definitely think that like great house evans's love can drastically put Texas A&M's linebackers and a lot of Jeopardy from a receiving standpoint all night night long you know again like does A&M load up try to stop the run like you know they're obviously going to be very conscious of Riley Leonard it's GNA be on Riley Leonard to make plays with his arm and I think that he will be able to look I think again I think A&M's secondary is going to be good but they're not going to be anywhere in the ballpark of what Notre Ames is and Notre D's receivers are better than Texas A&M's receiver you know so like both sides of the ball it's Advantage noted aim when you're talking about secondary versus wide receivers and again when you throw in the versatility of the tight ends and the running backs I think that there's going to be a lot of Jeopardy for you both both A&M secondary and those linebackers like you're talking about another one from Gavin we in and we out Christian gry will have his moment like Benjamin Morrison did against Ohio State in 22 one interception two pass breakups and under 50 yards allowed against him I am mostly in on this you know again like turnovers are so random and sometimes arbitrary but if you know that that Benjamin Morrison is on one side and you know that Xavier watts is on the back end you've got to find ways to avoid those guys as much as possible and like the length that Christian Gray has against the that's the the one thing that A&M receivers have in their favor is they are big receivers I don't think they're necessarily blazing receivers but they're big receivers but you're going to try to pick on the unknown and Christian Gray is more unknown than Benjamin Morrison or Xavier Watts or you know like even Jordan Clark I will be curious how much the nickel even comes into play depending on what what Klein does with the defense you know like does he keep two tight ends on the field most of the night does he take one off you know how's he going to play that whole thing but I like Christian Gray to uh to make I I'll say this I will say Christian Gray I'm not I'm gonna go in on Christian Gray right now like Vince did on cam Hart last year how about that and I think Benjamin Morrison is already great so big one coming for Christian Gray this season and I look for him to make an integral play in the secondary Saturday night good question I like it all right I gotta turn the page here just a second all right this one from Jimbo Cooter oh Jim Bob cooter we in and we out Anthony nap will not give up a sack Saturday sorry I've got to be out on that again I think he'll hold his own I think he'll have a good night but odds are he's probably going to give up at least a sack Saturday night in that road environment against Texas A&M with a you know with a good pass rush group on the other side of him that doesn't mean he's not gonna you know again doesn't mean he's not going to have a good night but I think he's going to give up a sack so I'm got to I've got to be JG wtown we in we out Notre Dame defense has more than nine3 and outs against Texas S&M I'm going out on that because I don't know like nine1 possessions like you're you're you know like that's especially if you know like with Texas A&M and what they want to do running the ball not quite to the same Extreme as an army or a Navy you know the option teams but uh they're G they want to shorten the game a bit so I've got to be out I think they'll be I'll say five at least five three an outs nine is is just too high though because you could be looking at nine10 possession Max for the game so I've got to be out on that Tom Tommy says he found okay Tommy says he found it we in we out a Styers Le watch party for the game Saturday um well the problem with that is Jesse is going to be floating on the river someplace like I think watching the game with his phone and the problem with my setup I you know I guess I could put the laptop on my lap as I'm watching the game but my setup I don't think it's as good as like what Vincent like I don't like watching games on my computer for one thing you know I've got a big flat screen I've got multiple big flat screen TVs in my house for a reason because I like watching things on big flat screen TVs with high definition so I don't like watching stuff on my computer if I can help it uh so my setup in my house is just not that great you know maybe you can convince Brian to uh to splurge and you know get me like some new entertainment center another TV back here in my office or something like that but I'll go out on that but I will say you know like open for discussion if we can figure it out at some point ant VR says don't even need to be on camera well what fun would that be you know like isn't that like part of what the watch party is supposed to be td4 andd in out Vince is bringing the beer to the party one Vince will only partake in a beer if like he has you know like if Brian was a Beer Drinker Vince would be a Beer Drinker Brian's not a Beer Drinker Vince isn't going to be drinking any beer and two he's sure not spending money to bring beer to the party so you know I'm out on that sorry Vince I love you but you know Vince will tell you I think he's pretty straight up he knows he's cheap so just leave it at that I don't have to sugarcoat it I've known him long enough I've known him for 20 years at this point dck Irish says Vince likes Vince needs to loosen up I don't disagree with that see like Brian and Vince when they go to the tailgate parties like Vince is always like oh there's all kinds of good food it's like I don't want food at the tailgate party I can get food up in the Press Box I can get it at home before I leave I want a couple nice cold beer beers or a cocktail or like a jello shot or something like that I want to loosen up at the tailgate party I don't need food like food is the last thing I want come Ryan says he probably drinks white claws again that would require Vince to spend money on white claw so I don't know about that I'm not I'm not too sure but yeah I mean I don't tailgate that often but an says Sean's trying to get loaded at the tailgate I mean that's what tailgates are for right I mean come on we're definitely G to have to uh set one up at least one this season out there I I think you know I know Brian did a couple for for some of the the bigger games but you know if we can kind of organize and and figure out get a lot of people to come out I met salty last year I mean how fun that was I don't know but he was there but if we can get more people to come out I think we could have a good time with it at uh at a tailgate I if I remember right it was still pretty warm out there as well I think it was one of the early it was probably the Ohio State game is when it was Joe says I want to see you at the Miami Ohio game we can do that you know what we could also do like if people are coming in for specific games even if it's not like tailgating on Saturday we could just do a Meetup someplace at uh one of the uh locing watering holes here around town or around the campus or or something like that that's always fun as well now again I don't know if if Vince you know would come out if you offer to buy him some you know like some some wings or something like that he'd probably show up as long as you feed him all right so uh we will uh we will take that up that's not too far away that's only what maybe three weeks something like that well that's going to do it for tonight thanks for bearing with me this evening on the uh the solo flight it's been a while since I did the solo but some good stuff from Marcus Freeman pregame a lot of good questions in the we in we out appreciate you submitting those on the Champions Lounge as always Ryan Vince might actually drink the beer if you buy it for him I don't you know depending on what you know what brand it is I don't know but I mean that's it salty that is it I don't get smashed at the tailgates often but when I do it's Yingling logger sign it up right there I'll just have to wheel my cooler out you know when if if I do it this year all right Andre thanks for the questions and thanks to everybody for being here be sure to hit that like button before you leave we're getting closer we are now just a little bit more than two days away from Notre Dame and Texas a& I'm kicking off the season and again don't forget Friday we will drop I would say maybe around this time Friday probably between 6 and 7 o'clock we'll we'll drop the countdown to kickoff both on YouTube and the podcast platform so look for them and we'll have even more for you it's going to be a three-man party on the uh the countdown to kickoff show on Friday so otherwise have a great weekend it is Labor Day weekend enjoy the extended weekend if you get one we will be back on Monday even though it's Labor Day Vince and I will be here because there's going to be plenty to talk about we'll have Marcus Freeman comments and more our own thoughts and all that different stuff on Monday show as well so have a good one we'll talk to you and countdown to kickoff and IB Nation Sports Talk