Notre Dame beats Texas A&M, The Independent LIVE Postgame Show

all right welcome to a live episode of The Independent our typical post game wrapup with a very atypical game to talk about Matt um you know we I think we were talking about this on the field afterwards uh we're both a top Kyle Field way a top Kyle Field but uh this it's kind of hard to find a game between Oklahoma in 2012 and tonight that feels like it matches what happened tonight like the the stakes the moment um you know that was that was year three for Brian Kelly kind of a win three years in the making tonight was year three for Marcus Freeman three years in the making and like I mean you you asked them about it like the transfers the recruiting the staff like all of that sort of fits together to deliver A Moment Like This uh where you come out of Kyle Field 23 13 winners and frankly you've got the best the best win of opening weekend um I I don't know what could be better than going on the road in the SEC uh for anybody at this point than than what Notre name did here tonight it was a program win Pete and in 2012 Oklahoma was the one I keep coming back to certainly 2020 Clemson was biging its own right but you know we did our live show at Esq late last week and we got a very kind of like normal question of like why are they underdogs and you broke out some stats about A&M at at home against ranked teams and about n Dame's history in these spots and N Dame's history again since 2012 not very good and it's not just that they won Pete the way they won um by in some ways not screwing up I mean they won the turnover battle two to nothing they're in a rockus environment things were not looking great for them offensively but there was a faith and a confidence in Riley Leonard when he took the ball six plus minutes left and they're back up I think at their own 15 that that Dame's eventually going to break and it broke in the fourth quarter for nerre Dame late in the fourth quarter for nerd Dame tonight much in the same way it did for them late in the fourth quarter Oklahoma that was a 1313 game deep into the context as well good point and you saw the difference tonight between a team and its first game under a new coach who I think is gonna have them on the upward trajectory and a program that's in year three and as a new strength coach who had these guys ready to go to battle and deliver the knockout punch when it mattered most at the end A&M had nothing left to give at the end even on their touchdown Drive they did not complete a pass n Dame Secondary completely shut these guys down they got after Conor Wegman they only had one sack to their name but they got after him and for nerd Dame not just to win that with that kind of offensive drive but to move the ball to give their defense the rest and to win the way they did uh just very very impressive and the the other point that I think we have to point out first time in my lifetime that I can remember seeing n Dame in a game of this magnitude and seeing that they are the faster more athletic team than an SEC team yeah no I'm with you on that I think that the conditioning was such a huge part of it and it's like you you hear good Buzz about luren Lando and what that means but you got to see it in a game like this and it was just it was undeniable tonight that Notre Dame was the better conditioned team the fitter team um you know to go 85 yards and and really just like frankly a borderline textbook drive that they could have kicked the game-winning field goal with um but Jeremiah breaks it only well not only but in huge part because not's offensive line hit it up perfectly at the very end when A&M's defense was wearing down and like Notre Dame took advantage of that um you know I you know Riley Leonard is obviously a huge part of the story tonight as as he was going to be regardless of the outcome um I think a game that statistically he's going to you know you 18 of 30 158 yards and then he had 12 carries for 63 yards no touchdowns either way but this was kind of the game that he came to Notre Dame to play and why Notre Dame brought him to play to to you know to play in is because he has a chance he can just like will you over the line um you know makes the sideline route to Bo Collins click gets the quarterback run game working you know I think even that inside Zone the touchdown to Jeremiah love it's it's helped set up because Leonard is kind of getting it going on the ground and you know it's when he was asked after the game about coming to not Dame why you come to notame this is a game you come to play and it was it was you know the reasons you come to notame won first to help Notre Dame win make it to the next level second um and I thought like the priority of just like gritting it out tonight with Leonard um really backed up almost everything that we felt about him from the preseason um terms of you know talking to him talking to his family going to Fair Hope just like everything about him was sort of made to you know play in a game like this where it's just it's not about stats it's just about like how you get it over the line and like Leonard did a really nice job at the very end of the game when nerame had to have it and like didn't make any mistakes like there's the no touchdowns but there's also the no turnovers you know Connor wigman obviously cannot say that um you know that's where that's where Leonard really I think made his money tonight is like a smart gritty game um that gave and he gave Notre him everything that he had it was such a gut cheack mature win well again do they win this game last year they do they win it the win before I the year before I don't think so um no I think maybe some of the later Brian Kelly teams do if they're talented enough and I don't know if the 21 team his last team was talented enough but this one I mean to know that nothing not nothing but it's it's a slug of an offense and I know the box score will say Riley lender didn't get