Notre Dame vs Texas A&M Midweek Rundown - Buy/Sell/Hold

he [Music] IB Nation welcome back to another edition of the Irish breakdown podcast it's Wednesday which means we're about halfway through the week getting ready for Notre Dame versus Texas A&M Notre Dame enters sort of a a Wednesday practice period today which is sort of a it's kind of the big we the big day it's your last full practice or full padded practice it's your last day where you're doing more team situations and then of course tomorrow Thursday is a a lot of situational football Friday will be travel day walkthroughs and then Saturday's game day so Notre Dame is getting closer and closer to being where they need to be to know whether or not this team is going to be ready to go out there and win this football game on Saturday so it's uh it's it's a big one obviously for a from a perception standpoint I'm going to have a a show on Friday I'm going to go live on Friday and one of the things I'm going to talk about is what does this game mean for Notre Dame because there's a very interesting debate going on where especially on the board and and I'm I'm assuming it's on other channels as well I don't read that and I'm not on social media as much as I used to be this notion that all of a sudden you know Texas A&M is this loaded talented team and people in the chat that are obsessed with recruiting rankings and all these other type of things and it's going to be this it's going to be that and all this hand ringing and complaining about how Notre Dame doesn't win games like this and A&M is really good and then you point out like hey they beat NC State they beat Duke they beat Syracuse and they're like oh those teams suck and the reality is all three of those teams have better record than Tech s in the last two years and so there needs to be a proper there needs to be a proper understanding of what this game means it is a big game I'll dive more into it during the week it is a big game it is an important game for Notre Dame it's not an end all Beall game for Notre Dame win or lose and beating Texas A&M does not mean that you're now going to go beat Georgia or Ohio State they are not that program losing to to Texas A&M doesn't mean it's the end of the world it's a it's not good there's no good spin but as I've said before we've seen team lose teams win championships the same season they lost to teams that are just like A&M if not worse right I mean Clemson the first year they won the title lost at home in November to an eight and5 pit team and and if you look at 177 Clemson who made the call football playoff is number one seed lost on the road to a 48 Syracuse Ohio State in 2014 lost at home by two touchdowns in September to a Virginia Tech team that finished seven and six this game is not the end of the world whether you lose and it does not mean bring on Georgia bring on Ohio State when you win uh this is a game that will be a battle this is a good football team yes they have talent so does Notre Dame yes they have good coaches so does Notre Dame this is an opportunity for Notre Dame to go out there and make a statement and unfortunately in my opinion the the biggest statement that needs to be made is to some Notre Dame fans who just for whatever reason have just convinced themselves that this is just a game that it's going to be almost impossible to win I don't agree and I'm going to talk about some of those reasons why today and then of course tomorrow we'll have our prediction show but I got to admit I I've been disappointed at how much negativity there is among the Notre Dame fan base heading into this game I'm I'm actually shocked by it I really thought that not fans were going to be more excited I think not fans were were I thought they would be more of hey yeah you got to show me I mean I'm in show me mode Marcus Freeman's got a lot to prove the Notre Dame coaching staff has got a lot to prove notame players have got a lot to prove but man if you're not excited now I you know it's it's disappointing to be completely honest with you uh that there's been that much of that and and maybe it's just that the the negative people are the loudest and most people are encouraged but I just don't understand you know there even someone in the chat right now talking about A&M's rankings or this like if you're constantly going to be looking for the for the you know things to be upset about and sad about and disappointed about it's like dude I mean that's a you problem you night mind want talk to somebody about that you know what I mean and and you know this oh you know they got more five stars you know they they also have almost twice as many three stars or unranked players in their starting lineup is what Notre Dame has so if you want to look for something to be upset about you're going to find it most weeks and uh we're we're not going to do that we're not going to have emotional arguments today at Notre Dame we're going to have factual ones and we'll give analysis and opinions and you'll know the difference between what is fact and what is opinion as we dive into Today's Show and Today's show is going to be uh it's a it's a midweek rundown so we kind of go through a lot of different things part one and part two are going to be looking at the onp paper matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M which is made increasingly harder when you look at not only game one it's always difficult to sort of do a statistical analysis of of the first game of the year because teams are naturally different from what they were in previous Seasons it's even more difficult nowadays because so many teams are are in situations where they're just their rosters are completely different not only just from like like it has in the past where you have to replace them guys but you just have this giant influx of portal guys what makes this matchup even more challenging is the is the idea that you've got three new coordinators in this game Notre Dame has a new offensive coordinator and obviously Texas A&M has two new coordinators uh on defense and obviously at um on the offensive side of the ball and that's another area where there's this this kind of this Panic about how good Colin Klein was at Kansas State and he was while ignoring the fact that Notre Dame brought in the offensive coordinator who led the number one offense in the country last year but I'm to believe According to some that Colin Klein's gonna have a huge impact on Texas A&M's offense but Mike Den Brock coming to Notre Dame is not gonna have much of an impact because reasons so that's just been kind of what I've been dealing with today so yeah I'm a little bit uh kind of done with it to be honest with you so I'm I'm going to be a little bit chippy today I'm just letting you guys know because it's kind of struck my last nerve to be completely honest with you that doesn't mean I'm guaranteeing notame is going to win the game of course notame could lose this game it's just the constant focus on negativity that I'm seeing and I just don't I don't quite get where it comes from right like if they lose then be negative then focus on what happened when they lose but how about enjoy these last moments before the season starts that's what I'm going to do and and then we can deal with whatever happens on Saturday when it happens and we can deal with it so that's kind of where I'm at about uh about where this team is going to be so we're going to stack up those things what part three and part four of the show are going to be looking at game records they're going to be it's going to be a discussion of who are the players for Notre Dame that I think need to be the game record for this this matchup and it's something that I'm going to do kind of on all the the Wednesday shows I think it's going to be a little bit of a different look of the guys that I think whether it be talent-wise or matchup wise need to be those impact players for Notre Dame and then on the the same side is who are the players for Texas A&M's defense that you need to make sure don't become game wreckers for them and it's not always the same it's not always this guy versus this guy you my game record may be these guys but they may not be matched up against the game record for the other team and then part four will'll be looking at it from the opposite side it'll be the notame defense and then looking at it from the standpoint of the Texas A&M offense and who they need to stop and then the final segment of today's show will be our Buy cell hold uh as as a as always the Buy cell hold is on Wednesday is going to be at the end of the show this is going to kind of start the time of the year when the buy sell hold will not be every submission gets responded to uh because otherwise I'll be doing a five hour show and I just don't have the voice to do a five hour show so I picked some of the on like there were some that were really good but they were more like down the road thinking to 2025 and I'm just not quite ready there so lot of great submissions that I had to turn down today which I do never feel great about but you know we we we we have to I do have other I have a lot of work to get done the next couple days before I fly down to Texas and I just didn't feel like I could do a five hour show today but I promise you there's GNA be lots of good stuff in today's show lots of discussion and and uh and then I'll of course get to your guys' great submissions at the end for our bis hold so I want to kick off part one of today's show with a discussion about the matchup onp paper matchup uh uh between Notre Dame and Texas A&M and and the onp paper matchup is then built around the guys that are actually playing right and I'm goingon to try my best to give some really good context of this conversation because as I said it is it is a challenge to do this type of thing in week one anyway and it's even more challenging when you're trying to do it with so much turnover from all these teams you know you knowre name coach has talked about it but I mean just thinking off top my head if you're trying to evaluate the players that you're GNA go against you're not only watching Texas A&M film to evaluate the players that are coming back and then the Duke film to evaluate what they did defensively and and then you also have to evaluate Kansas State film to see what Colin Klein did there you may want to evaluate some Florida film at under Jay baitman but I don't know that I'd spend a whole lot of time evaluating the Florida film you have to consider evaluating uh Tech Louisiana a tech film to watch Cyrus Allen you have to watch Kansas State film on defense to evaluate will Lee you have to watch UAB film you have to watch Florida film I mean there's so much film you have to watch of Kansas from o line Utah for the o line there's so much that you have to evaluate when looking at this type of thing and it's the same thing that's true for for Texas A&M to a degree although the head coach obviously has a pretty good a with about a couple of the the main transfers for Notre Dame as far as what they can do so it's going to be very interesting to see kind of how this how this holds up and or how this shakes out but I do think there are some baseline discussions that we can have about this statistical matchup and so we'll get things started by looking at the Notre Dame offense against the Texas A&M defense so there's two reasons why I'm starting on this side of the ball number one is I normally start on offense I'm an offensive guy the other one is like this is obviously the matchup that is has got people talking the most and this is the matchup that has people the most angst I I don't know a lot of Notre name fans even the the most pessimistic ones who are thinking that A&M's just going to go out there and rip Notre name up I mean that's just not happening a whole lot there are some concerns obviously about the Notre defense from you know new linebackers and this guy because apparently Notre Dame is the only team in college football that lost starters from last year and lost starters to the NFL uh so that that's obviously going to make winning tough apparently this year because um because nobody else lost anyone to the NFL last year apparently I'm sorry I'm being a little salty today it's just gonna happen you're just gonna have to accept it but uh or I hope that you can accept it I should say but looking at this matchup with the nerame offense and the texam defense and the Run game is a very intriguing matchup even as as much as as much as yes in NY list says yes Brian you are offensive there there's no doubt there's no doubt I am an offensive guy there's no doubt about it but looking at this run game matchup this is an area where there's there's a lot of things about not Dame's offense last year that were very perplexing because the paper numbers didn't always back up what your eyes told you and when you look at notrees rush offense last year it it was good I mean it was an offense that finished 28th in the country in yards in even better numbers yards per attempt no D finished 13th in college football last year in yards per attempt which is a very good average especially when you consider that their starting run their starting quarterback provided very little running ability you mean I think Sam Hartman had minus 200 yards rushing last year which makes that an even more impressive number and and so you look at it tackles for loss allow they ranked 13th and fewest tackles for L aloud but it didn't always feel like and I don't know maybe you guys feel it differently about this but it didn't always feel like they were very good running the football especially in some of the bigger games you know they rushed for 183 yards against Clemson which on paper looked good and they ran really well in the first half but there was two long runs by the quarterback that where one was off of a just a busted coverage by Clemson the other one was on a scramble so it wasn't really a run play and that paded the numbers a little bit which is one of the benefits of having a mobile quarterback for this season it it didn't really do that much last year Notre Dame ran for 176 against Ohio State which is a pretty good number and you know ran for 170 against NC State 4.6 per carry but like 80 that came on one carry and there just was a lot of time so like so after Central Michigan they ran for 6.4 yards per carry against Central Michigan but after that they didn't go over five yards a carry until they got to the Clemson game and went for 5.9 so I mean that's a stretch of five games where you you didn't get to five yards per Carri closest they had was the Duke game where they were at 4.97 and a lot of that came in late in the game so I never felt like the Run game was quite as good as the statistics showed because I never felt like this was a Notre Dame run team that could establish itself when it wanted to very often and then part of it you could argue is they didn't always enforce their will in maybe ways they could have or should have and that's an interesting Dynamic and then you look at the flip side and you look at Texas A&M and Texas A&M last year for all their struggles is was a very good Rush defense last season finished 14th in the country in yards per game now you could say well they weren't very good at defending the pass which factored into that that's fine but they also finish 18th in yards per play which sometimes you got to look at at at at Raw numbers of like yards and say well there's a lot of things that could go into yards you know what if you are team that has a great starting field position I've shared this before with you guys in who who are a longtime listeners I coach on a team one year we won 10 games and averaged about 40 points a game but we only averaged about 350 yards per game why our average starting field position was the 48 yard line because we had a great defense and great special teams and so even though our numbers wouldn't knock your socks off we were a very good offense but if we get the ball at the 40 going in we can only get 40 yards I mean that that's the best we can do we can't ask our defense to spot us that you know hey can you guys let them get down to the 21st before you force a turnover so that way we can have longer fields and pile up yards you know I I think those are things that that you you have to take into consideration so how do you gauge how good they were well you look at the yards per attempt and when you look at yards per attempt then counter that with how many big plays you gave up so Notre Dame was great in yards per attempt but not you know they were good but not Elite in in 20 plus runs of so they were 26 so it means you a pretty efficient offense when you did run the ball and that's obviously something that this um this Notre Dame team was going to have to try to continue and even get better at but that's also same was true for A&M last year you know they they were not a team that gave up a lot of big runs last year uh but you know gave up 12 in in 13 games so that's less than one a game finished 18th in yards per play so obviously there was a lot of success there and then when you look at their their numbers they had a couple games where they they got ripped up relatively decently uh really mainly mainly one Tex LSU ran for 154 yards on them last year which numbers wise isn't great but they did average 5.5 yards per per game and Jaden Daniels had 120 yards rushing but Tennessee ran on them pretty good last year Tennessee ran for 232 yards last year and just gashed them all game but outside of that I mean they held six of their opponents to minus 100 yards rushing that includes Miami that includes Auburn that I mean excuse me that includes Alabama AMA that includes Arkansas South Carolina abalene Christian they played Oklahoma State in the in a bowl game and that was against Ali Gordon who was one of the top rushers in the country last year they held Oklahoma State to 134 rushing yards 4.6 yards per attempt and then their other games 131 to Old Miss but 3.97 per carry 3.69 per carry against Mississippi state held him to 133 yards Auburn had 144 yards but only 3.5 yards per carry so this was a team that All Season only once I'm looking at the make sure I got that correct there was only one game last year where at where Texas A&M gave up over five yards a carry only one game all year it's a different story from where they were the year before when they allowed five teams to go for overh five yards a carry now the team that did that against them last year was LSU who obviously is the offensive coordinator is now at Notre Dame so this this matchup to me is a very intriguing matchup it's a matchup that that pits a noted aim team that is very different looking than what it was a year ago when you come to the to the Run game they lose a 1300 yard rusher and audri EST they lose a first round draft pick at left tackle they lose a talented although inconsistent right tackle on Blake fiser and you're starting an offensive line with care six career starts that's the concern part the positive part is that the the reason that Notre Dame has 27 starts on the bench right is because they got beat out by what the staff believes to be better players or players that performed better so there's that balance and and I'm gonna have a show segment coming out that I did with the guys at CFB nation and we talked about the cfp All America show and we talked about you know the offensive line and there's the there's the rub do you go with the veteran players that that you know you at least kind of know who they are in game one and then you know make some decisions after that or do you just if the younger guys are the better players you just play them and just take your chances and that's obviously the the direction that notame went and you know heck I I just I look at it and say you don't really know what Notre name is going to be there's a lot of understandable angst about the offensive line especially going up against a very good defens line uh for Texas A&M that that also adds Nick scouton although Purdue didn't have a a very good run defense last year despite having scouton and and a couple other guys that were were very productive in tackle for lost guys they finished 45th in the country last year in Rush defense but it's a team that that was you know pretty good stopping the run last season Mike elko's defense last year uh was a little inconsistent stopping the run if we're being honest it was a team that at times looked pretty good stopping the Run they certainly did a pretty good job against Notre Dame and shut Notre Dame down for most of that game but then there was other games where they struggled to stop the run you know Clemson ran the ball very well on him in that game yards Wise Louisville ran for over 200 yards against him North Carolina went for almost 200 yards against him you know wake had a decent amount of yards against them last season so there were some moments where they did struggle to run the football last season especially against better opponents ises that a talent thing is it a scheme thing there's just so many different ways to look at it but at the end of the day the onp paper matchup in my opinion clearly favors Texas A&M not only does it favor Texas A&M statistically based off last season but it it it favors them in regard to looking and projecting what these what we know about these teams now going in and and that regard that that kind of gives in goes into the the aspect of you do have so much unproven to the Notre Dame offense when it comes to the Run game now what are the reasons to have optimism about Notre Dame in this matchup even though I do give Advantage Texas A&M in this particular part of the matchup it's that while Notre Dame loses the big you know bcow in audri estim from last season what they do have is a lot more speed they will be throwing a lot more speed out there not only in Jeremiah Love and jarian price but also when you add the quarterback into the mix there's a lot more Dynamic playmaking ability how you defend the notame Run game has to change if you're Texas A&M you can look at these numbers and then you can focus on but their name lost and that's fine but you also have to now think about okay what's