Texas z&m Two and a Half Point favorite we're going to give you our prediction on this game next Tuesday on the live show okay so tune in to that make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss anything as it pertains to this show and our picks our analysis all that being subscribed is the best way to make sure you don't miss a minute of what we're talking about on this show the hard count but what are the most important things that are going to potentially determine the outcome of this game I got a couple of them I got two for each team actually and I think one of the most important if not the most important thing for Notre Dame in this game and y'all to keep it a buck this season for the Irish Riley Leonard and his downfield passing I don't know exactly what to make of the Irish this year offensively not because I don't love the players not because I don't love Mike Den Brock think the scheme is phenomenal my question is do you have a quarterback to make it all go and not just once or twice not just one out of four times I mean like consistently can hit the shot when the game is on the line Riley Leonard as physically gifted as he is and he's very gifted now there's a reason the NFL loves that dude there were many a moment at Duke where it's like this dude looks like I has some Trophy winner the next game he's completing less than half his passes I need to see some consistency from number 13 especially in this game because with it being in College Station and with Mike ELO being the defensive head coach that he is they will be ready to roll on the defensive side of the football will there be a finished product no which maybe allows for a little bit more opportunity I need Riley Leonard dialed in from snap one cuz they will I think have a couple of chances to hit some deep shots against that Aggie secondary if we're using last year as our teacher there will be some plays to be had downfield so if you can't hit those deep shots now I wouldn't expect there to be that many more opportunities if you come up empty once or twice Notre Dam's going to want to run the football we'll talk about that more in a second but like when you set up those deep pass much like Jaden Daniels did last year for LSU when when it's on the table you got to connect absolutely have to connect because they want to push the ball downfield there there's a reason why they averaged 10 yards a pass 10.8 yards a pass to be specific last year at LSU under Mike Den Brock they want to push the ball down field this is the new Notre Dame offense can you connect when there's money on the table I honestly think that could be the the differentiator for Notre Dame winning or losing this football game for A&M are you able to set the tempo with the Run game and this isn't just the cliche take of ah whoever wins the line of scrimmage wins the game sure that's probably a way that you could phrase this but I think more more importantly like can you move the ball in the trenches with olevian moss and a EJ Smith and help Connor Wegman get acclimated and then also can you try and take resources away from that Notre Dame Secondary cuz like to be honest y'all I think Notre Dame Secondary is the best secondary in America not named Ohio State Benjamin Morrison Xavier Watts going to make a lot of money at the next level if you can run the football effectively guess what you do you have to add in more numbers if you're Notre Dame to defend that you take away maybe a little extra help that a Benjamin Morrison would have had over the top you take away a little bit of attention Xavier watts would have been able to play to the pass game and for Conor Wegman with the stage being the biggest he's ever walked into as the quarterback at Texas A&M that is going to be crucial you do not want to be able to have him back there like third and 11 third and N where he has obvious passing situations the pass rush is one part of that but I mean like going against that secondary you want to be able to have Noah Thomas be able to get a step on him and so that kind of leads us to the next point that I have about Notre Dame like can Notre Dame get into those situations where they have to play Man coverage and be able to hold it down like Benjamin Morrison I've said I think he's an NFL corner I think we all understand is NFL corner it's not really that novel of a take there but that's going to be I think a really good test for Notre Dame in some sense because Jade Walker is a stud that's their leading returning receiver from a season too not on the entire team but I believe he led the team he's the leading receiver that's returning rather for for Texas A&M Noah Thomas the battle between Noah Thomas and Ben Morrison I think could determine the output offensively for Texas A&M now again you want to set that up with the Run that's huge but if you can win some of those battles heck you can win some of those 50-50 balls if Conor Wegman gives you a chance if you're Noah Thomas or amose Muhammad like that I think is going to ultimately dictate the tempo of this game so here's the other question I have for A&M defensively and the other thing that I think is the most important to the outcome of this game if you watch LSU with season to go they would do a lot of what I would call like the modern triple option with Jaden Daniels now the good news for A&M is that Jaden Daniels is not playing quarterback for Notre Dame instead it's Riley Leonard also a dual threat but that pseudo triple option is essentially the read option and then a receiver or a tight end or a running back whoever that flares out in the flat and so if he doesn't give it on that read option you then have the quarterback out on the perimeter and in a perfect world for Notre Dame the quarterback has a chance to knife up field or if that Defender whether it's a linebacker or safety is rolled up anded to take away the Run dump it off to a playmaker let's get North and South let's have a first down keep this party rolling if you're Texas S&M that just that can't be the way that you lose this game it can't I the most important thing here to give you like my take on this do you have an answer for the triple option and not just do you have an answer for the modern triple option once or twice or early in the game I'm talking about like throughout the course of the game can you find a way to take that away and with taking that away honestly could look like is giving them an obvious give look where okay we're not even going to let you pull it we're telling you with our pre- snap look you have to give the football on that read option and then can you play solid enough on the defensive line like it did a season ago to minimize that to not get gashed in the Run game the worst case scenario here for A&M is a Riley Leonard adlib looking like he's going to throw it gets up field on that triple option he's got gosh I mean 80 plus rushing guards on day that would be the worst possible scenario for you to lose this football game cuz he gets in Rhythm he gets confidence he's in the flow of the game your safeties are all out of whack maybe they're undisciplined deep shot to Jaden great house like that would that would not be the way to go about this thing for A&M but if you can force him to have to take what you give you and maybe he makes a bad decision at some point in time during this game in that situation could be a turn over crowd gets into it Kyle Field's on fire offense has the ball going in like you see what I'm saying that could snowball very very quickly I know we're putting a lot into one kind of play with Notre Dame and that modern triple option but I'm telling you that could be I believe as impactful as anything else when it comes to this game so again we got our pick for you Texas A&M Notre Dame next week on our Tuesday show subscribe so you don't miss it but we appreciate youall in advance from being dialed in hey y'all thanks so much for watching subscribe to the 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