sacked he got hit Time After Time After Time and he got back up every single time and there was just a quiet confidence and faith I think that everyone at at at Notre Dame had in this guy that he was going to deliver or at the very least not lose them the game and the defense put them in position where that was the case because again if you told me going into this they're going to win the two turnover battle two to nothing I think they win this one well they won it by 10 but I think they win it you know in a a little less dramatic fashion um they were going to need their defense to step up I had little doubt that they would and and they sure did uh but the offense to get the ball moving particularly on the ground um and to do it in a number of different ways I just thought really good job especially the first touchdown um from jarian price I mean that took the crowd out of the game um until A&M tied it and they started playing Mo Bamba and we start shaking up here because it's so loud they really took the crowd out of the game and you thought they might have missed a knockout punch possibility after A&M was forced to punt it on Fourth and five with the Fall start call uh but A&M comes back they run the ball they don't complete a pass on that last touchdown Drive they they get to nerd A's defense a little bit and you're thinking okay like was that your chance if you're nerd aame I think in previous years you're thinking yep that's a golden opportunity that got that that just slipped out of your fingers and this year and part of this is the schedule and US projecting a little bit but you knew this was a team that had the chance to be special and you knew if they just got through this one it was going to be relatively smooth sailing because I mean I don't know if you watched game day but even Nick Savin said like I'd love Marcus frean but he's never coached in an environment like this one and until you have you know I'm not gonna pick you and they didn't Flinch tonight there were all sorts of opportunities for them to Flinch and look I think we can get this later I think this is a very flawed Texas A&M team I I'm not a huge fan of Connor Wegman at least in the South um the receivers are thoroughly mediocre by SEC standards or maybe no Dame Secondary just made them that way which case more power to theb but there was very little A&M did offensively in the second half aside from that one drive that made me think all right like nerd Dame's in trouble here they just kind of had to hold the line offensively not turn the ball over and wait for that damn to break and again that's a program win to to win the way they did and protecting the football the way they did and scoring 10 points down the stretch there I just think says a lot about the depth of this program the conditioning of this program and what Marcus Freeman has recruited it to be three years in now and I think that uh you know we should give Marcus Freeman some credit for kind of not calling a great game per se because he doesn't call the plays but just like managing a great game in the second half um like he kind of pulled all the right levers I felt like after halftime you know whether that be going for it or not going for it um you know kicking the field goal there at the very end um not even entering the idea into Jeremiah Love's mind that maybe you should go down at the five yard line so he can run more clock um as he referenced the Duke game to my question uh afterwards so I mean that and that's that's sort of to me gets to the three years in the making part of it and you know I've said this on this podcast written it a bunch like Notre name or Marcus Freeman spent two years learning how to be a head coach tonight was the time to take an exam and you know he passed it with a like I don't know a minus um I don't know what grade you would give him for it but like he had a very strong performance as a head coach tonight um they you know they figured out how to not let their offense of line beat them um they did not take a lot of like careless shot down the field um you didn't really take many shots down the field at all um I mean I even think back to the first half I believe it was in the first quarter Riley Leonard is rolling right um Devin Ford sort of comes open late it is the kind of the throw that even veteran quarterbacks want to make every time and you're throwing back across your body and you just don't get the angles right and it sails on you it gets picks and instead of three points you get no points because you're trying to go for seven points and to not make that throw I think you know a lot of the decisions Notre made tonight were to not do something um and that's like that's hard to do because nobody wants to just like play it safe other than like Jim Trestle who is like you know got a little Marcus Freeman DNA there but like even this the decisions they when they played it safe it was right when they went for it it was right I think you know even when Riley Leonard got allegedly stuffed at Midfield on fourth down like that was the right call um so yeah I give Marcus Freeman a ton of credit for his like in-game game management which frankly is not something that we've talked about as a a huge strength in the past so this that kind of gets into like the three years and the making element of tonight yeah I just don't think they let the stage get too big for them Pete I mean yeah 11 penalties for 99 yards is not good that's not going to win you games in most cases some of them were debatable like they usually are but they didn't let that beat them um A&M looked less mature an I mean how many got a tarting penalty in the first quarter like what are you doing they had three fall start penalties on third or fourth and short oh God yeah third one was on a third and one which was just a killer on theer I believe yeah one one might have been on a fourth and five that went to Fourth and 10 I can't yeah there was a there was