different the Run scheme is going to change you have more Dynamic Playmakers at running back you have more Dynamic playmaker at quarterback you have to defend outside anymore you can't hard crash the edge like you did last year when Notre Dame was so much of a you know a between the tackles and pin and pull team where they were just trying to crash the edge and either blow up the inside runs or Force audri estimate a bounce that's not where you want wanted audri ese to be if you were a noted aim coach you did not want audri EST being forced to Spill and bounce you had you want him playing down hill and so that's what teams did if you crash the edge against their name this year you leave yourself very vulnerable to the speed up the middle but you also leave yourself very vulnerable to Riley Leonard and getting hit hit with you know getting hurt by Riley Leonard so you have to just you have to look at Notre aame differently than you did last year just like you have to look at A&M somewhat differently but this is going to to be one of in my opinion the toughest test the Notre name Run game is going to face all year and we're going to learn a lot about this run run this team early on and it's not even about can they have 200 yards big thing for me is do they compete that that's really what we're going to see is do they compete I don't expect them to consistently run the ball down Texas an& M's throat I don't expect that at all what they need to do however is find ways schematically and with their blocking to generate big plays you can get beat on two plays in a row but if you can just do your job on that next second down run and and get a body on a body you've got running backs and a quarterback that can go out there and and make big plays in The Run game and that's going to be the key is can they avoid the drive killing mistakes in the Run game if you can avoid the drive killing mistakes and just stay on track to some degree and even if your first two runs and on first and second down only get you three yards third and four is a a good place to be it's much better than being there in third and eight because you got four yards on the first play and then minus two on the second play Stay on schedule and that that's going to where you're going to see Riley Leonard have a big impact because when you've got a quarterback like Riley Leonard in the speed they have't third down in anything less than third third and five or less is not a given that that's a passing situation even and even in passing situations you have to be able to defend the run so it's it that just staying on track staying on track staying on track is going to be key for this matchup and the The Yards may not be pretty and the yards per attempt may not be pretty but if they can have some level of efficiency in this game and just avoid the negatives that's going to give them an opportunity to to then hopefully keep sustain drives which the more you can sustain drives the more opportunities you have to get your Dynamic Playmakers going in the Run game and and the key is not gash them gash them gash them gash them the key is generate enough of those big play opportunities in a run game that that it really Alters what Texas A&M is trying to do and and that's really where we're going to be at and that's what I'm looking forward to seeing in this football game but this is a matchup that on paper and and then just what we expect to see is a matchup that that favors Texas A&M as of right now now let's go to the matchup of the noted a pass game against the Texas A&M pass defense this is an interesting matchup because A&M doesn't have very impressive numbers Notre Dame actually has pretty impressive numbers they only finished 49th last year in total passing yards but they were a top 10 team in in uh pass efficiency ranking ninth and they were top 15 team in yards per attempt yards per completion and passing touchdowns they also ranked 30th in 30 in gains of 30 yards or more and they were decent at avoiding sacks last year at times the problem is they didn't they gave up too many pressures in big moments you look at Texas A&M on the flip side you know they ranked outside the top 50 in passing yards per attempt per completion touchdowns allowed fewest interceptions they ranked 87th in interceptions I should say 76 and pass efficiency defense and they ranked 76th after giving up 20 pass plays of 30 yards or more last season the one thing they could do is get after the quarterback and I fully expect that to be the case but for all those who think hey you know if they get after the quarterback P game's going to stink well look they got after the quarterback last year they ranked eighth in college football last year in sacks and they still ranked outside the top 75 in almost every category that I have mentioned here and this is going to be the aspect that's going to be key for Notre Dame now the counterargument that you can make against Notre Dame is that a lot of those numbers for Notre Dame that ranked you so high came in moments where you were clearly the superior team from a talent standpoint you know noted a last year in the pass game really ripped up their bad opponents their first four games of the year against Navy Tennessee State and NC State and Central Michigan where NC state was the only good team they played they were at least 10.1 yards per attempt in each game they were at 11.9 yards per attempt against pit who was not very good they were 9.2 against St wake who wasn't very good 9.3 against Stanford who wasn't very good 12.2 against an Oregon State team who's half their secondary didn't play in that game because they were transferring out so against the better teams in the schedule which I think we would all agree NC State Ohio State Duke Louisville USC and Clemson were the six best teams in the schedule last year I I that's not arguable in my opinion it's a NC State game was good 11.9 yards per attempt but seven against Ohio State 7.2 against Duke 6.7 against louville 6.3 against USC 4.9 against Clemson so they weren't great against some of the better defenses and the better teams the question is is Texas A&M one of those better teams and then the next question is is this the same noted aame team that it was last year and the answer is no it's not that doesn't mean it's going to be better doesn't mean it's going to be worse it means we don't know and that's what makes this part of the matchup so intriguing and so interesting is because there is so much un turnover in these two units you've got a brand new coordinator for Texas A&M you've got a brand new offensive coordinat offensive coordinator for Notre Dame you've got a brand new quarterback for noted aame a lot of new rece more there's going to be more receivers in the rotation that didn't play much last year or weren't on the team last year then there will be guys that that that matched up in against in you know for Notre a last season and then you look at the offensive line that's very different and you you ask yourself well well can they can they hold up enough to to allow them to make some of those plays and then you look at the secondary for Texas A&M and you've got Tyreek Chapel comes back you've got um Dalton Brooks comes back who's a regular Bryce Anderson played a lot last year but a lot of their secondary are new players you've got will Lee transfer from Kansas State BJ ma from UAB Dez Ricks came from Alabama you've got a lot and that's that's just part of the new new faces that they're going to have in the secondary this year they've got new L you know Tori York comes back but his he's supposed to be flanked by a guy that transferred in from another school from last season so you're going to have a lot of new faces at Texas A&M too and so the question is is who who more quickly adapts to the offense that's the question does the notame offense with the newcomers and the new system adapt quicker than all the Texas A&M players in their new system that's going to be the interesting part of this matchup and there's a lot of things that that I believe give Notre Dame an advantage in this and I do have this being Advantage Notre Dame because when I look at this matchup I I evaluate the Texas A&M players and I look at what they did at their old stops and I say you know will Lee was a solid player at Kansas State he was not a world beater at Kansas State when I look at BJ Mays at UAB it's a good player there he was not a world beater there he was a guy that I think fits this system very well and and they they'll both be very good there Dez Ricks was a highly ranked player but didn't do a whole lot in his first season at alab in his one season in Alabama so there's a lot of different aspects to this that you've got kind of ask yourself a little bit like okay how good are they really how talented are they really and and the answer is we we really don't know but you know when you look at a guy like BJ Mae for example at UAB last year good football player gave up 24 completions last year allowed 51.1% completion percentage he gave up he had allowed two 276 yards had one touchdown allowed two interceptions eight breakups according to Pro Football Focus that's pretty good numbers but again it was it was one of those situations where you who who did they play how did he perform in in some of the bigger moments he gave up three completions on four attempts for 31 yards against Georgia against North Texas he gave up eight catches for on 11 attempts for 142 yards and you know so he had some very good moments in the some moments that maybe weren't so great so how good is he G to be in this system I I don't know the answer to that question his film's good but he's a guy that you know you have to be willing to to go after and attack you look at will Lee in Kansas State who who again very good football player I I like will Lee he's 6'3 he's a good football player but is he a guy that that you know Notre Dame is just in a situation where you they can't throw in this guy we'll find out I don't know the answer to that there were some transfer players that Notre Dame's receivers struggled against last year you look at what they did against Louisville you look at what they did um I'm trying to remember the other game there was another oh Duke is another one where Duke had new new corners and they the receivers had some moments where they didn't play that well in that game so they're going to have to step up they're going have to perform will Lee again good player gave up 23 completions last year on 36 attempts 63.9% completion rate gave up 406 yards last year four touchdowns had two picks and six pass breakups he's a good football player you I think he's gonna he fits this system really well that's something I do like about him and and he had some some good moments against some good teams and he had some struggles against some some teams that were were pretty good throwing the football so so what's notame going to do against them I I don't know the answer to that we're gonna find out but I like the matchups and here's the other thing I'll say I do think this is a defense that is is is vulnerable to success between the numbers and when you look at what Mitchell Evans did to this defense last year for example they had no answers no answers for Mitchell Evans last year Notre Dame didn't have Jaden greous in the matchup against Duke last year I think that could have had an impact in that game absolutely could have an impact in that game because he was really starting to kind of come into his own last season and now you you've got to take advantage of that but at the end of the day if you're going to really hurt duke or hurt Texas ANM thron the football you're gonna have to win some of those outside matchups and honestly I like the matchups that of Bo Collins and Jaden Thomas and Chris Mitchell and and even Jordan fa on against some looks against this this C this Texas A&M secondary so it's it's going to be an intriguing matchup and and some you know Andrew Gilmore uh just said I bet A&M will play press man on the wi receivers I would expect that they try to double Evans if they try to double Evans that's great for Notre Dame it's very because if you're doubling a tight end who's who's playing you know from the basically from the the hashes inside that that's a lot of guys inside which going to leave you some opportunities on the outside if you know you try to to to press a guy like Chris Mitchell for example you better it works because you do not have four or four guys a cornerback you've got tall long guys and if you don't win that press on the outside against Chris Mitchell you're toast especially if you're doubling against Mitchell Evans so to your point Andrew is I I don't think that you're incorrect they're I think they will press the Notre Dame receivers I do think that they will will try to say hey look we're not going to let Mitchell Evans beat us I would absolutely do that if I was Texas A&M so then the question is you know as you said can the Notre D receivers make them pay that's going to be a big part of this matchup and if they do get open can Riley Leonard hit them if I'm if I'm Texas A&M and I knew and I know Riley Leonard like I do the one thing I'm going to say is I'm going to force Riley Leonard to throw the ball downfield and there's going to be two reasons for that number one I know that that's the part of his game where he can be the most inconsistent number two I don't think he's gonna have enough time to get the ball down the field that's what I'm banking on I'm playing aggressively with my outside corners I'm I'm GNA I'm going to press them I'm going to come up I'm going to take away quick game I'm going to try to take away some of the screen game I'm going to force them to throw the ball down the field does Notre Dame have The Playmakers on the outside to hurt them I think they do but having them on paper is different than executing but I do think this noted him receiving core with Chris Mitchell with Jordan Faison with Jaden greous with Jaden Harrison with KK Smith with Bo Collins has a lot more playmaking ability than what Notre Dame had on the outside last year and the other part is Notre Dame had T bias Merryweather opened twice for big plays last year Hartman missed him the first time Tobias dropped it the second time do they make those plays this year that's that's going to be a big part of this conversation and I'm looking forward to seeing if they're gonna be able to do that but on paper I I certainly believe this is an advantage for notame based on the numbers from last year and the Personnel matchup of who they are this year I I do think notame has the I think Duke actually had a a a better cornerback situation last year than than than A&M has this year in my opinion especially if they move Tyreek Chapel inside and we'll talk more about him later let's look at the let's wrap this up with a final look at the Notre Dame offense against the Texas S&M defense you look at it and if you compare last year's numbers noted aame was better in points per game they're offense ranked seventh A&M's defense ranked 36th A&M was better in yards they ranked 19th in yards and their name ranked 29th but the Irish ranked ninth in yards per play Tex A&M ranked 40th in yards per play allowed Notre Dame's red zone offense ranked 47th A&M's ranked 69th on defense n's Red Zone touchdown offense ranked 16th A&M's ranked 40th A&M has the advantage on third down they ranked 18th but nerame was 24th nerame ranked 29th last year in most plays of 30 yards or more A&M ranked 46th noted A ranked 13th and fewest turnovers lost A&M only ranked 12th in turnovers Force so on paper Notre Dame has the advantage I believe that Notre Dame has the advantage from a skill standpoint A&M is adding a defensive staff uh that will be led by their head coach and it's a defense that was good last year but not Dynamic not an elite defense last year Duke gave up 19 points per game uh which again was a a good number they were a good team last year on defense that ranked them uh last season seon 16th in scoring defense so obviously that was improvement over what Texas A&M was last season uh the Duke defense also ranked last season 42nd in yards allowed per game obviously techon was better there's reasons for that and then Duke last year ranked 28th in yards per play so the two most important numbers of those three I believe that points per game and yards per play are more important than total yards duk's adding a a a a system that was more effective last season there's no doubt about it Notre Dame is also adding an offensive coordinator that was more effective so Notre Dame's offense ranked seventh and Ninth last year in points and yards per play they're adding the offensive coordinator who led the nation in both of those categories last season and also led the nation I believe in total offense last year he was yes number one in total offense by 12 yards and they were also number one in yards per play and of course they ranked number one last year in scoring so both teams have added coaching has have added a a system or a coach the top that led better units of what they have on paper then you have to look at okay what about the new additions obviously A&M's new additions up front were very good their perimeter additions are are upgrades for them but I don't know that they're more upgrades than what Notre Dame will have in regard to their upgrade so it's going to be a very interesting very interesting matchup but I I believe that you can't it's really hard for me to argue that Notre Dame doesn't hold the advantage here they hold the advantage statistically the new coaches that they added for Notre Dame were more effective than the coaches were for um for Texas A&M obviously A&M didn't the the current players they held their own against LSU last year but they certainly and and they did a pretty good job two years ago uh when they beat they beat LSU two years ago with denck there last year LSU won 42 to30 they gave up only 389 yards but they gave up S 7.5 yards per play they just didn't have the ball a ton in that game because the LSU defense was um a hot mess and and couldn't get off the field in that game but uh obviously he's a coach that went against Jay baitman last year Mike or Mike demock did and had a lot of success against Jay Batman's offense at Florida last season they scored 52 points had 700 one yards of offense and 11.5 yards per play so I don't know that Jay Batman's going to add a whole lot of value to hey how do we stop this uh this Mike Den offense because uh they were not able to do it the last couple of years so the year before LSU scored 45 points on Florida had 528 yards of offense to 7.5 yards per play so I just think it's Advantage noted aim the the the one and we've talked about this a lot the one potential caveat is the offensive line versus the defensive line that could be the Great neutralizer if Notre Dame can just hold their own there then I think that they're going to be okay but we'll dive more into that tomorrow so that's it for the offensive breakdown and next I'm gonna dive into a breakdown of the notame defense part two let's look at the the matchup of the nerim defense against the nerim offense or the Texan offense and this is where like if you go back and look at the offensive numbers against Notre am's offense A&M's defense you know they're somewhat competitive there's the assumption that the the offensive line for Notre Dame will struggle enough to where it makes it a battle that A&M potentially could win but Notre Dame has the advantage in the pass game A&M has the advantage in the Run game but they were both good last year overall scoring their has clear as the advantage when you flip the argument to the other side it's not close it's far more far bigger gap between the A&M offense last year and the Notre Dame defense last year Notre Dame will have the same defense it did last year schematically obviously left some new players A&M's going to look a whole lot different and that's going to make this a very intriguing uh breakdown to to to dive into because when you look at at Texas A&M running the football last year it's an offense that struggled to run the football they ranked 92nd in the country in yards per game 95th in yards per play 100th and 100th in a yard 20 plus runs they only had 11 and they ranked ranked 42nd in tackles for loss allowed noted ases run defense last year ranked 28th overall 24th in yards per attempt 48th and and in 20 plus yard runs allowed they were 53rd in tackles for loss this isn't a team that generated a ton of tackles for loss last season but the overall numbers clearly give the advantage to Notre Dame that's when you have to then factor in okay well this is a different offense than it was last year the offensive system last year was geared towards what it was geared towards throwing the footballs Bobby patrino Jim bill Fisher they wanted to throw the football well enter Colin Klein who is a guy that believes in a little bit different he wants to be balanced Colin Klein at Kansas State last year LED an offense that ranked 12th in the country last season in total rushing yards at 24.1 yards per per game now the impressive part about that is not only did they rank 14th in rushing yards last year they did or 12th in rushing yards last year they did that the year after they lost Duce vaugh they actually ranked they didn't run for as many yards as they did in 20 2022 they actually ran for 28.3 yards in 2022 but they ranked higher because remember last year you had some clock rules that made things different so they were 15th in rushing in 2022 with du vaugh they jumped up to 12th in rushing last year without Duce vaugh where DJ giddens was your top running back so he's a guy that that likes to run the football that's great sure you like to run the football but do you know how to run the football and Colin Klein certainly knows how to run the football and his has has done a great job developing good rushing teams at Kansas State during his tenure there they ranked 56 63rd in his first year as offensive coordinator so we saw a very big jump in his two seasons his last two seasons rushing the football uh from from Colin Klein and of course let's not forget this is a guy that as a quarterback in college ran for a thousand yards one season in 27 touchdowns I think we brought that up the other day I think it was 2011 yeah it ran for 1141 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2011 and then 201 uh 20 in 2012 he ran for 925 yards and 23 touch a guy rushed for 50 touchdowns by himself his last two years so guess what he's gonna try to run the football it's going to be way different than it was uh for A&M in the past couple years they're going to run the inside zones in the Duos but they're going to run a lot of Gap scheme a lot of pin and pull stuff uh they're not going to rely on just having bullies up front they're going to try to create creases in the Run game they're going to try to use their tight end alignments and motions and shifts to create some spacing that that that is going to give them some ideally in theory give them some advantages in the Run game you know the thought being the more gaps that we can create the more gaps you have to be accountable for the more surfaces we have to try to create run lanes and so you're going to see that they went out and added I think Trevor talked about this yesterday they added I think three new tight ends to their roster there's a reason for that because Colin Klein likes to use the tight ends and so you're going to see a much different running team than last year now you can look at the stats and say yeah they got a a ways to go and there's no doubt they've got a ways to go but you kind of have to to look at those stats and say okay they may tell us something about the offensive line and that's an issue for Texas A&M there's no doubt they've got good enough I mean Le'Veon moss and and Amari Daniels are certainly good enough to be to put up very good numbers this year if the line plays well and as Al golden said yesterday and we said the same thing yesterday they expect that Conor Wegman's gonna run more this year because that's that's kind of what Colin Klein does so I do expect A&M to be a better running team this year than they were last year the question is going to be how much better and when do they get better is are they going to be better immediately against Notre Dame or is it going to take them some games to kind of get rolling do they maybe struggle a little bit against Notre Dame early but then go out and and and get better and better as the season goes on and and you know I I often talk about you know when people you know say oh you lose early you're done I often talk about that Ohio State 2014 season is as sort of my example for why I just think that is just an incredible reaction because when you but when you think about that Ohio State team and you think about you know what changed for them that year well they weren't really they couldn't really run the ball early in the year as their run game finally took off that became a much more dangerous team and and that allowed them to go out there and have a lot of success That season and I think it was year three and Tom Herman but again that was year three what this is year one of Colin Klein and game one of Colin Klein so how quickly can he really get that going that's going to be the question and that's going to determine a lot about this matchup because look I I I'll get into the pass game next but just big picture I don't know that Texas A&M can score enough points to win if they can't at least somehow establish the Run game they have to and they don't have to run for 200 yards against nerd I don't think that's going to happen but they have to at least make Notre Dame work in the Run game to then maybe you have to insert your your safety a little bit more to stop the run you have to use your safeties to come down and account for the quarterback runs the cutbacks or the pin and pools and hey we're going to just we're going to use our motions and get you kind of an overloaded surface and just kind of down block kick out our lineman and say hey if you're going to stop this run your safeties and Corners are GNA have to stop it all right cool so another Dame flies their safeties and and Corners come down next you know they're running some sort of you know whether it be a halfback pass or most likely sort of an option pass or some kind of bootleg or something along those lines an RPO where you bang down on your backside safety and you're just hitting that glance rout behind it for a big play there's a lot of things that A&M is going to do differently this year that present different options and if they can't but if they can't get the Run game going at all if Notre Dame is able to shut that down then then they're going to have a very tough time scoring enough points to win outside of turnovers and special teams giving them easy scores that that's really going to be the key they're going to have to figure out a way to get the Run game going for Notre Dame you want to keep A&M off schedule it's the opposite way on the other side of the ball you want to get them into passing Downs you want to force Conor Wegman to beat you from the pocket not that he's not a talent the player can't do it but again that's where you think you have an advantage just like A&M wants to slow down the not aame run game and get them in third Longs same thing is true on this side Conor Wegman's a very good football player not overly experienced he's a very talented football player but like a lot of young quarterbacks he's not a guy you want sitting in the pocket on Third and seven or second and 12 or and 11 or second and N all day throwing the football because he doesn't have the receiving cord to go out there and really hurt you in some of those big moments like let's say Ohio state did last year with Kyle McCord because he had a mechuka and he had Marvin Harrison Jr and he had yeah had Julian Fleming so even though you pretty much shut the pass game down for most of the game they were able to make enough of those big play those big not big plays like long plays but clutch plays moving the chains on Fourth and seven convert to third 19 to be able to win the the game and and that's going to be the question is can they get to the 17 that Ohio state was able to get to last year to beat Notre Dame that that's going to be the key if the notame offense doesn't get better and so that's going to be a bit a big part of this game Notre Dame stopping the Run game and and making this a pocket game for Conor Wegman because if he does that they're gonna they're GNA struggle because that's not where Colin Klein's offense thrives and it's not where you want to put this team in that situation but it's going to come down to this these numbers have to play themselves out on Saturday it's going to be a big key this game get to the next part of the matchup and that's the pass game matchup this is a very intriguing aspect of this game because again I just broke down the numbers for Colin Klein right and and the the Run game improvement is going to be it's going to be a lot better there's G to be a lot of Run game improvement from Colin Klein how much how early all those things are going to factor into it into this particular matchup but he's going to eventually get it going the flip side is true on the other right in the other side because last year Tex M did throw for a lot of yards they were 30th in the country in passing yards 23rd in yards per attempt 36 in yards per completion those are all respectable numbers 21st in the country in 30 plus yard passes 35th in efficiency and when you consider that they played all but four games with their backup quarterbacks that that factors into it they would have they would have been even higher had Conor Wegman not gone down last season right like that's just the reality of it if you still if you're still a top 30 pass offense and you spent twoth thirds of the year without your starting quarterback those are good numbers now the question is going to be can they continue those numbers because when you look at the other side and I talked about how good Colin Klein's offense was last year at running the football they were not a great passing team last year they finished 54th in the country in in passing yards per game and they finished um 60th in the country in yards per pass attempt last season and Kansas State last season also finished 5 first in passer rating 30 touchdowns 10 picks uh they were a team that in my view 72nd in in completion percentage and that was with a quarterback that I keep being told by national media people as a top five Heisman finalist uh or candidate for this season which I I say sarcastically I just don't buy that at all but they're not he he doesn't have the intricate NFL pro style sort of scheme that Bobby patrino had and that Jimbo Fischer had what he's gonna do however is he's going to build the pass game around the Run game and that's why I say it's so important to stop the run because if they can't run the football I don't know that Colin Klein's the kind of Coach that's going to be able to generate enough scheme-wise in the pass game to beat you now where I do think Texas A&M present some matchups is they're not a team that's going to Pro provide a ton of speed we'll get into that here in a second but they have really good size Jay Walker 6'4 Noah Thomas is 66 their guys that if you have to commit too many resources to the Run game to stop it can win some one-on ones just by simply outplaying you for the football they are going to use their tight ends a lot more than they have in the past in my opinion uh A&M's or Kansas State's leading receiver last year was a tight end you know will will they be able to get that kind of production this season we'll find out but you compare that top 30 pass game last year new coordinator was more of a top 50 kind of guy and you're matching that up against what is one of the best pass defenses in the country and and one of the interesting things about this matchup that just kind of shows me that the national media really didn't pay attention to Notre Dame last year like look at they'll in one breath mention Benjamin Morrison and Xavier was and then next breath talk about how they're you know how's Notre name going to you know handle the the Connor Wegman in the athleticism of the A&M offense and and I just I kind of I kind of chuckle a little bit about that because I mean this is a Notre Dame team in the last two years has faced CJ Stroud has faced Caleb Williams twice has faced Drake May has faced Tanner mcke jiren Hall I mean we can go down the list of quarterbacks that this team has faced last couple years years and guess what the pass offense pass defense has been lights out Spencer Rattler pass defense has been outstanding in almost all of those instances you're talking about a nerd team last year that finished in the top five in fewest passing yards per game fewest passing yards per attempt they tied Michigan for the fewest touchdown passes allowed they ranked number one in college football last year in pass efficiency defense and I don't have this stat on here and I should add it this year but Notre Dame I believe finished second last season in fewest uh lowest completion percentage allowed yes they were second behind only Florida State last season at 52.4 so that's another category their worst category that I have Mark tier in passing last year was yards allowed per completion they ranked 12th they only they ranked seventh and most passing plays Allowed by 30 yards and more and if you look at a least off top of my head three of those 30 plus yard pass plays came in late in games when Notre Dame was winning by a bunch and and so that's an aspect of it that you factor in as well is is A&M going to really be able to protect the or throw the football effectively enough against this past defense that returns two all-americans you know and their two transfers or a sixth year and a fifth year senior and your only young guy in the starting lineup is Christian Gray who might be your most physically gifted player that you have at the position so this is an area where Notre Dame has a big advantage in my opinion they have a Personnel advantage they have a schematic Advantage the question is going to be does the Run game of of Texas A&M improve enough and play well enough to force this into a throwing game if it is forced into a throwing game it's a definitely Advantage noted a if it becomes about balance and A&M's allowed to throw a lot of second and short third and short to medium situations where they they still have the threat of the run and they can use their RPO game and they're play action game and their misdirection game with pass and all their motions and shift to try to generate guys free that's when you can get in trouble that's that's really where you can say hey look can this uh can this Notre aame team go out and stop the run if they stop the run then I think that leads right into a dominant matchup here and so that's what that's what's going to make this very very intriguing this matchup looking overall last year Notre Dame ranked seventh in scoring defense A&M ranked 25th in scoring offense their name ranked fifth in fewest yards allow they ranked fifth in fewest yards per play A&M ranked 50th in total offense 49th in yards per play they ranked uh second in red zone defense they ranked third in Red Zone touchdown defense A&M ranked 48th and 82nd notame ranked 30th and third down defense A&M was 32nd and third down offense that's the only one that's really close in this matchup not Dame ranked 15th in 30 plus yards play yard plays allowed A&M ranked 35th in 30 plus yard plays gained Notre name ranked 13th and turnovers gained and A&M ranked 112th last year in turnovers loss actually the the 13 number is not accurate let me go see what their turnover numbers were last year I believe that is incorrect let me just uh pull this up real quick and make sure that I am okay so they ranked that last year they ranked uh 33rd in turnovers lost their offense so the 112 is incorrect they lost I don't know actually what I have there they had 13 gained which ranked 110th last season they were 33rd in turnovers lost so that's a better number than that that number shows but Notre Dame ranked 13th in turnovers gain so when you look at this matchup and you look at this game the thing you have to ask yourself is is Notre Dame in a situation where they can control the matchups the way that they're supposed to where they have the advantages and can they can they get into situations where let me just just um I'm going to I'm just going to put that person in timeout I just don't have the I don't have the patience today for just stupidity I really don't so um I'll have to have Vince edit this part out I just don't have I just don't have time for just stupid people I really don't if you look at the onp paper matchup and you look at how this game is going to play out there's the concern The Angst that Notre Dame has Notre Dame fans have which is Justified can the offensive line hold up against what is going to be in my opinion it it is one of the best defensive lines of college football and what I think is going to be the one is one of the best young middle linebackers in college football in Tory York who I'm a very very big fan of by the way can they hold up in that matchup that could be a scenario where that the reason that there is under understandable angs because that matchup is such that depending on how much A&M dominates it it could impact every other part of the game if you can't if you get dominated up front then you're going to struggle to run the ball if you struggle to run the ball it's going to be harder to throw the football if you can't move the football and po score points that puts way more pressure on your defense it keeps the game close it means Colin Klein doesn't have to get into his you know too deep into his bag of tricks he can play the field position battle and then he can do do some things schematically with the Run game with motions with shifts with leverages different things like that to hopefully create enough big plays to win a 174 game like they did last year with like Ohio state did last year and that's going to really be the big key to this game is that matchup right there what's not being discussed enough in my opinion is while that is a legitimate concern an absolutely legitimate concern if A&M wins this game it's going to be about their defensive line front seven dominating Notre Dame and and and turnovers that's what it's going to come down to if but what's not being discussed enough is Notre Dame has the same ability to do to the Texas A&M offense what they expected A&M defense to do to the noted aame offense there's this expectation that Texas A&M is going to dominate the notame offense okay I understand where that's coming from and when you look at the numbers and you look at what Tex A&M was last year again 36 in the country in scoring defense that's not bad when you consider some of the issues they had on offense when you look at their their their pass defense last year you know not great their run defense was excellent last year they add Nick scouton to the mix they add Solomon the shields to the mix they add Scooby Williams to the mix they add I think they had three other dline transfers who were good football players that are being added to the mix but that's going against a Notre Dame offense that was pretty good statistically last year was pretty good outside of playing some Elite defenses in just one game where they just flat out laid an egg against against Louisville but then you look at it and you say but does A&M like does is their defense such that they're just going to completely shut down Notre Dame the way that Ohio State's defense did is is that what we're thinking that this offense or this defense is is this A&M defense going to be like Ohio State that's going to be the question maybe it will be and you're adding a great defensive mind in mikee Elko to the equation but notame is also adding a pretty successful offense of mind and that's where I kind of get frustrated with this conversation is like somebody say like do you think A&M can beat Notre Dame of course Texas ANM can beat Notre Dame Notre Dame lost to a four- lost Clemson team on the road last year folks if Clemson's with eight starters missing can beat Notre Dame if Louisville can beat Notre Dame on the road then of course A&M can beat Notre Dame there's no doubt about it the the frustration that I have is that there's this Obsession on focusing on one part of this game I just laid out the numbers to y'all which which side of the ball has the bigger Advantage the A&M defense over the NM offense even though they have no statistical advantage over Notre Dame or the Notre Dame de defense against the Tex sanm offense again yards per game and yards per play rushing noted A's defense 28th and 24th A&M's offense 91st and 95th passing Nots defense in yards per game and yards per attempt third and and third you return two all-americans in that group A&M's offense 30th and 23rd but their new coach that's being brought in ranks in the 50s in both of those categories right so and then you look at Total Defense noted aim last year in points per game on defense seventh yards per game fifth yards per play fifth A&M ranked 25th 50th and 49th so I'm to believe that a team in Notre Dame who averaged more points per game offensively last year than A&M more yard yards per play than A&M last year gave up fewer yards per G points per game than A&M last year gave up fewer yards per game last year gave up fewer yards per play dominates A&M in every category is a team that can't handle what A&M's going to bring to them that that's my frustration with this conversation can A&M win heck yeah they can win this and you guys know my my feelings on Mike OKO I've been saying him here since this show started love Mike Elco great football coach but Notre Dame shouldn't should should be expected to win this game there's no question they should be expected to win this game and if they can't that's a problem for me but the expectation should be that Notre Dame is going to go in there and and win and I don't know other than just paranoia and just choosing to be negative I don't see why someone would look at this game and say that A&M is the team that has less to prove than Notre Dame that that that's the frustration I have like somebody say well Notre Dame tends to lose his game I okay last two years Notre Dame has gone seven and four against ranked teams okay you know what Tex and M's record against ranked teams is the last two years three and seven two of those wins were over a ranked Miami team two years ago who finished five and seven and over a ranked Arkansas Team who finished that year seven- six that's two of their three ranked wins and yet Notre Dame who's got seven wins over ranked opponents the last two years including multiple on the road and then Notre Dame also beat an NC State team who finished most of who was who was ranked most of the year they weren't ranked when they played and you know I just it just it it gets frust it gets taxing to be honest with you when the same people come on the chat come on the board with non-stop negativity but can't make a sound argument other than I feel that's it I feel I feel like Notre Dame you know can't throw in this situation okay well you have no evidence to back up that that can't happen from with any cons I feel like Notre Dame doesn't ever win these kind of games okay well tell me when A&M does I feel like this I feel like that when everything about this matchup should say that Notre Dame has the advantage does that mean no is going to win of course it doesn't mean not Dame's definitely going to win you that's why you play the games but to sit there and say that that that this is a game that Notre Dame has more to prove than Texas A&M that that that we should assume that Texas A&M has the has is is in a better situation our name there's no argument other than your in your feelings that has that that that makes you feel that way that's my frustration there's no ma okay well yeah but the& MD lining s okay last I check this isn't a jersey scrimmage where it's just the nerame offense against just the nerame defense Notre Dame had one of the 10 best defenses of