another moment where it just like it forced Elco to punt when he didn't want to because they they couldn't hold it together at the line of scrimmage right and there was just I mean you referenced the I thought you were talking about the the first Ford play where Leonard just misses him after breaking probably oh no I'm thinking of a different one no I know what you're talking about now in the end zone but the play before the drive before that I mean Leonard's dead to rights that's the thing like he's a tough kid again no sacks but like damned if he if he's not most responsible for that right I mean the line did what they they could but Leonard made you know chicken salad out chicken you know what a lot even if that was a zero even if that was just an incomplete pass or a one or two yard game he never lost Focus he never made the crucial mistake that usually is what undo people on the road in an environment like this and even Marcus Freeman referenced uh in the postgame like wide receivers by Nature are selfish players like they want the ball and they get frustrated when they don't get the ball they were not getting the ball tonight and you could pin that blame on that in a number of different ways I didn't think in the first half they did a great job at all of getting open but when you could go as deep as these guys can even if you don't have a true number one threat you've got a Jaden greous who's going to make a money catch on Third and five that I feel like has already been overlooked because so much happened after it you've got Bo Collins making a huge catch contested right after that and then getting very lucky he didn't get called for a penalty which would have been really costly there for pushing the DB afterward but these guys made the big plays when it mattered most and let's not forget they did it without any semblance of of the Mitchell Evans we thought we were going to see coming into this game yeah I mean we barely saw Mitchell Evans at all um which is significant moving forward that's kind of more of a nitty-gritty conversation later but Matt I'll let you kind of look at the questions uh I just want to give a shout out to our sponsor robach and a reminder that listeners of the independent can use the promo code Irish to get 20% off your first order at robach for all your hoodies quarter Zips polos um most of you probably have seen their new Notre Dame license apparel collection featuring Riley Leonard and Benjamin Morrison you can pick all that up at 20% off at roback.com promo code Irish Matt what do we got in the questions Nick Buck it's ranked Kyle Field now you now that you've been there didn't sound that loud uh I thought it was that loud I thought at its loudest it was but I thought there are stretches middle of the game and I'm sure being 66 for a majority of it had something to do with that but pregame and postgame or particularly the mo Bamba you know late in the game when it was tied and we're upstair I mean we we were told uh uh Carter Carrol sorry who joined us last week warned us about how the Press Box would Shake during certain moments of this game Pete I turned to you when I walked in I said this is a newer structure like this is I thought it was a dinky old like Penn State Press Box where of course it shakes so I was surprised it would shake and the first time it shook in the middle of the first quarter it's almost like you get like this sick nauseous feeling you don't physically see it you just feel your feet below you give out a little bit and that was a little frightening and that happened a lot lot in the fourth quarter when n Dame had a big third down play and and during a number of other big plays so um this is right at the top here for me it depends what you're looking for as far as noise you know this uh Happy Valley Ohio stadium for some games um Alabama I've been to too really really loud I love Clemson but it's smaller this was really really loud and a great environment from start to finish um from getting in game day traffic they manage it very smooth they have the bookstore and student center right next to one of the entrances you could just go in and cool off and buy a Gatorade and not sweat yourself to death like I almost did walking around so much because I want to see everything pregame it was an awesome event and show they put on uh and this one's right up there at the top I'll be curious you know ner A's gonna be one of the best teams of the country this year so I don't I don't say this to criticize A&M but you know this was one I think when you play in the SEC you got to get those non-conference games and I'll be curious in the first year of mik especially as people get more film on Conor Wegman you know how they'll turn out this year uh but I do feel confident saying that when they host Texas here the last game of the year that'll be the loudest venue in college football yeah I agree with that I you know I thought the venue was great I agree like the whole scene the pageantry here is unique and it was very it was very cool to sort of be able to experience it in person um but no this place was not as loud as Miami and 17 Michigan and 11 Michigan and 13 or Georgia 19 and you know what the biggest reason is Matt Notre Dame one Notre Dame one um that that is the best way to take a hostile environment and just make it loud uh and notame did a really good job of that there was NE there was never the the stadium never exploded um and I think that was sort of what you had to be on guard for if you're Notre Dame and just like the way Notre Dame controlled the game like no turnovers uh you know just the turnover on Downs at Midfield which involved a review like there was never a moment yeah there was just never a moment where this it just like cut loose other than that what you know that about 45 seconds in the fourth quarter there I think Sam Pendleton had the false start around it um that was kind of it um you know when you're we're down on the field at the end of the game or the final five minutes it's or the final two minutes it's still really loud but it's because the notame fans are standing right or sitting right behind me you know screaming SEC uh and notame is like pounding Texas a into submission so that's a great way to make it not one of the loudest places you've uh you've played or covered a game or coached uh in a game and you know full credit to notame for for managing the environment you know I I realize that the penalties are not good but um I thought overall they they manage the environment pretty well 107,000 315 on hand fourth largest crowd in Kyle Field history uh the other part that I thought was like I don't know if Cool's the right word but like oh yeah these guys are serious I go into the Student Center or whatever it is right across the street before the game to get a water and I hear people going crazy around the TV uh the place was packed with everyone watching Texas Colorado State Texas ACK on their opening drive and everyone here was very very excited so yeah they're they're they're pretty serious here uh but it was it was a cool very cool very special environment and again like it does not matter how you win like Brian Kelly winning is hard on the road is really hard especially against rank teams you said it three straight ranked opponents came in here and lost top 10 opponents top 10 opponents yeah three straight top 10 opponents had beaten here and that that's saying something I mean you look at every great team they have games like these like they're one on the margins um Clemson I think with Trevor Lawrence came here a few years ago and won by like six they end up win the national title that year like it is a tough place to play and when I got on the field pregame I said to myself yeah like I know whym is favor now not that has anything to do with the actual football but like this is not for the faint of heart and Notre Dame proved themselves tonight as a a tougher deeper different kind of program under Marcus Freeman I think they'd shown in each of the last two years uh to go on the crowd one more said Irish it's loud but not like the horseshoer Mish or ug it's definitely louder than Michigan and I saw Michigan its best last year but Michigan's just built funny like it doesn't get that loud yeah uh what else do we have here there's plenty H spitball idea conditioning difference tonight was incredible didn't see Indy ND players cramp up or vomit Marcus Freeman uh made note of that as well I think he said one person needed an IV the whole game um Jordan fison got banged up a little Freeman said it was an ankle he said Fon looked at him and said I can't come back into this game but I think I'll be good moving forward we'll see what that means but again the difference between like program that's Built For a Moment Like This this guy was what your number one receiver or one of your number one receivers on the first day of camp he goes down and I'm not gonna say it didn't matter but they made plays without him and was a very very big step for no Dame in that receiving Court yeah I think it's worth uh giving a nod to you know Bo Collins five catches 62 yards tonight you know Jaden Harrison just had the two Touches for four um you know Chris Mitchell one for 12 like I was interested to sort of see how Notre Dame could put a passing game together with a transfer quarterback and three transfer wide receivers because like that's that is not uncomplicated to do uh and this it needs work moving forward which I think is completely fine and understandable and I asked Marcus Freeman just sort of about the way Leonard play how they used him tonight and he's like for this game like they don't want to run him as much as they did I think they'd like to throw it a lot more than they did you know in the next few weeks but I think it's um it's especially that 20 yard at the end like that's not easy to do with a couple years to practice it never mind you just sort of showed up in June and figured it out in that kind of a big moment so you know Marcus Freeman gave credit to Mike Brown I would too um I think having the receiver room ready to go in in a game where like no they know there's not going to a lot of deep shots there's not going to be a ton of opportunities to make like a splash play um he had the room ready to go in a in a big moment Andy Don huge win but a lot to improve on what's the biggest surprises good and bad uh I said before Team Speed um you know Stars matter recruiting recruiting recruiting yes it does like this was three years but Marcus Freeman recruiting to n Dame finding the right fits in the transfer portal and going into a place that you know for all their struggles as a program is not lacked for elite first round picks at the athlete positions in recent years and er Dame looked like the better team the faster team tonight uh 21 yard touchdown run from one running back a 47 yard touchdown run from another running back that is really really crucial especially when you look at the way they had to win this game where it looked like big plays were going to be hard to come by um n Dame you knowm flinched first so to speak defensively n Dame took advantage of that and that to me is again the game within the game when you look at what this win means for for them program wise moving forward it means their Dame can go down into SEC country and can can out SEC the SEC when it matters most at least tonight they did and this is a game again you look going into the fourth quarter seeing what it is right now you know they were they were winning in the second half of the Ohio State now no one I think even the most optimistic nerd in fan thought they were gonna win that game but that was because you knew what was on that roster tonight you knew there was more talented on this roster was it going to show itself did Marcus Freeman get some mistakes out of his system the first two years and were they ready