college football last year right I that where is the where was the Texas A&M defense last it's very good wasn't as good as Notre Dames Notre Dame's offense was for all the whining about not Dame's offense from last year they ranked in the top 10 in scoring where did a what did A&M's offense do last year they they ranked 25th and Notre Dame's defense last season ranked in the seventh in scoring defense defense A&M's defense last year ranked 36th in scoring so again I ask you other than your feelings what's the argument that should make you as a Notre Dame fan or an analyst say that gee I just don't think Notre Dame can win this game that that's my Pro now can can can A&M win again of course this is not a this isn't gonna be an easy win and I'll have some responses to some of the stuff in the the biso hold about that but Notre Dame has the advantage on paper Notre Dame has had in the last five years it's the other one A&M's got more Talent okay based on what recruiting rankings half the players from that team that were ranked number one are gone no the last five drafts n name has had 27 players drafted I think it's 10 in the first two rounds A&M had 17 guys drafted two in the first two rounds so again other than the fact that they have an SEC logo on their Jersey what's the reason for Notre Dame expecting and honestly I kind of feel bad for Tex M fans because if they win this game it's it's a huge win I mean it is a huge win but the way that Notre Dame is being talked about I wonder if it's going to Tamp down some of the excitement over the win and if they lose there's this expectation that they got upset by an inferior opponent when in reality they wouldn't have and and so I just that that's kind of where I'm at is I just I I feel like the narrative about this game is as frustrating is any game I've I've covered in a long time it really is and and a friend of mine kind of brought this up he said It reminds him a lot of the 2018 nerame Michigan game where a lot of people felt nerame didn't have a chance they gotta replace Quint Nelson and Mike mcglinchy and and uh you know had three new starters in in on there and then you know you lost ecin St Brown and and you lost some good players off your defense and and just like you know man this Michigan team's going to be a play off team and yada yada yada notame dominated that game the game was never as close as the final score notame dominated that game so I just that that's kind of where I'm where I'm at right it's just if you're if you're a notame fan thinking that this is a game that notame is not the better team then I just I don't know what to tell you either you don't have a good you don't have no clue how how what nerame is done or you have you never have never watched A&M in the last five years you know I mean that's that's kind of my I mean like Duke game last year not Dame played terrible against Duke last year still won I mean think about that still won played terrible last year so I think A&M has a lot more to prove to not at aim however from a practical standpoint of like actual football from a perception standpoint I will agree that this is a much bigger game from not Dame than it is Texas s there's no doubt from a perception standpoint and uh hopefully they can go out and get a win so that's going to do it for the stats breakdown I'm going to get into some just a brief talk about game Wreckers next and have gonna have some fun with that and uh and then we'll get into our bis hold so but before we do folks do me a favor hit that like button hit the Subscribe button hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a fivestar review We greatly appreciate that and as always sign up for the message board at boards. Irish breakdown. next couple segments are going to be a little shorter I'm just going to focus on some a game record conversation right who are the game wreckers in this game to keep an eye on and then each week I'll try to mix it up a little bit and and talk about who those are but here's here's where I'm at with with my game records conversation I'm going to start with the NM offense and then versus the Texas ANM defense and talk about both sides and then I'll go into the neram defense against the texam offense and the first one it starts with look this is an easy one when you look at the ner offense it's Riley Leonard I mean there's a reason you brought Riley Leonard in as your quarterback and it's not just to manage the offense it's to be a playmaker if you brought Riley Leonard in to manage your offense then I don't know what you're um what you're looking for you know and and so I I factor in let me say something real quick an A&M guy says are we saying a Indie is better because of the stats alone or are we also accounting for strength of schedule uh it's stats it's it's watching film I don't care about strength of schedule to be honest with you and if you want to talk about strength of schedule A&M played it played one SC ACC team last year and got dominated so it it comes into a lot of it like you've you've been great in the chat so far and I really appreciate that that you're coming here to engage but it's really about stats and film this breakdown we do a show every day this breakdown that I just did is a statistical breakdown it is looking at the stat there are other parts that we do tomorrow we'll do more about keys and execution things like that yesterday we talked into some bigger picture things this was a statistical breakdown it's part of the conversation and when you talk about like some somebody was in the chat talking about you know Notre Dame does this against lower and Fe teams and and you're telling me you don't have a clue about Notre Dame when you say things not not you agie kid I'm talking about the person that I banned from the chat so it's not just about stats but that show that segment of the show was a statistical breakdown of the two teams it's not all we do there's a lot more that goes into it and this segment is going to be more about the Practical aspects of this matchup which it comes down to the players who makes the plays and for Notre Dame you bring in Riley Leonard to be a playmaker you did not have a quarterback last year that could be a playmaker and here's why that matters these are the exact games that you bring Riley inard Leonard in for and that's why he's my number one game wer for Notre Dame he has to be a game wer here's what I mean by that you are playing an A&M team with a great defensive line you are playing an A&M team that's got a great head coach and a great defensive mind as head coach you are playing an A&M team that has length and athleticism and presents some problems for your offense you are not going to go out in this game and dominate Tex in the trench es that I just do not see that happening that would be the biggest shock of all Shockers you got to hopefully hold your own but the reality is is that's an there where you do not have the matchup Advantage last year when notame Z line got beat that was a problem for Notre Dame and it's always a problem but you bring a guy like Riley Leonard in to say Hey listen we need you looking at it from the coaching standpoint you're this is what you're asking him we need you sometimes when things break down to put your Superman cap on right you got to you got to do this right you got to pull off the Clark Kent you know closeth and you got to be Superman and go make place that's just the reality of it that these are the games where you need him to do some of that you need him to provide some of that impact for your team and when you go on the road and you are playing a top 25 team and I actually have argued in a lot in the past years that A&M win of the each season's overrated I'm perfectly fine with Tex Tex being the 20th ranked team in the country the there's no doubt as I said they do have talent they do have a talented quarterback they do have decent skill on the perimeter they are very good on the defensive line in the front seven they did bring a what I felt was the third best offensive coordinator high of the entire off season I'm totally fine with them being there they're a legit top 25 team so if you are going to go on the road and beat a team that's very good defensively and especially in the front seven on the road your quarterback needs to be a big-time playmaker and for Riley Leonard that starts with his with his with his ability on with his legs and it also starts with his ability to make plays with his arm he's got to do both he has to do both if he can't do both he's going to struggle to he's going to struggle this offense is going to struggle to consistently move the ball they're G to have to be better in these situ he's going to have to be better in these situations than what they had last year from a playmaking standpoint and so that's why he's my number one game wrecker uh real quick response about A&M being exceptional at home A&M's home wins last year were over New Mexico Louisiana Monroe Auburn South Carolina Mississippi State and abalene Christian none of those teams were any good the only team that they played last year that was good was was Alabama and yes it was a competitive game but they still lost that game and Texas A&M in 2022 at home lost beat Sam Houston State beat Miami by eight beat o lost to Old Miss lost to Florida beat UMass and lost to App State so how difficult you are at home depends on how good your team is right so and and yes I do think it's going to be a tougher place to play this time than it was last year because you've got a better Coach that's the key you've got a better Coach there and that's why their name is play makers have to step up and and it it Riley Leonard's where it starts but he can't be alone they're going to need their backs to make plays here's another reality of a game like this you're not I'm watching the Florida state Georgia Tech game do you guys remember the play I believe they were running left to right on the screen they ran an ins they ran an outside Zone to the left and and Jamal Haynes cuts it back and when they showed the tight copy and it's funny because I because I got the all 22 and I went and I was like is it as bad on the all 22 as it was on TV it was there was almost nobody from Florida State like the hole was literally this is the TV screen like there was like barely any like Florida State guys on the out I mean it was a giant hole I I hope that their name can do that against A&M it's probably not gonna happen your holes are gonna be about this big when they're there and they're going to close up in a hurry that means your running backs need to see it and hit it and hit it with good timing and hit it fast you're going to have a this is one of those games you're not going to be most likely 60 to 70% with efficient runs it's going to be twos and ones and threes and some minus ones but when the 50 comes you got to hit the 50 that's going to be the key so you're gonna need Jeremiah Love and jarian price to make some plays in this game if in and here's other thing too you've got to be there's a a statement that Mike Elko made when he was the defensive coordinator in Notre Dame and the defensive line for n Dame was struggling in Fall camp and they struggled in the spring and and there was a lot of angst from notame fans shocker about the offensive line and or the defensive line hey you're going to struggle and he was like no we're gonna be fine he said that that offensive line they're they're they're human lie detectors is what he called them and when you when you're wrong they're going to make you pay for it well in this instance it's it's one of those things where that's kind of how this A&M dline is if you make a mistake they're going to make you pay for it what Notre Dame has to do on the flip side is they're not going to make a lot of mistakes on defense in theory but they're gonna make some because everybody does if there's a wrong fit by a linebacker if there's a wrong fit by a safety if a lineman is supposed to secure the SE Gap and he Slants inside and you seal him when those things happen you've got got to see it and you've got to hit it and I think the other part of this too is the running backs out of the back field could be big and and you whether that's wheel routes angle routes seam routes screens however the case may be your your two most dynamic weapons in my opinion on offense are your two backs Jeremiah Love and jadarian price you have to be able to hit that hit have those guys hit those plays you've got to be able to hit those big plays with those those two guys and then the other one for me when I look at the game record on offense it's going to come down to the two transfer receivers I think Mitchell Evans is g to play well I think Jaden great housee is GNA have his success what you're what you but you're gonna have to make some plays on the outside you've got to make plays on the outside and you've got to make plays on the outside vertically the best thing that Notre Dame can do is to line up and say yes you're going to be good here but you have to defend us to the width of the field look Mitchell Evans was great last year slot players at times were pretty good last year but the inability to beat teams on the outside allowed teams to to change how they defended Notre Dame they were able to reduce everything and and knowing that they C couldn't hurt them outside Notre Dame is gonna have to make an early statement in this game in this season by saying you have to hit some plays outside Chris Mitchell B Collins are those two guys that have to hit those plays they're going to need those Two Fellas to step up and say Hey listen time is here we've got it the one-on-one is there I've got a win off the line I've got to win at the catch point and hit a couple of those big plays I think that's going to be a big part of this game and that can be game records that can be a thing where you're backed up it's third nine you're at your own 25 and you hit that one-on-one down the field and boom it sparked you did any of you guys watch the SMU Nevada game on Saturday night SMU could do nothing I mean they were just getting dominated and then they hit two big plays I think they were both to their tight end two big plays completely changed that game around they hit two shots down the field and when they hit those two shots it got the it completely flipped the field they couldn't move the ball they couldn't get anything going Nevada was kicking their butts but they hit those big shots it gave them it flips the field they get a much needed score they got some momentum and now all of a sudden you're rolling Notre Dame's going to need plays like that if they're going to win if they're going to win this game and play the way offensively they need to play and and it really is going to come down to Chris Mitchell and Bo Collins is going to be are going to be the keys to there now there's an opposite argument to this the other part of this is A&M's got some game record as well and what noted Dame has to do is make sure that the A&M game record don't dominate the this game they're game record talents but you got to make sure that they don't actually do that that they don't actually make that type of impact in this game and there's three guys that I really look at as potentially being that type of player and the first two are up front and Nick scouton and Shamar Turner are are two of the best linemen that know's gonna play all year they're they're both good athletes for their size Shamar Turner is a very athletic player he's probably going to play on the Edge at times but you know my expectation he's going to play more inside in this game over your guards Nick scon is an edge player they both had double digit tackles for loss last year the combined I think they had 16 and a half sacks between the two of them last year they're they their guys can take over a game and if you get completely dominated up front that can negate a lot of what's going on in the perimeter if you if if you were if were to assume that Notre Dame has a skill player advantage and for the sake of this conversation let's have that let's let's assume that let's assume that Notre Dame has the advantage at tight end against their backers and safeties and let's assume that n has advantage on the outside with Chris Mitchell and Bo Collins and Jordan fison and Jane C let's just assume that that type of matchup can get completely negated if you get dominated in the trenches and the game that's always going to pop in my head and I'm old and so I'm going to go old school but I remember watching the 1995 I think it was the orange Fiesta Bowl between Florida and Jordan at the end of the 1995 season it was between Florida and Nebraska and that Florida team I me they had Danny warl quarterback you had Chris doring at um at wide receiver but you had a lot of other talented players I believe Ike hilard was on that team I believe that uh right Anthony was on that team I'm actually pulling up their stats now yeah Chris doring was a thousand yard receiver Ike Hillyard was on that team Ryo Anthony was on that team JZ green was on that team I mean they were they had such great skill players but they got annihilated by Nebraska why because Danny warle I think they had like an early score after that could do nothing because he spent the whole game on his back and it completely negated your your per advantage in that game completely negated it Notre Dame has to make sure that they don't do that and the two guys that can do that to them are these two players and you know JG ytown n defense is B are they really that good who did they play against that was really good well number one I mean Nick Shamar Turner played in the SEC last year he he's not a guy that that that transferred in from from you know Texas a Andi he's not a guy that transferred to H Sam Houston State he's a guy was there you know he he he is that kind of player and they had a lot of other guys that made a lot of production last year so I'm goingon to I'm going to push back on that one number one he had you know he's a guy that last year you again 10 and a half sacks in in the season didn't play in the bowl game that's that's pretty good production for a kid uh in the SEC there's no doubt about that and then Miami game that they lost he did have a sack in that game he had a sack against Auburn two and a half sacks against Arkansas he had a sack at Tennessee one and a half sacks against South Carolina a sack against Mississippi State so he didn't exactly have production in in in bum moments against Bad teams you know he's a guy that has legitimate Talent you know Nick scouton is a guy that if you go back and watch his film against teams like Ohio State and Michigan last year at Purdue he more than held his own in those moments as well so this isn't a guy in Nick scon who who patted his stats against terrible teams he had three and a half sacks against Virginia Tech or excuse me three and a half tackles for loss against Virginia Tech he had three tackles for loss at Nebraska he had two tackles for loss at Michigan and if you go back and watch that game they were not garbage minute tackles for loss they were in real situations he had a sack against Ohio state two sacks against Michigan a half a sack against Iowa had a sack against Syracuse sack against Virginia Tech he never had a single game with more than two sacks and the reason I bring that up is because sometimes you'll have guys that that get a lot of sacks then they do it all in one game if you guys remember when Jerry Tillery back in 2018 for Notre Dame had eight sacks LED their team with eight sacks that year Well I believe half of his sacks came in one game against Stanford he had four against Stanford he went the next six weeks without recording a single sack when you look at Nick scallon's production it's it's week after week after week after week after week he's producing in the Big 10 so I think both of those guys play against good competition and are good football players you've got to make sure that they don't dominate the game that Nick scouton is gonna have a tackle for loss or two he's probably gonna have a sack you've got to make sure that they're not bad sacks if you're at your own if you're you know your own 42 yard line in third nine and you've got to try to and he gets a sack fine you take the sack you punt the ball you let your defense work what it can't be is that sack when you're backed up and you've got a punt from your own two and now you're fli you know they're flipping the field they're getting the ball at Midfield it can't be a sack that is is results in a a turnover where they get a short field it can't be a sack that knocks you out of field goal range or get you out of scoring range it's you've got to avoid the bad sacks sacks are going to happen in this game you gotta you gotta avoid the bad ones and that's going to be the key for Notre Dame is is in this game is don't let them take the game over that's the key don't let them have the drive killers and that's G that's we're gonna be the other one for me is Tyreek Chapel I he's a very interesting player because he's not your typical Mike Elco fit and one of the things that I look at this matchup is I don't know where he's gonna play they list him as a starter at one of the corner spots but then they also list him as a starter at nickel does he play outside does he play nickel if if he plays in the nickel that creates some matchup problems for Notre Dame because I I believe I actually like him in the slot I I didn't see him play in the slot last year I only saw him outside but I think his game fits the slot really well he's a physical player he had to play last I think it was against Tennessee where they ran a little wide that wide now screen that they run and a Corner's blocking them and he's a strong kid he kind of holds the guy with one hand and then reaches out and grabs the receiver the other hand and just does doesn't let go and you he's a tough kid against the Run he's a physical corner he doesn't have great long speed so why I kind of like him in the nickel because he's a tough kid I think he could present you some issues in the slot and and he's a guy too that that could be someone they bring on some cor you know some Edge fires and things like that he's the one DB that I look at and say you know he could he could take some guys out with how he plays and you've got to make sure you don't let him do that you've got to either you know run good against him and make plays against him but then also do some things that maybe if he is playing a lot of nickel which is kind of I believe new for him I don't remember seeing him in broke down maybe 5 A&M games from last year didn't see him at nickel any those games if he is playing a lot of nickel you've got to do things to put him in stressful situations that he hasn't seen before and that's where nickel's a lot different than playing outside outside kind of everything's inside of you and nickel you got to have your head on a swivel because things are besi coming from outside and inside you know motions have a much bigger impact on a nickel than they do an outside corner and so I would do some things to stress him and if you don't he's the kind of guy that can make some big plays and really hurt your offense so those are my game record for uh the the matchup between the Notre Dame offense and the texanum defense those are some players that I think Notre Dame is going to have to have step up in this game and those are some guys that A&M is going to they're going to have to prevent from A&M from taking over and and those are those those are aspects of it that you look at and we'll get into the offensive one next but before we do folks hit that like hit that subscribe hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a five star review and as always sign up for the message board at boards. arbre down.com so let's get into the next part of this matchup and that is the game recers on the Notre Dame defense against the game recers on the A&M offense and this is going to be a a big one as well because to win a game like this you need to do two things one somewhat negate the advantages that they have and if it if they're great on the D line you've got to not let them dominate you there even if you lose the battle you've got to make it to where you win some you know you may lose the war but you're gonna you win some of the battles right that's probably a better way of saying it because if you win some of the battles but lose the war means they made more plays than you did but with your skill Talent you also on some of those wins you made them go you made some big plays the other side of the ball is you know is where you say okay the other part of winning this is you've got to then dominate the areas where you have the matchup advantage and that's going to be a big part of this game and so there's some there's this is where the game records kind of come into conversation and it really begins here with Riley Mills we know who Howard cross is Duke knows who Howard cross is the offensive line coach for for du for Texas A&M is the offensive line coach from Texas from who was at Duke last year he remembers Howard cross having 13 tackles I think four T three and a half tackles for loss in a couple sacks in that game a sack in that game he remembers Howard cross making the strip at the end of the game that knocked Riley out and ba Leonard out and basically ended their any chance they had at at competing for the ACC title last year they're going to have a plan for Howard cross they are not going to let Howard cross beat them again that means Riley Mills has to step up and be a game wrecker I've said it a million times you guys have heard it I know I'm a broken record on things like this but it matters as a quarterback as an offensive coach if my team got dominated up the middle there wasn't a lot we could do and if if Notre Dame is gonna really dominate this matchup the way that they need to they've got to dominate up the middle and I think Riley Mills is going to be play a big role in that when Riley Mills is on his game he's unblockable I mean he really is the problem is he's not always on his game is he going to be on his game this weekend against Texas A&M we're going to find out but he's a game record to me that needs to step up if Riley is is the player he's capable of it makes it very hard to defend stop Howard cross it also makes it very hard for you as a staff as an offensive staff to not only stop him but then also have the linebackers not win on the blitzes and the pressures that they bring stopping the two tackles is key to success for Texas A&M which means not being stopped and dominating our keys for Notre Dame and I believe Riley Mills is the biggest key for that if he goes off A&M's gonna have a very tough time moving the ball go watch the game against USC last year the edges played well the back I mean everybody played off for another name but Riley Mills and Howard cross were just Unstoppable and and especially Riley Mills he was tremendous in that game and because he's 65 he's a good athlete and he's really long and when he gets up in the in in the pocket and he gets those big paws up it life gets real uncomfortable for quarterbacks and and we saw that last year uh against USC when Riley Mills just absolutely dominated uh the the USC offensive line and and I mean I my wife it's kind of funny my wife who did photography that game and she has like five different photos of Riley Mills trying to tackle Caleb Williams and I went back and looked at him because I'm like are these all from like one play they were from all from different plays he made life really hard on Caleb Williams and when you look at that game Riley Mills had four pressures in one sack Howard cross had five pressures that included a sack and another hit on the quarterback like that's the kind of production you won and when they were dominant then that also opened up opportunities for the linebackers to get run to have run throughs and get pressures on the quarterback back and so that's going to be a huge huge key for this game the next one is going to be uh The Edge players and I don't know who it is it doesn't have to be RJ Obin it doesn't have to be bjo it doesn't have to be bbard doesn't have to be Josh Burnham doesn't have to be Bryce young doesn't have to be junior traka I don't really care who it is but Notre Dame's Edge players have got to be good in this game they've got to make some big plays they've got to be game wers in this game A&M is going to run a lot on the outside and this isn't just about rushing a quarterback the way that A&M is going to run their run is run the football with with Colin Klein they put your defensive ends in a lot of binds a lot of tough situations you've got to be strong against the edge you've got to be great Edge Setters you've got to be great at getting off crack blocks and down blocks you've got to get to the football you've got to rush the quarterback this is going to be one of the most stressful games the defensive ends play all year with the scheme that A&M that A&M's going to run with Colin Klein if you don't have the ability to to dominate at the point of attack or at least win at the point of attack consistently then they're going to gash you and they're going to run a ball on you and you cannot let that happen and then of course when you get into passing situations they need to make plays they absolutely have to make plays and that was a big part of last year's USC game as well as good as the inside players were and they were great gavon Jean Baptist had six pressures in that game bubar trayor came in literally for two plays and he came in for one pass play and on that one pass pass play he had a sack that's what you need to do if you look at the Pro Football Focus numbers against USC last year notame had 33 pressures in that game they had 14 total hits on the quarterback you've got to do that in this game you've got to have that level of success in this game and if they're playing well then the linebackers get a feast that's really what it boils down to when the linebackers struggle to get to the quarterback a lot of times it has to do with the fact that the defensive Line's just not playing at a high level and the D line plays at a high level the linebackers are going to eat that's what a boow is down to so I I don't have any linebackers here on my my game records conversation because yeah they're important and they gotta play well we'll talk about them a little bit tomorrow but I don't need them to dominate this game I need the boys up front to dominate this game that's what that's where if Notre name is going to win this one that's what's got to happen and the other part of the game records for the Notre defense is going to be Christian Gray look Xavier watt's All American Benjamin Morrison's a dude A&M knows that right they've got they need somebody step up and make a play they are gonna go at Christian Gray they're gonna they're G to motion at him they're going to try to throw deep at him they're going to throw screens at him they're going to try to run uh their their their Buck sweep and toss sweep plays at him they're GNA try to make him be a dude in this game and if he's not a dude then they're going to they're going to make some plays if he is a dude then they're going to struggle they're going to absolutely go after Christian Gray in this game I have no doubt my mind that they're going to go after Christian De GR in this game which means he's got to be ready for it and play well like think about this how do you have success to own the football unnoted aim if you can't beat Benjamin Morrison and Xavier watch which most people can but then Christian Gray is playing to his potential honestly how how do you stop that Notre Dame team at that point in time or how how do you move it the answer is you struggle I mean we saw that with Ohio State Ohio state with Marvin Harrison and Jackson Smith and jiga for a half and a mecha bua and and all the players they had the last two years scored 21 points and 17 points against another Dame why because they couldn't throw the ball and some of the throws they had in 20122 were about Kay CJ stra just saying you know like I said about Riley Leonard there's just a couple throws where CJ St said okay gotta take the Clark Kent you know costume off and be who I really am and that's Superman right I mean he made some plays you're just like tip your cap to that kid right there because there's nothing you can do about that there's no coaching point that you can say do a better job here there just the only way you can stop that is if you know to play and you beat him to the spot I mean just it was it was going to be hard to do and when you look at Christian Gray this year he's GNA be that guy that they go at they tried to test Benjamin Morrison in 2022 and he ate him up they they're gonna test Christian Gray the same way this year and he's gonna have to step up Run game wise and throwing game wise that's what say it's it's not just like I have no doubt that Christian Gray is g to be a very good pass cover guy this year I have no doubt if he if I'm wrong I'll be shocked what where I'm concerned about losing cam Hart more than anything else is Cam was a phenomenal perimeter run and perimeter screen game Defender he was so good at that well this is a game where they're going to do a lot of that at you can Christian step up and be a force player on the on against the Run can he handle those type of situations with the perimeter screens that's what I need to see and if he plays as well as I think he can then I think Chris then I think A&M's gonna have a hard time scoring I really do if he doesn't then it might be a little bit tougher let's talk about let's end this with the other side of the coin here and that's A&M and honestly there's really two uh you could talk about Connor Wegman there's really two there's two players that I look at and I say this is these are guys that that really concern me as potential game wrecker players and they both play receiver the first one for me is Cyrus Allen he's a kid that transferred in from Louisiana Tech you know there's there's I know Carter Carell and I were on the show the other day and I don't know if he talked about it last night with with Shawn but one of the things we talked about when we talking about the receiving core is is he did have some drop issues at Louisiana Tech and I went back and looked at that and he did he had seven drops last year but and that's fine but here's the deal you live with that if you're a coaching staff because he's a playmaker last year at Louisiana Tech he had 46 catches for 778 yards 16.9 per catch four touchdowns he from the same league as Chris Mitchell the year before in 2022 he only had 22 catches but he went for 500 yards at 22.7 per catch and he had four touchdowns so in two years the kid has only caught 68 passes but he's got eight touchdowns and he's averaged around just under 20 yards a catch and you've got to make sure that you don't you don't allow him to do that in this game you cannot allow him to come out and be that down thefield game record and if I'm gonna and he's a guy that has done it at times against Power five teams in 2022 Louisiana Tech started the season off playing at Missouri and Cyrus Allen had five catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns you can't let him do that to you if you're Notre Dame and and and I'll be honest the one position on this defense that I'm most concerned about is nickel and I think Jordan Clark's a solid player I I I I I'm concerned against matchups where he's he's playing faster players and how can he handle that and then when you look at this particular defense uh or this particular offense the slot is a very important part of this offense he will have some stuff designed for him tomorrow on Saturday and I know like the know there's a chance we may see like Terry busy in that role and things like that but the Cyrus Allen kid is the one that that concerns me because he can be that game record where you have one missed tackle on a slant or a screen and all of a sudden it's a 40 yard game you know there that he's the kind of guy that can can you know in a in a post snap switch or maybe they have outside guy runs like an inside takes the post out do sort of like a a wheel route come off that guy on the outside get some kind of go concept there he's the kind of guy where you can scheme up you know sort of some backside clear routes and you can bring him on a stack motion and then he runs a deep over route behind the backers in front of the safeties where it's just you versus the nickel running across the field uh you know he can win in those situations and that's where my concern is because I don't think that A&M is a team that's going to be able to move the ball consistently gets Notre Dame and just up and down the field but they have a shot to make some big plays and completely flip the field big plays and get points off big plays Notre name can't allow that and the guy that that the two guys that most concerned me are these receivers first one being Cyrus Allen and the second one being Noah Thomas you know I like Noah Thomas he's not a burner but he's you can't teach 66 can't you can't teach a huge catch radius he's a kid that that is developing as a player he's still young he's still learning I think this is only he's going to be a junior this year I believe I could be incorrect on that but I think last year was a sophomore more season and he's a guy that you know kind of emerged a little bit last season had five catches for 51 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2022 comes out last year 29 catches 359 yards five touchdowns lot of quick stuff I don't think they used them overly well he's a guy to me that I want running vertical stuff comebacks out Cuts go routes post routes deep overs where I'm just going to say hey one-on-one throw it up that's that's what I'm concerned about you know Jay Walker's a guy that you got to be concerned about I had moose Muhammad on my preseason second Team all opponent Squad he's a guy to look at the reason I'm going with Noah Thomas in this particular matchup is because my concern is if you're very sticky in coverage like Notre D is there's those situations where you get that 40 yard gain because that guy's just 66 and he outplayed you for the football that's my concern if you hit a couple of those plays I think of the play that Javon Williams had against Notre Dame in 2017 when Georgia came to Notre Dame and beat Notre by a point one of the big plays of that game was that go route that they hit up the sideline where Notre Dame was in pretty good position I forget who the corner was on that particular play but he was in pretty good position but Javon Javon Willams just went up and outplayed him for the football that changed the game right Georgia didn't consistently move the ball on Notre Dame that game but they made that one big play down the field and that changed things a little bit you can't let those plays happen and Noah Thomas is a guy that I'm concerned about um is is can beat that type of player and you can't allow him to have those type of things so um that's something that um that I'm I'm I'm excited about uh Notre a being able to to have the talent to stop but I'm not excited about because I know those type of things can happen and so um I'm I I just it's like you know you can see that's where my angst comes from it's just those those one-on-one plays where you just get outplayed for the full and and they just go make a play on you you've got to try to limit those they may hit one or two but you can't let those happen more than that and um we're gonna see if no can stop it because those those are the I mean those are that's the game records for me that's really it the other stuff it just comes down to don't make mistakes like a running back hitting backside on an inside Zone where you had a bad runfit that's not him being a game wrecker that's you making a mistake these are guys that that to me are just they can outplay you for the football they can outrun you to the football they can outrun you to a spot or just out jump you for a pass those are the plays that I look at that that get you concerned because if you start just getting beat on stuff because you can clean up mistakes I Bud runfit guy cut it back for 30 yard game okay get on the board you make you make the correction and you don't make that mistake again but if a six six guy is just out playing you for the football three or four times like okay I don't know how you scheme that okay we got to have safety help out okay but now you don't have that help down the seam so you know they run a play action pass and your safety is screaming off the hash to get over top because you keep getting outside and that's when that seam R to the tight end comes wide open and boom you've got a big play there because if you're going to do something to take away something I'm beating you with I'm gonna have answers for how I'm going to attack you based on how you take that away and that's when you start getting in trouble if you can stop them and shut down those plays then I don't know how ANM moves the ball outside of you just making mistakes and so those are my game record for the noted aim and tex S&M game so I hope you guys enjoyed that I'm curious who you guys have as your game record go ahead and throw those into the chat who are the Notre a players that you believe have a chance to really be those those game wers for nerd Aon who are the players for Texas A&M that that concern you the most in regard to them being game record for the aies G be very very important part of this type of game so hit that like folks hit that subscribe hit the notification Bell we're going to go to the buy so hold next so get ready for that we're going to rock through those and have some fun with those some very very good submissions and of course as always folks sign up for the messes board at boards. Irish breakdown. comom final part of today's show folks is we're going to dive into the buy sell hold you guys know the drill uh the submissions are generated by our subscribers at Irish breakdown and so we have a thread that goes up my guy salty puts it up every Tuesday you guys hit your submissions during the season it's a little tougher to get to all of them so I have to make some choices on ones that I pass on uh so some are you know I got kind of multiple submissions about the same thing so I'll just take one of them there's some that I really liked but they were more down the road and then some others I just I did I wasn't able to fit all of them into the show but there were some great submissions I'm going to try to go back later tonight and respond to the ones that I didn't bring up in the show and then the other way to get a Buell hold submitted is that you sub submitted Super Chat which we appreciate then we do have three super chats here real quick Zach Martin Stars don't matter on Saturday's One play one life love it man absolutely love it thank you for the Super Chat Mark or Zack Martin and you are correct it's it's just going to come down to who how guys play on Saturday stars do not define you sometimes they get it right sometimes they don't it's about the talent that's ultimately what matters Iden bami with a super chat thank you Iden big deal with chance Tucker injuries limit quarterback is it Saturday uh first of all I'm not concerned about I I'm let me say I'm bummed about the injury for chance Tucker for chance chance is one of my just love love his family great kid everything you want to not to a kid to be about has had opportunities to transfer wanted to see it through wanted to get the N degree loved being part of this team and he was a kid that went down with an injury in just in a bad way and you just feel terrible for him the reality is is Leonard Moore was basically had passed him up already or was on the verge of passing him up so it doesn't really affect the to deep at all and you know yes if you have another injury or two it could be a problem but I'm I'm comfortable with where the quarterback dep chart is right now I mean he was chance was battling for the Number Four Corner Spot no Dame only really needs to play three and his hold on the fourth quarterback spot if he even still had it was uh was 10 and he was going to lose and I don't even like talking about