to operate you know as an elite program in this kind of moment that very few programs seems like actually get the chance to do and Notre Dame in the fourth quarter passed with flying colors I'm also surprised s Ford was in as much as he was so I think that had as much to blocking he ended the game with no carries I believe yeah he was kind of your third down back I would say the the biggest surprise for me uh in a good way how the non Jack Kaiser linebackers played um this was a big spot you know Jaylen Cen is not that experienced you know big tackle for loss jayen Asbury has barely played outside of special teams four tackles uh Kingston Vasa obviously he never played three tackles um so yeah that Drake Bowen four tackles so you know there were there was not moments where Notre Dame got gashed defensively where like maybe a linebacker Misfit a run or you know his eyes got turned around so I would I would say like the linebacker play was a very pleasant surprise for the non Jack Kaisers of the world and I mean Jack Kaiser LED Notre Dame with eight tackles which isn't that big of a surprise I think that the spot that maybe surprised me in a in a bad way were the the tight end play with uh Eli ran and Cooper Flanigan I I thought was just sort of lacking um you know particularly in the Run game it just it didn't feel like a group that was certain of what they were doing um you know it and especially in a matchup where you knew you were going to need to help some really young offensive tackles um that's a position that I think has got to get a lot better moving forward um because I think you know Flanigan and ran are just they're a lot better and have very high ceilings than what we than what we saw tonight uh from either of them I like unsung hero play of the night Jaden Thomas prevented a pick six in the fourth quarter that would have been the play that broke this place and would have put nerd Dame in a really really rough place so not the best decision Riley Leonard made tonight but luckily for him Jaden Thomas was there to to break it up I mean that thing looked like it was going the other way and he wrestled that thing out of that DB's hands big big play one more from Andy Dan m is that some Esq swag you're wearing it is not I believe it's Marine layer Pete are you wearing Esq right now I am wearing Esq tonight um yeah than me I saw you in that shirt when we got deges out here you know shout out to go Wang for hosting the podcast and making me not like sweep through my shirt all afternoon today it was much appreciated Clint Novak the rotation rolled with on defense to be as fresh as Daisy to clinch it was something to watch I agree doin heines played a lot more than I thought he would and I thought had a really good game as well I mean particularly up front um they really wore on that A&M line now you look at the final Fox score neran finished with 5.8 yards per carry A&M 3.8 uh the two long runs touchdown runs were were probably the difference in that mathematically speaking but they kept these guys in check and again I I I don't say it to criticize nerd a defense they played really well I don't know how good these A&M skill guys are again Wegman did not show a whole lot to me tonight um no two picks kind of an awkward Runner when they put him on the he gets yardage but it doesn't really look natural to him um and the receivers were were I was expecting a little bit more out of those receivers The Backs you go remember they they were going deep and particular at the end EJ Smith had some big plays for them I thought their backs were pretty good but um n's defense really answer the bell time and time again one more what uh Okuma 122 I guess ND could handle the heat it was Conor wingman throwing up and TM guys cramp was he throwing up I I didn't see that yeah it seems to be in the chat Twitter that there was maybe a puke shot but I have not seen it myself um but I will yeah I'm curious to sort of see see that I just I thought A&M just looked incredibly Haggard by the end of the game um just slightly dysfunctional um there was no it's weird to say that like they weren't threatening to win the game and yet like they were never threatening to take a lead at the end they threatened to tie it I guess you had the you know the the not pick six but um man I just I I thought that that is it eight playay 85 yard Drive I think um for the game-winning touchdown you look at the way Notre put that together I was just super impressed with that um the way Mike Dan Brock called it um the way Riley Leonard executed it the throw to Bo Collins is obviously the way they blocked up the game-winning touchdown I think kathern B mentioned in the comments that that was that was the moment where the tight end run blocking game really came and delivered um I'm looking forward to going back and checking that out you know you had a Leonard 11 yard rush in there as well between the Collins 20 and the love 18 score so I just thought that was a real gut check performance by Notre Dame um and I think I don't know if I said this to you pregame but I was talking to some other people in the box like if Notre Dame won the game I felt like Mike denck was going to have to be one of the leads of why and I think that proved accurate with that last Drive I don't I don't think Notre goes eight plays 85 yards last year in this moment um probably not the year before either um it's been a while since not's been able to go on that kind of a Marchin that that's conditioning yes but it's also having the confidence in your offens coordinator and your quarterback to get the job done agree with everything you said Patrick Walsh DBS are gross RBS are lethal in space Irish haters very quiet night it's gross now slaying for good because when I started reading that one I think it's good okay I assume B I'm check with my I saw the question I was like God I thought Benjamin Morrison played pretty well but I'm I'm gonna have to check with my 