that too much because I feel like I'm I'm being down on chance and I'm not I love that kid but Leonard Moore's just a really talented player and he was gonna pass him up H but I love I love Chance's competitiveness and just an awesome kid and I hate to see him go down but I'm not I'm not concerned about cornerback depth until they lose another guy maybe two then I start getting a little bit nervous A1 12321 Brian has there been any feedback on how nap has handled n First Team D including exotic blitzes and stunts well I mean I haven't heard anything specific Beyond just the only thing I've heard is that he has been their most consistent player there and that means he's h i mean i that that that doesn't I'm not told this but that can only mean that he's handling himself well you know consistency is is what you look for in an offensive lineman that he was more consistent than the other tackles and that's why he's playing it's not about upside or potential or anything like like that it's about right now he's their best guy and that's why he beat out Tosh Baker and from what I was told it was not really all that close like once nap got in there and started getting reps it was kind of over pretty quick there and and we'll see if it's the right choice or not but I mean he he was I was told this by multiple people he just was steady he was just consistent and then the other thing about him that I heard is he's very strong he one of their more strong I I know one show I said he's their third strong EST that was a mistake on my I misspoke I meant to say one of the strongest I don't know if he's first second third fourth but he's in that top group from what I'm told it's just pure strength so um I mean if he if he was struggling to handle n RS front then I highly doubt he'd be starting but as far as specifics as I don't have any real specifics to that as far as like how he's done specifically against the Zone the pressures and the stunts that Nim does so let's get to the biso hold and we're going to kick things off with cousin Eddie's mobile home it's got four submissions here so we're going to Rapid Fire through the buy so hold the nerd name o line outperforms Texas A&M's o line uh I hope so I mean I'm I'm gonna buy that as an optimistic buy I don't know that that's gonna how it's going to play out but I buy that as a potential as a possibility it certainly can be that way and that's going to what it comes down to right like not only which dline plays better but which o line plays better is going to be a big part of this by so hold n name's dline plays as well if not better than A&M's dline well those two things kind of go hand inand right if if not nam's o line outperforms A&M's o line then that means Notre nam's dline outplayed A&M's dline so those two things kind of go hand inand Bice a hold Riley Leonard out plays Connor Wegman I buy that if it doesn't happen then that that's where Notre Dame could kind of run into some problems and then BYO hold notame wins by two plus scores and opens some not all eyes there's a couple others like this and I would love to buy that it's certainly possible but I I I'm going to sell that because my prediction will not have Notre Dame winning by well I'm going to hold that until tomorrow my friend I'm G to hold that till my prediction comes out for tomorrow but is it possible for Notre Dame to win by two plus scores sure am am I saying it's a oh a given no it's definitely not a given just like they could lose the game uh we'll see how it plays out but I'm going to hold off on that one until my until my score prediction comes out for tomorrow ball pen shalele bisle the great one Jaden greous has seven plus catches and two plus touchdown catches at Texas A&M dude I hope that's right I'm I'm you know that that's a lot of production seven C plus catches minimum seven and two I'll tell you this if he if he does that this game won't be close I will absolutely say that I'm gonna I'm goingon to sell that one that's a ton of production I that's a lot I'm gonna sell that but I think it's certainly possible uh B hold the great one is name the MVP the Texas A&M game again I hope that's accurate I'm gonna sell it because I think it's it's going to be somebody else I think it's gonna be Riley Leonard or someone on the defense but I'll okay if it's Jane greous and then by so hold the great one is already in the eisan conversation after week one I'll definitely sell that when even if he has seven catches and two touchdowns he's not going to be in the kai conversation after one week so no no matter how much some of us uh Jaden greous fans would like to think so yeah next one from Brother Thomas thank you brother Thomas by a hold n name wins by double digits and then narrative from haters goes from n name is not that good to n name is still not that good but Tex A&M is just worse okay I'm not selling I'm not buying this based on the wins by double digits I'm buying the premise of if they win by double digits the narrative goes from Notre name is not that good to notame is still not that good but Tex is just worse I am going to sell that in the uh areas above the Mason Dixon line and out west and I'm going to sell it down south because up north and the Northeast the narrative will be big win by Notre Dame if they win by by what you said double digits it'll be great win by Notre Dame no question what will be set stated by the people like Paul fine bomb uh and and the SEC crowd is oh well A&M's not that good you guys know this Notre Dame is not going to get respect for beating SEC teams until we see them beat Georgia or B because I Notre Dame fans will say Notre Dame doesn't win games like this despite the fact Notre Dame has won two bowl games over LSU in the last decade despite the fact they beat s South Carolina in a bowl game despite the fact they've beaten everybody in the SEC not named Alabama or Georgia when they've played then the reality is is you're just not going to get that respect until you beat one of the two quote unquote big dogs that's the reality of it so up North Notre Dame will get respect for that down south and SEC territory they will not it will be about A&M not being that good 100% Paul fine bomb's going to get on his channel and spew his utter nonsense about A&M's not that good and he'll say whatever he needs to say to get people to click on his links and to watch his show because there's no actual seriousness analysis there there's no serious analysis there it's all clickbait and so the narrative will 100% be A&M's just not that good and then if A&M goes on a run and let's say that A&M wins their Chief Brody I'm not at all surprised that you like liked Paul fine bombb I love you man but I am not even remotely surprised that you just said you like Paul fine bomb it fits with a lot of what you feel about Notre Dame there's no doubt I love you man but that's just a fact but let's be honest about something else if A&M loses to Notre Dame and let's look at the rest of Texas A&M's schedule let's say that Texas A&M goes on a run and they win a bunch of games and let's say they beat B in two weeks on the road let's say they beat Arkansas in D in Arlington in end of September beat Missouri at home beat LSU at home beat Auburn on the road and beat Texas in the final game and let's say they go 11- one and they're getting ready to play Georgia for the SEC title you know darn well that ESPN and especially the people on the SEC network and SEC fans and SEC analysts will simply say bet you Notre Dame doesn't want to play Texas A&M now it won't be man Notre Dame beat that really good Texas A&M team it will be well A&M may have lost then but they're a different team now and you know why I know that ESPN is going to say that because that's exactly what they said in 2018 Notre Dame beats Michigan at home to start the 2018 season only won by a touchdown was never that close it was 21 to3 at one point in time but at the end of the year before the Ohio State game freaking Kirk herb Street goes on his show and basically tries to argue that Michigan should be ranked ahead of Notre Dame even though that Notre Dame won the head-to-head convincingly so in a lot of instances because well that was back then they're a different team now they weren't a different team as Ohio State showed the next weekend when they absolutely dominated Michigan and hung a 60 spot on him but that's the narrative and that will absolutely be the narrative if A&M loses to Notre d even if it's by 20 points and goes on a run and wins 10 or 11 games it will be well Notre Dame only beat them early they wouldn't beat him now that will be them that will be the narrative so uh in a lot of people now a lot of Northern folks Big 10 folks I think they will give more credit to Notre Dame because it fits their narrative but that's absolutely how it'll be played out that's absolutely how be play it'll play out in that type of situation so um yeah it it will just depend on on where you go that's absolutely right all right let's get to some more from this one BR for Southside chish by a hold nerame goes for over 350 yards of total offense against A&M I'm buy that I don't know that it's going to be a lot over 350 but I do think they're going to go over 350 B so hold the 26 noname recruiting class will receive at least four more commitments by Thanksgiving absolutely by that I think they'll certainly get the four Greg neelon biso hold typically positioned coaches get a fair amount of latitude in determining who will start but the decision to start a true freshman at left tackle indicates Joe Rudolph Mike Den Brock and Marcus Freeman at minimum came to a consensus that nap won the job absolutely by that Craig look did is this a situation where Joe Rudolph determined that he wanted Anthony knp to be the left tackle believe so yes if Mike demock and and Marcus Freeman don't agree with that guess what Anthony nap's not starting a left tackle simple as that that's a very important just like if Gino gulli was like hey I think we should start Steve Angeli quarterback he didn't I'm just using an example Mike denrock and Marcus H like yeah I'm glad you feel that way but that's not happening Riley Leonard's our quarterback uh same thing here and and and I don't care if Mike Dem Brock's the tight end's coach receivers coach quarterback he's the offensive coordinator he's ultimately in charge of everyone that plays if Mike Den Brock wants to overrule D mull on who he's GNA have at running back on a play he does same at receiver same at tight end of course because it's his position and same in the offensive line but also in a situation like this where you're not only you're talking about your left tackle but you're talking about starting a true freshman left tackle who's going to comp who's going to protect the blind side of your of your franchise quarterback you know Marcus Freeman was part of that conversation so the only way Anthony knp starts at left tackle is if they all agreed that he gives them the best chance to have the best offensive line they can have no question no question so I'm definitely buying that Greg that's a good submission next one from Greg I believe he had two for quarterbacks Bice a hold for quarterbacks a transition from a spread system to a pro style system is more difficult than a transition from a pro style to a spread I'm going to sell that Greg because it just depends on the quarterback you know there are some guys that could go from spread to Pro style and and do just fine and other guys are going to need more time to transition it just depends on on where who you are and what your specific skill set are if you're a very athletic quarterback who's playing in a spread system or a pro style system you're not going to have a tough a super tough transition going to a spread uh if you're a guy that that does some of those things and then if you're a guy that just drop backs and throw drops back and throw it you're there's going to be some some stuff in the spread the thing that made I feel like maybe R Sam Hartman's uh transition ISS quote unquote issues factor and I don't think Sam Hartman had really bad transition issues if you go look at Sam Hartman his four best games were his first four games I I I believe that that and his offense also is very unique with that slow mesh very very unique technique I think actually if anything I would argue that going from Pro style to spread is more difficult because your footwork changes so much more when you're when you're doing your play action and handoffs in a in a spread than what it does your your reads change dramatically there's a lot to it so I actually would argue it's the opposite but I don't think it's by a ton I think they're both require technical Transitions and read transitions that make it a challenge but good quarterbacks and smart quarterbacks can obviously get it done let's get down here to some more biso holds we have one from third and seven Duo biso hold both coordinators win their respective Coach of the Year Awards I don't believe that there are two assistant coach Awards I believe that there's one I could be wrong on this but I believe there's one and any coach can win it so I don't know that that's even possible but I did in my bold prediction have that one of the coordinators will win the broyal award which goes to the top assistant so I at least buy one of them the second one says with weather looking to be a non-factor Kyle Field will be a non-factor by the fourth quarter well I still think weather's going to be a factor I don't think it's a non-factor uh but it won't be the factor that people made it out to be number one but it's still a factor but if we buy your premise Kyle Field will be a non-factor if not name plays better I mean if if it's a close game in the fourth quarter Kyle Field and what I believe you mean by that is the loudness and the the the size of the crowd will will not be it'll be a factor if it's a close game if Notre Dame's up by 17 20 points then guess what it won't be a factor I've watched Michigan State games where in the fourth quarter Michigan had trouble communicating and seeing you know and getting into their Rhythm because of how loud the crowd was at Spartan Stadium well the last time I was at Spartan Stadium back in 2017 Not only was it not a factor in the fourth quarter half their fans had left by the time we got to the fourth quarter because nerame was beating him so bad and so of course then it wasn't a factor it was a factor when I was there in 2010 so in a in a much more competitive game so it just depends on on what the score is I me that that's always true be honest with you now I if you're saying like Okay but I think the game won't be close by then but I hope you're right I hope you're right I just think it's going to be a little bit more competitive than that but I hope that you're I hope to be wrong I hope this is not a close game I don't like close games it can be stressful absolutely can be stressful third and seven Duo also says n name's home field and weathered this is an interesting one when I put this in I wanted I was looking forward to get into this one Notre Dame's HomeField and weather advantage in December is greater than Southern teams have at the beginning of the season it's harder adapt to cold coming from the south than heat coming from the north I actually agree with that and there are things you can do to because like with the heat from this from the in the South it's it's not so much the heat that gets you it's your it's your conditioning level and your preparation your hydration your nutrition and all those type of things you can like there and I know that there's a lot made of it and and I understand that and I'm not saying it's easy but the reality is is it's it's not what people made it out to be if you're proper conditioned if you have a good rotation if you have a um a game plan in place that kind of plays into it if if your players are properly hydrated for the two weeks before all those things factor in you can handle the heat it is much harder to prepare for cold because it's it's not a conditioning thing it's and honestly it's as much a mental thing like going from 80 degrees in South Bend to 95 in in in Texas is not the kind of jump that going from 60 de in Florida to 10 degrees in December in South Bend it's a much different deal and per I mean we've seen examples of this in the past I mean even in a bowl game you guys remember the 2010 Sun Bowl when Miami shows up and it's cold it snowed the night before no name players are out there on the field in short sleeve shirts and the Miami kids are coming out on the field with you know their faces covered long sleeve and they want to no part of that cold there's just you can't turn your heat down you know your air conditioner down to 35 in your indoor facility you just can't do it so absolutely it's gonna it's it's more in in that case it's more of a a challenge if you are coming up to you know below freezing weather that's that's hard man that's really really hard there's no doubt Liquid Gold ND by so hold Notre nam's defense will score at least one touchdown and forc two turnovers against A&M I mean I'm buying it's possible I I don't know that I'm going to predict it but I'm buying it's possible and I think it would certainly be big for no to aame uh there's no question about it absolutely can be big for no to aame I want to go back to address something too from before because somebody just said I said Robert Bishop said I disagree you can always put more clothes on you can only take off so many layers before the law gets called that's actually not something I agree with because in football players want to wear as little as possible I mean KN knees don't even get covered anymore football players do not want to put a lot of layers on and when you're a a skill player for example and you've got to put um multiple layers on and your body can start overheating and not reacting well to that when it's cold out side uh there there there's a lot of your hands get a even with gloves on your hands get tighter because your skin shrinks when it's cold it can be harder to grip a football a especially a cold football because it becomes very hard to to to handle that it can be hard to kick a cold football your muscles tighten when you're that cold you can put as many clothes on as you want but there's only you can't put parkas on when you're out there running routes right so I disagree that you can do that that it is that way and and and I'm speaking to you as someone who is coached and played in the South and someone who's coached and played in the north I've done both I've played in Ohio I've played in Florida and everywhere in between I've coached in Texas I've coached in Florida or actually not Florida I've coached in North Carolina I've coached in Kentucky and I've coached in Ohio I've coached in Pennsylvania I'm just telling you there is no there is no doubt that playing in the cold is far more impactful on you as a person than playing in heat it's just way different way different so and again I've lived in Florida I've coached in Texas I've coached up north and I've lived up north when you talk about for football players it is very different very very different back to Liquid Gold the national media will be praised raing the athleticism of the not Dame linebackers after the A&M game if Notre Dame dominates them yes I will buy that yes I think that's one of the things that they're going to be uh if Notre Dame's defense shuts Anam down a big part of it will be the linebackers play well and Jack Kaiser's very athletic Drake's athletic Kingston's a very athletic for his size especially Jaden allsbury is gonna play jayen Sneed it's a very athletic second or linebacking core absolutely very very very challenging uh agie kid says that sounds like something a northern native would say call me what you want but I played High School football in Nork Virginia I played college football in North Carolina and I also spent an entire semester in Florida playing Spring ball in Florida I've coached in Texas you can say whatever you want but I promise you I've spent more time at in at football games in the south in heat than you've spent in at football games in the north when it's cold I promise you that promise you that let's get to some more here we got from come on H here we go again this is really annoying I don't know why it decides it wants to do that sometimes it just won't there we go buy so hold from do it to it this is a long one biso hold that Joe Rudolph has shown an early signed this season that he's the right coach for the job going with the inexperienced but talented group it would have been easy to play the older guys and if they fail just say oh well maybe next year he's put a Target on himself betting on his coaching and the overall Talent I'm gonna sell that could it be the case sure it could be the case but I don't think just making the decision to start younger players answers this question what if let's just say like early in early in Camp this is what we would see one day we'd see Rocco at left guard one day we see Rocco at Right Guard one day so we'd see Pat kouan a left guard the next day we see patan a Right Guard next day we'd see Pat kugan a center we saw Sam pendlton every day at Center and when he moved to left guard he only played left guard what if what if moving cougan and Roco around made it harder for them to get into a rhythm but C but Pendleton playing only one spot for the last three weeks allowed him to be more effective what if what if that's the reason this happened I'm not saying that's true but I'm saying is there's a lot that could have gone into this circumstance that could have led to the end result that's not just Joe Rudolph's the guy and what if he made a mistake just because he went with the younger players which we have argued for in the past doesn't mean it's the right decision we're not going to know that till the game gets played now do it to it could it be the right decision could it show that he's the guy if this line plays really well yes it would show that it would mean he had the guts to make this decision and go out there and and and and perform and and the line plays great awesome but just making the move doesn't mean it was the right move we've got to find out if it's the right move first before we start saying that so I understand where you're coming from but I'm going to sell that I'm goingon to sell that smell Rod BYO hold cross Andor Mills break through the line and catch a running back in the back field to force a fumble to set Notre Dame up with field position inside the Texan in before the half that is without a doubt the most specific biso hold I have ever had that is great and I'm gonna buy it just because the thought that you put into that and the specificness nature of that I would absolutely I'm going to buy that I love that and uh I hope that that's exactly how that happen so Absol I'm buying the heck out of that one next biso hold from smell Rod Notre aame will go three for three for field goals on the night uh let's see here I could see that that kind of tracks with what I'm I'm thinking uh from noted a standpoint so uh yeah we we'll we'll see that I'm trying to think of the three for three actually I know I believe that that Mitch I always want to call him Derek Jer that's my bad Mitch Jeter I believe he's kicked at Kyle Field before but I don't know how many kicks he had at Kyle Field so let's actually look at this one real quick Place kicking field goals at Texas A&M so he went one for one at Texas A&M last year two for two on Pats and he went one for one at home against A&M the year before that and then did not kick there so he's one for one there so he's at least kicked in that stadium before so yeah let's go with that one and then there's two ways of looking at that either Notre aame scores two touchdowns and they get 23 points from being uh three field goals or they scored 21 T point they scored three touchdowns and didn't get to 30 either one I like I hope it's not they score one touchdown and they only get 16 that would make me very nervous come the fourth quarter but yeah I can I can I can buy that I can buy that and then Notre Dame will have at least three receptions of 30 plus yards I'm buying that because they have to they're gonna have a tough time winning if they don't get at least three of those yeah I I I or at least if they win it'll be a very low-scoring game KJ Fergie by so hold ner names defense will not be as dominant statistically in 24 in the 24 year despite being a better overall unit because the enrock offense will move faster score more often and take more risks leaving more opportunities for the D to give up yards and points than in 2023 that's certainly possible I'm going to sell this simply so that I can be Devil's Advocate because I think there's Merit to what you're saying is you know if you're scoring faster scoring more points then there's just going to be more opportunities for the other team to you know do all that but I I'm gonna sell it just so I can so I can make this point it doesn't always work out that way sometimes it could also work out this way where let's say that you are correct that Den Brock's offense moves faster and scores more often and let's say takes more risks number one I don't know that Den Brock's offense is going to take more risks being aggressive doesn't mean you're taking more risks taking risks are trying to throw certain routes at your own five that you probably shouldn't throw coming out of your end zone and you throw a pick or something like that they get a short field I don't see that but if the offense moves faster scores faster that also allows the defense to take maybe more quote unquote risks to be more aggressive to pin their ears back because if noted AES big leads because their defense is playing well or their offense is playing well then what that does is that Force Forces teams to be a little bit more onedimensional and they got to throw the ball more which is now playing into the best part of the nerame defense I would also counter with the other part of that is is teams get a lot more points and yards late in games but with the way that notame is recruited you're going to be bringing in some I mean you're you're you're quote unquote you know empty the bench defense line for example is going to be Bryce young Brennan Vernon arml mukum Devin Houston uh junior chamaka maybe Logan Thomas maybe maybe some more snaps for bubacar Kingston vama Assa Preston zener uh you know your your Corners are gonna be like Leonard Moore and Carson Hobs your safeties are going to be you know maybe Bronte Johnson and and Ben minck and Luke talich and guys like that Kennedy llacer like those are some good players so I don't know that it's going to necessarily mean that because I think you could counter by saying the defense is even more aggressive because they know hey I can bring this pressure here knowing that it might give up a play but it also might hit home and give us a big play and we give the offense another short field because I know if if we if we make a mistake here our offense can bail us out that's how I'd look at I'm Al golden is I don't have to be as worried about fearing giving up the big play because I know our offense can protect us so there's that angle to it as well which so I I'm simply selling it because of that but I think there's Merit to what you're saying it it could be a better unit even if it doesn't necessarily look better on paper KJ Fergie also says 2024 will be the year the national narrative changes a Notre Dame is no longer thought of as second tier unable to seriously compete with the modern big boys of college football like Georgia B at all I buy based on my predictions for the season buy absolutely buy this game doesn't do that but it's a buy BK's last Brain Cell three of them here first one byas a whole Drake Bowen will register 10 plus tackles and a sack or two tackles for loss in the season opener I hope so I'm G to sell that because that's putting a lot of pressure on a kid for his first career start and I do think that they're going going to rotate a lot but I hope you're right by so hold Jordan fison will record five plus receptions for a minimum of 63 yards I'm going to sell that I don't know that he'll get to five plus catches I could see him at 63 yards but the five plus catches I'm not sure that I buy that one I I think it'd be more like if he has 63 70 yards it'll be on three or four catches because he'll have some big plays and you know I'd like to see that though I wouldn't mind that b so hold nerd name will record at least three sacks that one i' definitely buy tatted up Irishman bu so hold five current notto name wide receivers will collect an NFL paycheck to some degree practice squad special teames Etc I buy that now not next year but between Chris Mitchell Jaden great house Bo Collins Jaden Harrison KK Smith cam Williams Micah Gilbert Logan salate and even Jaden Thomas that's nine guys that could potentially be there so only five of them have to get there I'll buy that I buy that bu so hold three current running backs will do the same oh I definitely I mean I think three might even I mean if I was doing an over under out on this I'd probably go three and a half as my under as my set number and I would still take the over I think J jadarian and Jeremiah for sure I think are NFL players and it won't shock me at all both the freshman spend time in the NFL because again your your bars low as far as the practice squad I certainly see that yeah I I I I'm I'm buying on both of those to be honest with you and then uh this last one is a a little bit interesting the backup o line in 2025 would be a top 25 unit if they started as long as no one transfers out my first thought was come on bro that's a little homish but then I started thinking about it so let's say that the current starting offensive line is the starting offensive line for next year so knp Pendleton Craig uh shra and Wagner so your backup offensive line would be Charles jagas uh and we'll we'll we'll assume the two seniors don't come back for fifth years for the sake of argument let's say left to right you're going to be jagas saww left tackle you're going to be Joe aing at Center gerby Lambert at right tackle and your two tackles are most likely Sullivan Abshire and Christopher TK who would then be Juniors yeah that's pretty good that's a very talented group very talented group so yeah I I mean and you said top 25 unit if they start yeah I kind of buy that man I kind of buy that I kind of buy that Irishman 7114 between Notre Dame stable of Runners including Leonard and wide receivers on jet sweeps and suffocating defense the o line will lean on A&M's defense and eventually run for 170 yards and three touchdowns I'm gonna sell that but man I hope you're right because that's what they did to Ohio State last year the the difference between this year against A&M and last year against Ohio state is I think A&M has a big Bigg ger defensive line than Ohio state did and and that's why they were able to lean on Ohio State a little bit last year I mean they're their their defensive line had some size to it at at some spots but overall it wasn't a really big offensive line and even some of the guys that were listed a little bit bigger I necessarily thought were like giant players uh and some of them I thought maybe were a little bit you know not not as big as Lista but like Michael Hall for example was 62 280 you know he wasn't a real big guy you know your your defensive ends had some size to them but they weren't as big as the guys that that they have there now you look at obviously Jack Sawyer is let's see here where is where's Sawyer all right gotta go down here so see Sawyer was 64 265 that's big but that's not as big you know JT uh Tua maloa is 64 270 I mean A&M's two ends are listed at 680 290 I mean 280 and 290 you look at uh their other interior guys you know obviously Ty Le Williams was a is a bigger kid uh but um you know he he's he was listed at uh I mean they got a lot of Williams on their roster I'm trying to go through it now um let's see here where is Ty Le this is there roster is very difficult to to manage give me a second trying to why is this not giving me this thing by Jersey number all these ads on these schools rosters are driving me crazy um let's go here but I know that Ty Le Williams was not was was their really only their really big guy that they had last year on their uh on their depth chart so here we go okay now now we got a traditional search here okay so you look at their D tackles last year Michael Hall 62 280 Tai Hamilton 63 295 um you had Will Smith Jr didn't play a ton I don't think he even played that game you had um where is Ty Le here we go down here uh Josh mickens didn't play Kaden Davis didn't play um trying to find some of their other ends because this roster is not loading the way that it should be Ohio State y'all need to get up on your roster you need guys get your roster fixed is this is this isn't good this isn't uh this is what I want to be Ty Williams was listed 62290 hero canoe was 64305 uh taiwon Malone was listed at 64303 Jaden Mckenzie was 62 286 see what I'm saying like it wasn't a real big defensive line A&M's a lot bigger it's going to be harder to lean on them the same way you did Ohio State because they're going to be big and Notre Dame's not as big this years as they were last year at some spots um so and again somebody asked doc Jack asked have you addressed all the A&M fans saying that n o line is undersized compared to what they play in the SEC it is it is undersized compared to what they play in the SEC that doesn't mean anything you know so I mean that doesn't tell you that that they're going to be good or bad you know so we'll see how it goes but Ohio State just wasn't very big they maybe had one or two 300 Pounders in their in their rotation that's it they you know they were good size but again A&M is a whole different animal when it comes to size Jim Hower and biso hold the young offensive line shocks Everyone by winning the line of scrimmage with their aggressiveness and tenacity I I hope you're right Jim I mean I I can't buy it uh I don't I'm not taking the pure Homer takes today I'd love to buy that but I've got to see it they got to show it to me that they can they can win the line of scrimmage I think they can hold their own I do think they can do that but win the line of scrimmage that's going to be tough mates 16 biso hold gerby Lambert is too good to keep off the field he see significant action by the floor say came uh I'll buy that I hope that and and part of the premise of the question that I couldn't fit on the screen was that it's not related to injury I could buy that part of me hopes that that doesn't come true because if that doesn't come true it means that the tackles play really really well and obviously that would be ideal but if gerby Lambert forc his way in the starting lineup by the floor State game that's not a bad thing either it means he's really stepped up and he's playing at a high level as1 12321 the left Bice hold the left side of the offensive line will not stand out as an obvious liability on Saturday I'll buy that I'll buy that that's that's kind of wishful thinking but I'll buy that I'll buy that I'm sorry did you seriously just say in the chat Andrew Gilmore did you just reference The Three Amigos scene with plethora one of my favorite scenes of that movie by the way great movie if you haven't seen it you've depriving yourself of of real comedy movies but uh the the that's a great scene I would like to know that if you tell me I have a plethora that you know what plethora means great great great scene uh by the way so thank you for that Andrew it it kind of distracted me a little bit when I saw have you seen Three Amigos great great movie and if you haven't seen it go watch it because it's one of the all-time classic comedies John Lacy with a super with a biso hold Riley Leonard is the dynamic QB that n name has so desperately needed and leads this team to a win at College Station by putting the team on his back like a Kiren Williams type of player absolutely by that absolutely buy that Reese's Chris notame minus 12 and a half uh my score will not will not get you to that so I'm GNA I'm going to sell that I do predict n name will win I've said that for a while but I don't I don't predict it'll be by more than that so I'm going to sell that buy say hold and upset the same impact as Florida state will happen this weekend so A ranked team gets beat by an unranked team that's good but not not shouldn't have won that game let me go to the scores this week because off top of my head I can't I mean you would West Virginia beating Penn State be the same as I'm and I'm asking this genuine question I want you guys to give me your answer would if West Virginia PE beat Penn State at home would you count that the same as Georgia Tech beating Florida State I mean it's it's they're unranked and Georgia Tech was unranked Penn State's ranked higher than Florida State you know on paper it would seem so but would you all consider that a bigger upset than Georgia Tech beating Florida State uh would Florida beating Miami be on the same par as that even though Miami's ranked lower I and look Bam's gonna Crush Western Kentucky Miss is gonna beat Ferman K State's gonna smash UT Martin Idaho I mean there's not a lot of opportunities you know maybe could a Fresno State beat to Michigan it's highly unlikely and then you know could maybe Boston College upset Florida State again well if Boston College UPS Florida State now then it won't be considered as big of an upset because they will have lost the other one so uh I I I would say I'm GNA say no there won't be because I don't think West Virginia will beat Penn State but uh the game is at Penn State or at West Virginia by the way it's a home game for P for West Virginia I don't know that I consider that as big of an upset yeah you know I yeah I don't know if I can say but it's that's close that's close and the last one from Reese's Christ three big byell three or more big 10 teams lose this weekend well that's a that's a man I don't know that I can go with you on that one so so let's let's let's go see here so we got Ruckers verse Howard that's that's a win win for the the ACC Big 10 nor North Carolina at Minnesota that's a possible loss for the Big 10 Illinois plays Eastern Illinois no chance Michigan State plays FL Atlantic in my opinion no chance Wisconsin plays Western Michigan no chance Penn State plays West Virginia that's possible Iowa plays Illinois State no chance Yukon at Maryland I mean I guess there's a chance but I would say probably unlikely but you know that maybe that's a potential third one Indiana State at no chance Akron Ohio State no chance FIU at Indiana no no chance UTEP at Nebraska no chance Miami Ohio at Northwestern possible Idaho at Oregon no Chance Fresno at Michigan maybe UC at Hawaii maybe Weber State at Washington no chance USC at LSU yeah so there's at least enough games there where um I would say there's a chance they lose three or more I'm not predicting it but there's a chance there's a chance so I'm going to sell it but it's it's more possible than I thought kind of thinking about it at the top so all right let's add one more person to the bye-bye list okay audios L dog buyo hold Notre a will be plus two in turnovers for the A&M game boy I hope you're right on that one I'm going to buy that one as wishful thinking that's what I'm going to do there and then B so hold A&M's best defensive player is from Purdue if A&M were named Purdue with the same similar Talent many would be so worried about this game um many wouldn't be so worried well I'm gonna I'm gonna buy that because what you're saying was if they had same similar talent but the first thing doesn't go with the second thing just because Nick scouton came from Purdue doesn't mean he's joining a roster that has comparable Talent top to bottom because he doesn't he's joining a more talented roster now Purdue had a couple good players on their team last year Dylan dynaman was all American and I for the life of me cannot remember the name of the linebacker who actually LED their team in tackles for loss last year give me a second I'm gon look that up he's actually back this year they moved him to middle line inside linebacker he played on the edge last year uh Kyer and Jenkins had 15 and a half tackles for loss last year you know he he's a nice player but the the overall Talent of that football team is not what Texas A&M's was if Texas A&M had the same roster as Purdue I still don't think people would be as worried about this game because the overall Talent wouldn't be as good now I actually kind of like what Purdue did this offseason they had a lot of portal guys that I like now we don't know how quickly they're going to adjust but they got some kids from Georgia that that you know CJ Smith is a really fast receiver that noted Dame went after for a minute when he was in high school so you know they'll be a a better team than they were but they're still still not a game that people be concerned about but to your point if if they did have the same exact roster if all if Purdue had the same exact kids that A&M had so like I'm GNA sell the actual thing that you kind of that you brought up as far as like the first part of it the second part of it is if A&M and Purdue if A&M was was you know if Purdue had the same roster that A&M had if all the kids from A&M got transferred to Purdue would Notre aame fans and would the media be as worried about this game absolutely not absolutely not they would not be know because look there's a lot of people that care more about the name of the Jersey or on the helmet than they care about the quality of the team I made a point on the board said Notre Dame doesn't win games like this I'm like yes they've win games like this all the time and I pointed out how Notre Dame has seven wins the last few years they won at North Carolina nine- win team years ago they won at a ranked Syracuse team two years ago they won at a ranked uh an NC State team last year that was unranked when they played but spent half the year ranked and is a preseason top 25 team again this year no name has won plenty of games like this and then somebody Duke last year and somebody's response was Duke and Syracuse aren't Texas A&M and my answer is based on what based on what the last two years Duke has gone 17- n the last two years Syracuse has gone 13 and 12 the last two years A&M's gone 12 and 13 So based on what they have an SEC patch in their Jersey and they have Texas ANM on their helmets that's basically what it comes down to that's that's where the perception comes from so if if Purdue had the same roster that A&M had no people would not be as concerned about this game that but they would it would be the opposite mistake people would be discounting Purdue because they're Purdue and not giving enough credit for the town that they do have they would not be talking about Purdue as having one of the best D lines in college football the way that they are A&M they'd be wrong in doing so they would not be talking about A&M having a very underrated unproven but underrated backfield like I think that they have with Connor Wegman and Le'Veon Moss andari Daniels in this Colin Klein system they would not be giving them that same type of credit because they'd be Purdue they would be incorrect they would not be talking about Tor York as a potential breakouts our linebacker because he'd be at Purdue and they'd be incorrect so it's a double-edged sword because no people wouldn't be as worried about this game but Notre D fans would just assume they're going to win and give them no credit and then if it was a close game like I do think this game will be then the angs would be oh I can't believe you barely beat Purdue so yeah it would not be the same amount of worry but I think the mistake would then be on the opposite end of what they're doing now is right now they're worrying unne necessarily and then if and the other side is they would be they would be unnecessarily dismissing Purdue and I think that would be a similar mistake to what they're doing now which is this angst that you know how not a possibly going to win this game Connor fit by so hold by the end of the season we will be looking at Sam Pendleton Ashton Craig and