11-year-old to make sure gross is a a compliment these days my college age brother newling every time I see him and I was like all right whatever you say yeah you know this is probably in the the pleasant surprise of Don Schuler you know first start we kind of forget we kind of forget about that um with everything else that's going on tonight has a pick played well big hits um you know I there was not the defense didn't I don't think the defense made a mistake um I'll be interested to sort of hear either straight from El golden or sort of ask around like how many missed assignments there were on defense I can't imagine there were a lot uh like they never them get away from them and again how many times pass is it that Split Second where they're G on and that just never happened tonight yeah it's just like you feel like the the trayan Henderson running by Ohio State last year like Notre had two of those runs tonight jadarian price for the touchdown Jeremiah love for the end like that sort of big money makes somebody miss the price run in particular like it was pretty well blocked but like price gets the credit for that run and that that was a you know A&M never made that play like I don't even think they you know that's a huge credit to's defense but like A&M just never made that play and it's it's just hard to go an entire game with the opponent not making that play but full full credit to nors defense for for getting through four quarters and not having that happen there were they put Terry bossy at receiver at spots throughout the game and then you know every time they punted or kicked to him you kind of held your breath a little bit uh with good reason I mean you could in small flashes how special that guy could be but it just never marame took care of business defensively like they they they've really played a very very good game and sound game in that regard um anytime had the ball you mentioned Schuler I mean that's another one who you talk about the depth of this program and in my opinion it's in a place that I haven't seen it at at least since I've been covering it um I don't know if I go as far as to say it's my lifetime but you're bringing a guy like Schuler who's a freshman you bring in a guy like Rod herd who's a sixe senior you have him duke it out and camp for a spot mentally I'm thinking that's Rod her's job it's nice to see Scher practice while we're there no scher's a starter and heard play too but like creating that competition and seeing a young guy win out while the old guy still playing like those are the margins I think that take a really good program to somewhere great and then to see it bear out in the biggest moments tonight at A&M with a pick really really special he came out he spoke tonight um he talked about how what a big moment this is like I don't know if Freeman came out as definitively and said this is a statement win but like it's a statement win like this is a signature win uh when you talk about programs so to speak like this is damn near as good as a gets for an opener and when you look at the talent on this team and the schedule ahead of them and you don't want to get tooo far ahead of yourself like it's there is a lot in front of these guys based on the way they played what what they did and were able to accomplish tonight uh Ray La just tagging along and saying 12 and0 I agree I said if they win tonight they'll go 12-0 my bold prediction on the inside Zone was hey wait for this my bold prediction on the inside Zone published I think Thursday was nerd a will finish the regular season as the only undefeated power Conference Team oo all right I like that yeah I mean will lose to Oregon and then beat them in the SEC and Georgia will lose to Alabama and then beat them in the rematch in the SEC Oregon Ohio State Pick 10 I was just going to say as many listeners know I did not pick Notre to win tonight but I thought they'd go 11 and one which like at this point the confidence you get from a game like this I realized this is kind of a big step for Marcus Freeman to have a consistent performance 12 weekends that's really freaking hard to do um you know Georgia Tech is maybe a little bit sneakier than what we would have thought in preseason Florida State H still has some guys um Purdue and Louisville I don't know I'm just Louisville be tough but it's not like you're gonna Overlook Louisville after last year yeah it's it's just hard to be the same team 12 weekends in a row um that's not something Marcus Freeman has been able to pull off in the first two years but you know he hasn't been able to pull off a win like this either so maybe that's part of like the third-year process um you know obviously there is a huge task ahead for Joe Rudolph to get the offensive line better than what they were tonight some of that will help by not having Nick scorton to game plan against every week but um you know I thought that the line was fish like I I think like they they met relative expectations that is different than saying they're good enough to like be you know a 12 and0 type of offensive line but uh man you just look at Notre Dame the rest of the way I I know we're in the the 12 team playoff era where everyone has a probability chart about like you know your odds went from X tox but I mean Notre was sort of at 60 like around 60% I think most places you looked I would think that's probably in the 80s now like right I mean that's the other part like if they lost people would have been disappointed a lot of people would said I told you so I mean I'm sure you get texts from Friends during the game like any game you watch where it's like why can't we do this why do we s you like my phone's blown up with that and that would have been like the the the natural reaction to a loss like this oh here we go again big picture a loss like this would have made the margin for error virtually nothing with this schedule because you knew this would be held against them regardless of