Billy schra as a top 10 trie on college football I hope you're right I think it's possible I kind of felt like if Rocko Spindler won the starting job at guard felt that way I absolutely did I've said I've said so I think Ashton's very good I think Billy's very good I I thought Rocco was going to win that left tackle job and I was to boy that inside of your line is going to really carry the day the this whole season and the reality is Sam Pendleton beat him out and so now you go into the season with with a guy that I thought had a chance to be a pretty good player and he got beat out by another guy whatever the circumstances is the the coaches felt that he outplayed him so I don't think that diminishes my my thoughts if if if penlon was playing because Rocco got hurt then I would say okay maybe not but in their eyes he outplayed them and so I it's hard for me not to to think that to be honest with you so yeah I I I I I'm with you now tackle we'll see how the tackles are but inside I agree with that Connor Shelton Hagar hey man it's been a long time Sheldon good to see you really good to see you with the post buy one sell one hold one if you're the head head coach make this pick for your starting running back buy a starter hold his back up sell his cut off the team goodness gracious um I mean Tim Brown didn't play running back I'm I'm trying to think is there someone else that I'm missing did you mean to say Jim Brown maybe let's go with that let's go with Jim Brown um so I'm going to sell Tim Brown or Jim Brown if I if it's Tim Brown he wasn't a running back so selling him because of that and if it's Jim Brown I'm selling him simply because I never saw Jim Brown play and so I can't compare guys that I've seen play to someone I've never seen play and so it's just it's one of those things I always say this I can only compare people that I've seen play now if you talk to somebody like my dad or somebody older they'll tell you Jim Brown might be the best running back to ever played football and I don't have a say in that the numbers were phenomenal but I just I never saw him play so I can't tell you in that situation I'm buying I'm buying Bo Jackson and I'm I'm holding Derrick Henry so he's my backup Bo Jackson was Unreal good and he was a guy that split time between NFL and Major League Baseball if if he would have been a full-time football player and stayed healthy he would have been he would have he would have done some amazing things amazing things he was an unreal best athlete I've ever seen in my life uh just I mean Dion I know Dion played baseball Dion wasn't the baseball player Bo Jackson was Bo Jack was a legitimate All-Star baseball player and if Bo Jackson would have committed to actually playing football I mean baseball in a fulltime he would have been even better uh but he was a significantly better player than than Deion Sanders was and other guys that have played multiple sports but he was uh he was exceptional very exceptional and he had I mean Bo Jackson hit 141 home runs and really only played four years because he got hurt in playing in the NFL and and yeah he was he was very good very good good so buy B hold Derrick Henry sell Jim Brown all right let's go to uh uh D mesac I think I got it right this time thank you for that email on that not Bice aole no name as a running back exceed 100 yards rushing against A&M not a bis hold but curious as to which back you think would most likely do it well I'll tell you this uh I'm I'm selling that they're going to get a back to 100 yards just I don't think you're going to be able to run for that kind of yardage against A&M and if one back gets to 100 then they're going to run for a lot of yards because I do think three guys are going to carry the ball a lot between the two backs and then all also Riley Leonard so I'm G to sell that but if a back does get to 100 yards I mean who would it be oh boy uh you know I I if I had to predict it I'd probably say jadarian price I could see a Sit situation where jadarian gets to 100 yards rushing and then Jeremiah gets to over 100 yards total offense let's say he gets 65 rushing and 50 receiving or something like that but if I had to if I had to pick one i' I'd probably go jarian price and part of that's just this is a this is a game for him that the stuff that he does well I think will fit in this game the other part of it is you know we have seen a game where these two kids played together and it was jarian that had 100 yards W link by so hold with a new o we will see a more aggressive style of play in the big games compared to the more conservative style we have seen in the past against top opponents I hope that's a I'm buying that because that's why you bring in Mike Den Brock but I hope that Marcus Freeman lets him do that that's my only concern is that I mean because I know part of the reason that past OC's like chip long and Mike Den Brock to a degree before and and play guys like that did kind of be more conservative was the head coach and we've seen that from Marcus Freeman he's played a role in the conservative nature in those big games is is that going to change now that he has a different see in in a different roster we'll find out I hope so I'm going to buy it for now though walk on carry off 78 B hold assuming an undefeated September notame will be five or higher in the AP polls by month's end yes mean they've only got to be they've only got to go up two spots right and when you look at some of the games that get played early in the season mean there's a pretty decent chance that at least one team loses that's in the that's ranked ahead of them mean you know the weekend one you know maybe a I mean let's just say hypothetically that in week one you know Clemson upsets Georgia something like that happens I'm thinking of some other teams that are ranked ahead of them that might lose their arm there really aren't many unless it's a huge upset but you know let's say that uh you know Clemson beats Georgia or I know there's some big games in week two not Dame is seven so Penn State doesn't have anything to do with it Ohio State's not losing to akan all right let's go to week two because there aren't any of those games in week one let's go to week two I know that when does Texas play Michigan is that week three okay so so you know number four Texas at number nine Michigan You could argue there if Michigan wins that n would jump up but maybe Michigan jumps n Dame potentially but if that happens then I still see Michigan losing at some point time in the in the near future maybe even in September because they do play USC on September 21st I could see something like that looking at other teams ranked ahead another Dame in week two Georgia plays Tennessee Tech all right let's get down to here some more of these top what give me give me to the top 25 guys I'm trying to get to the oh they don't they won't sort it by that way okay so let's go down I don't see any other top five teams that would lose in week two outside of Bama play South Florida that's not going to be a close game let's go Ohio State plays Western Michigan so yeah not a lot of opportunities in week two Oregon plays Boise I mean maybe it'd be a huge shocker I highly doubt it but maybe let's go to week three so this is now mid September here uh let's see some of these top 25 games Alabama plays at Wisconsin unlikely but possible you know that a team like that could get knocked off uh we've got Oregon plays at Oregon State again unlikely but possible that something like that happens so not a ton of games where teams ahead of them could lose but if Notre Dame beats Texas A&M and like convincingly Georgia plays at Kentucky and unlikely but possible so if you get into a situation like that you could you if you're going to jump in you'd have to kind of jump in and and because you dominated in that particular game that's going to have to be the key and there's going to have to be some upsets like Ohio state gets upset at Michigan State or Oregon gets upset at UCLA something like that it would have to happen I just don't see a lot of that happening so if you beatm convincingly and you beat Louisville convincingly is there a chance that another name gets up to five or higher in the AP pole yeah you because then only maybe one team has to lose maybe another team just doesn't play great and then you leap them anyway it's possible Jace Whitney by a hold Riley Leonard makes big time plays against A&M and quickly becomes a star from r m year buy also buy sell hold from Jace Whitney a receiver not listed on the depth chart makes an impact play on Saturday so that would have to be someone that's either KK Smith it would have to be KK cam Williams or a Gilbert I'm going to sell that because I need to see something from all of them but it's possible it wouldn't shock me it's possible but I'm going to sell that for now okay let's go to Irish Catholic if Notre Dame wins at College Station they head to Los Angeles 11 and0 I want to buy that I do but I also am trying to be consistent and I have predicted that neran would beat A&M I predicted neran would beat USC but I also predict that ner will be 11 and one I don't know who's going to beat him but I do give them room to lose a game but I was I I I have a good friend of mine who in 2018 said to me before the season I didn't necessarily disagree with him but it was his idea he said if Notre Dame beats Michigan they'll run the table I said okay well you know tell me why he goes if he said if they beat Michigan it's a huge confidence boost this team will have a ton of belief and the schedule does not really have anyone on there that's comparable to them talent wise I mean he was right they didn't I would argue that this schedule has a tougher slate than that one I mean after the after that game you had at Virginia Tech who was okay Florida state was okay they weren't they weren't great the year before um you had Northwestern who ended up being ranked Syracuse end up being ranked USC wasn't great you know I mean they they they had lost a lot of guys from the year before so you expected a down Year from them to a degree you know I don't know that there's anyone on that schedule as good as what I think Florida state will be or what as good as what I think this year's Florida State or USC will be or even as good as what Louisville would be so it it was a little EAS easier to run the table on with that team than this one but his point still stands that because he feels the same way about this year that if they beat A&M they're going to run the table and his point is the same it's it's going to be about it's going to be about look can you can are you gonna have anyone that's on your level talent-wise and his answer is no and then are you are you gonna have the confidence that you need to really go out there and just play at an elite level week after week because you now believe in yourself and his answer is yes and I can't really argue with that I just have to stay true to my predictions which is 11- one but if they win this game it'll certainly give them a great chance to do that because I do think A&M is one of their two toughest games this year when you take into account timing where it's being played matchups and all that kind of stuff all right let's get into some non-ed aim related bicell holds as we end this from Dr troll Hunter bis a hole floor state starts season 0 and2 which is something he has been predicting all summer I'm still going to sell that I sold that they were going to lose the Georgia Tech got that one wrong I I just don't think BC is that good here's the difference between the two for me one is yes I did I thought they beat Georgia Tech but I said all offseason I think Georgia Tech's a talented team Boston College I don't think is that talented I I think castanos is a very Dynamic player I just don't think overall their team is all that talented I just don't and I'm not sure how well Bill O'Brien is going to thrive with that kind of quarterback does he know how to use a guy like Thomas castios I I don't think that he does so i' I'd be shocked by that I think that if they were gonna get upset by BC it would have been because they came in over confident after beating Georgia Tech I just I have a hard time seeing them lose both of those that's gonna be tough and Mike Norville immediately gets put on the hot seed if they start 0 and two but I'm selling that bis ho Clemson and Miami need to win week one to maintain the acc's chance to get two teams in the playoff I don't agree with that I don't I Miami sure because if Miami doesn't win in the opener they're out of the conversation to get two teams in and and I think there's two there's two aspects to this and I'm I'm gonna assume that you mean both of these number one is if they both lose now you've got two of your three best teams have losses right that's part of it the other part of it is is that if you if you lose two games to the SEC then that's going to make it harder for your team to get in there and and Thrive or to get into the playoff because no matter how much you may Thrive the rest of the year you lost that SEC game and the way that the secc schedules are set up it's going to be harder to get that second team so that's kind of where I I would think that you're going with that so I still look I still feel like let's just say Clemson loses this game and then loses to Florida state Florida State runs the table the rest of the way beats Clemson beats Miami and then Clemson beats them in a rematch and Florida State sitting there at 11 and two I still think Florida state gets in the playoff I do if let's say Miami let's say Clemson loses to let's say Clemson beats Florida state Florida State's 10- two Miami is 11 and or Clemson's 11- one their only losses to Georgia and they get beat by Flor state in the rematch I still think two get in Flor state gets the automatic I still think Clemson gets in so no I don't I I don't think that that it they they still have a shot to get two in to your point it would be harder but I still think that they get to in and then bisle TC will win more ACC games than SMU this season I'm gonna sell that um I know I know we you and I were chatting during that game on Saturday I'm not overreacting to that I actually like how SMU came back and won but obviously you're I would assume you're predicting that TCU beats SMU that's one and then TCU also would then beat Stanford that'd be two ACC wins look say what you want about SMU but they got they get to play this year in conference they get to play Stanford pit at home BC at home Cal at home at Virginia at Duke they will win more than two even if they lose to TCU and TCU beats them in Stanford they're still winning more than two in the ACC so I'm I'm selling that Christopher Crosby by a hold Miller Moss 3,000 yards 27 touchdowns this season if he's their starter all year he'll have far more production than that so I'll I'll buy that as a minimum yes by so hold oi Gordon running back at Oklahoma state has his whole line returning by so hold he gains 2,000 yards rushing if they get to 14 games I'm going to sell that because everyone in on their schedule is going to be focused on stopping them from running the football I still think he'll be very good but I don't see him getting to 2,000 yards I don't and then B A Hold Avery Johnson is the best quarterback in the Big 12 I'm gonna sell that it's not I'm not selling it like with absolutely your way off I just think there's enough good quarterbacks in the in the Big 12 and and there's some overrated guys but like shador Sanders is overrated there's no question he's overrated he's still a good quarterback you know just just like there's this notion that I have a friend of mine who if you say if if he says something overrated in his mind that just means it sucks like no dude I don't think they suck I just don't think they're a top five team I think they're more of a top 15 to 20 team that means they're overrated they're still a really good team and and he just can't equate like overrated with with still being good and shador Sanders is overrated he's still a kid that in a power five League last year completed 69% of his passes thw for over 3200 yards had 27 touchdowns and three picks and that's that's still good you he had over 30 total touchdowns he rushed for four touchdowns I mean that's still good he doesn't suck he's but he's overrated he's still good uh will he be will Avery Johnson be better than him this year that's GNA be tough you know KJ Jefferson's in that League when he's healthy he's a really good quarterback you know you look at Jaylen Daniels at Kansas if he's healthy he's better than in ay D Avery Johnson this year you know you've got uh you've got the kid at Utah Right Cameron Rising you've got Garrett green who I think's a tatt you got Noah faiti at Arizona there's some pretty good quarterbacks in the Big 12 in my opinion so and then what's the kid's name is uh at Iowa State Beck isn't his last name Beck yes Roco Beck uh he's a good quarterback so there's actually really good quarterback play in the in the Big 12 what I'll say this even though I'm selling your premise there will not be a more exciting quarterback in the Big 12 than Avery Johnson he will be the most dynamic quarterback in the Big 12 will he be the best no I don't think he'll be the best I am tenzen this is the last two right here yeah you're right DJ Cameron Rising is not a kid anymore that's a grown man you are 100% correct on that buddy absolutely correct on that I am T and Dante Moore made a mistake transferring to Oregon now that he's spending two consecutive years behind more senior transfer quarterbacks I'm going to sell that because first of all he should have never transferred he should have never gone to UCLA to begin with that that was a mistake in my opinion that that's mistake one but I actually like the fact that he transferred back well I don't like that he transfer but I'm okay with him transferring back and I'm okay with him not being the starter because I think Dante has a lot of growing up he needs to do as a young man and a lot of learning he needs to do as was a quarterback and playing behind a guy like Dylan Gabriel who is smart who knows how to prepare who can can show Dante the ropes if Dante is willing to be a learner right so okay Dylan's a starter I'm the backup I'm gonna learn as much as I can for when my time comes I think this would be this will be a great year for Dante because he needs this kind of take a step back learn be a sponge learn what it means to go about your business like a professional every day learn what it means to to study film the right way to practice the right way to prepare the right way to make decisions the right way and then let your talent take over he'll still have two years of starting at Oregon after that and be pretty good in my opinion because he's incredibly gifted player with Dante is all up here and right here and and I think being a backup for a year and being out of Spotlight might help him if he if he Embraces it the right way and and so any Young quarterback that's gone through the things that Dante's gone through and had some of the issues that Dante's had I've heard some things about him in high school about you know just does he process well is he a board guy all those kind of things that say sitting behind a guy like Dylan Gabriel is going to be very good for him and uh maybe he his dad will get his head out of his butt as well the Pack 12 the pack whatever can be reborn out of any combo of Mountain West best andoss West Coast FCS programs jumping to the FBS I mean it can be reborn it won't be reborn in the same format that it was it'll never be like it was let's say that they go out in the in the in the Pack 12 because it's still a thing right and they go out and they get say you've got Oregon State and Washington State let's say that they're able to convince K and Stanford to come back and then let's say they get some combination of of Mountain West teams with I don't know I mean there's some some teams like Conference USA has some Texas teams maybe but let's say you've got Boise let's go best case scenario you get Boise Air Force Hawaii Fresno San Diego State UNLV Wyoming and let's say you poach somebody from somewhere that's pretty good right or decent program something like that it's still not going to be anything like the league that had USC Oregon Washington UCLA all those type of things there's no way it'll be a completely different look completely different and it'll be a it'll be the Pack 12 but it won't be the Pack 12 you know what I mean it won't be that in my opinion so I'm gonna I'm gonna buy that it'll be reborn but it won't be what it was Let's see we have a super chats kind of pop up all right Chief Brody Super Chat all right fine own name wins 24 to 13 that ain't no guess I know that killed you to actually say something good about Notre name buddy I totally get that but I'm I appreciate your Super Chat and I hope that you're right uh your score is not going to be a whole lot different than what mine will be tomorrow just get a little preview of that one so um yeah that's good that's good stuff man it's a great way to end it so that's going to do it for today's show everybody I want to thank you all for being with me today made it through three hours a lot of different stuff to talk about enjoy the A&M fans that were on the channel today 5:00 tonight IB Nation Sports Talk I'll be back tomorrow for our our keys to Victory and prediction show so you're going to want to check that out give us a festar review folks if you are still with us we would love to appreciate we appreciate that always hit that like button hit the Subscribe button hit the notification Bell and if you haven't signed up for the message board I'm telling you guys you keep missing out I keep having people I I waited long enough just don't deprive yourself any further you're going to love what we got going on especially next week when I release the film breakdowns and things that I'm going to be doing for uh postgame stuff as well so definitely want to check that out so have a great great great rest of your day everybody and thank you all so much for joining me today on the Irish breakdown podcast