how good or bad A&M ends up looking the rest of the way yes and the schedule being what it is 10 and two might not be good enough so you're in a win out mentality even if you don't say that publicly that is a huge Point um that's worth making because the SEC is going to have a large number of atlarge contenders to have won a game on the road in the SEC which notam did tonight I think is is massive um you know it it gives you sort of this point of comparison this this marker that um not a lot of teams outside the secc are going to have like Clemson doesn't have that marker after today um you know it's Virginia Tech does not have that marker after today shout out Clark Le um so to be able to put that on paper this early um you know I'm like Texas A&M they play Missouri which has a chance to sort of be like a 10 and two-ish type of team I would think um LSU notable um a team that's going to be under consideration texus at the end of the year a team that will definitely be under consideration all them here by the way so like Road win at Kyle at Kyle Field like that same comparison yeah great that's a great Point too I mean there's not it's it's Apples to Apples with m&m Missouri A&M LSU A&M Texas Notre Dame has already done it here now those teams have to come here and do it as well and I think that's on top of the fact that like Notre just avoided a loss and it's arguably its toughest game of the season and and should be you know a 12- one 11 11 and one or 12-0 Team by the end but like they're going to have a data point that is either as good as those schools or better than those schools and that's you know the next data point probably is going to be USC and how they figure out um again they also play LSU this weekend but um you know they've got Michigan they've got Penn State you know that's that's going to be another opportunity but like there there just aren't that many opportunities on nerame schedule so to get this this one I I mean this is like a win and a half for Notre Dame you know it's like it's kind of one of those wins that gives you a tiebreaker yeah even though you're not even though you're not in a conference like Notre Dame now has a conference tiebreaker with the SEC that's that's big well you look at the ACC this year again overreacting to one week but all right Miami it's up to you now and Miami was supposed to be on ndame schedule this year that would have been a hell of a game again Bas off one week you talk about a team that had a good road non-conference SEC win maybe it'll be a good quarterfinal game there you go um well Catholics versus convicts so game day today had uh Catholics versus what was it Cadets and then I tweeted a picture bold bold move by the group of ndame fans who named their tailgate uh Catholics versus cultists within throwing distance from the entrance of Kyle Field uh good on you they didn't get burned when I was there um well that was pretty pretty funny uh so shout out to them uh an actual football question and one that I think is worth picking apart throughout the season Daniel Graham How concerned should we be about Riley Leonard's throws tonight seemed like he missed some easy ones that's why well go ahead go I was just say there there were a couple misses that he probably would like back um but I you know I think we saw that in the nerame game last year there there was a a throw that really stuck in my mind where he's got a receiver coming across the formation that b basically sits down between Kaiser and Bertrand and he misses them by like three yards um I think Riley L is just going to like he is going to miss that throw sometimes like he's not he's not a perfect quarterback that's the flaw that you would pick at I think um you know but it's it's something that he's gonna have to get better at during the course of the season um but I mean I think what not's got the next three weeks to work on that before Louisville you know Purdue like Purdue has jumped yeah Purdue's done some weird stuff in the past but um it's a road Big 10 game like you yeah but I think that Leonard getting more comfortable with his receivers receivers getting more comfortable with Leonard like it's I I am reluctant to sort of criticize his accuracy when we don't know if the the route was run at the right depth or what the progressions were but there were at least a couple tonight where you're like um yeah he probably wants to have that one back I don't but I wouldn't see it as like a huge concern no I wouldn't see it as a huge concern but I think when when they're able to win on a night where fans and us are asking that if you're Mike denrock that's great because I'm going to the film room with you tomorrow and I'm looking at everything you did wrong and I'm saying you've got sowhere so many ways you can grow and we haven't paid a price for it yet and and that's you know it's a bit of overa over reactionary statement but you know when when you can learn off your wins that's the best thing you can get uh and it didn't bother them uh Jim scales going for it on Fourth Downs evidence of cultural growth it's funny you know I thought I turned to you in the Press Box right A&M gets the ball deep in their own territory nerd Dame only uses one of their timeouts they end up getting the ball back anyway I think nerame got pushed back because of a penalty but I thought you know you're getting the ball to start the second half maybe now you be a little bit more aggressive and then I'm talking at the end of the second quarter here and they weren't and you talked about Marcus Freeman's in-game adjustments and how he picked and chose his spots correctly tonight and that was a great example of it because he did it on the first drive of the second half by going for it twice on fourth down uh both times running Riley Leonard up the middle it's nice to have a quarterback who's done that before and it can do that and who you can count on to do that and again he I don't know what the ref saw on that very confusing very confusing I thought he was in I didn't think they'd overturn it because never see that get overturned especially on the road but uh I like that mindset and I'm glad they did it yeah no I'm I'm with you I just think that that gets back to what I said earlier in the show I just think Marcus Freeman called a or managed organized a very good game tonight like The Game Plan was good how he executed it just it felt like Notre Dame was knew what it was going to do in the big moments before the big moments arrived if that makes sense like I think a lot of times if you watch coaches and it's like it's very scattershot about like oh like they feel like they're prisoner of the moment sometimes and I just think like Marcus Freeman had the answers because he knew what the questions were going to be ahead of time um and that's that's not a vibe that I've really picked up with him a lot in the last two years but again like you said I think that's real growth as a head coach chance St what are the chance what do you think the chance are Andy goes on fetus I would say more likely than not I know that's like projecting out 11 games and there's a lot that goes into it and I'm assuming decent health for all that but here's my thing with the schedule USC could be really good this year like Miller Moss like most linking Riley quarterbacks could be really good I think every quarterback linking Riley's had outside of Spencer Rattler has finished in the top two of the Heisman voting so like this guy's good if Riley believes in him he reamped his defense a staff that could be a hard game it should be a hard game it's a rivalry game it's the last regular season game of the year with USC schedule I don't Envision a world where they enter that game with less than three or four losses and so it's just for the resume yeah what it should with a team of that caliber uh I'll stand by what I said I know that's a lot easier said than done but the way they won tonight I think is what gives me confidence that you know they didn't get Q tonight they played within themselves they won the turnover battle they were the better conditioned team they leaned into their strengths those to me are all the Hallmarks of a team that's not gonna get ahead of itself not going to be immature and Overlook anyone so I'll stand by what I said before the game if they get through this one I think it'll happen um I think it does I mean what do you think I know not holding after Outlook um I mean it can't not change your outlook um I think it but it's not just like the fact that they won the I I realized it was 13313 in the fourth quarter it's not like they blew them out but notame earned the win there was something like fluky about it you know I I could see if notame won this game 233 but the game-winning touchdown came off a deflected pass that Benjamin Morrison returned for a touchdown like we'd be having a similar conversation about the schedule and how it shapes up and Marcus Freeman and year three and all of that would be the same but I don't think it would have like the guts that tonight did by just playing your style of football and winning the way that you wanted to play it um like you said it was I think it was a very mature performance like there was nothing fluky about the game tonight like Notre Dame was the better team in the end they earned the win and I think it just it puts a lot more guts and meaning uh and relevance in the result tonight than than just the final score like I think how Notre Dame got the job done is equally critical to the fact that they got it done at all yeah as we're walking off the field post game uh nerame players and coaches are going to do the album a in the corner and A&M players and coaches are walking right by them going up their tunnel and I saw a few familiar fa on A&M and we chatted for a bit and and you could you've done this longer than me you can tell everything you need to know about how a coach really thinks about his team and his opponent through the tone in which he talks about them and it was very much like would have been nice to get this one if you're a m like they know that was a really good n a team that yeah I think in their mind they feel not lucky but like oh we almost had them like that would have been such a great thing for us in our first game with these guys uh it wasn't like it wasn't like depressing or or you know very catastrophic catastrophic anger like it was very much like oh that would have been nice because they're really really good and I think that's what you want to hear if you're Notre Dame yeah I mean yeah Notre Dame needed this one more than A&M did they played like it so that's that again that shows growth that you can go into like a high pressure situation and like come out the other side like looking good like that you were in control of the situation opposed to the situation being in control of you Clint Novak wonder if daba watch night now Collins Leonard Jeter all helped Andy win the Holy Trinity Collins oh God I was going to say it was notable that of the three players that came in to talk to us postgame two of them were transfers um the receiver made the biggest play transfer um kicker yeah and the kicker yeah I'm saying kicker the kicker and the quarterback come in both of by the way by the way both of them beat Dabo that is true that is true um yeah and then Bo Collins played for him so yeah I think that uh there is something to be said a lot to be said for like evolving with the game as the game moves um I would expect nothing less from Marcus Freeman because he's he hasn't been doing this long enough to be set in his ways um Dabo I can understand why he's set in his ways because he's done it and he's won two national championships but Notre Dame is not going to get to the top of the mountain by digging its heels in being like but we've always done it this way this is how Notre Dame is and like look it's it's probably more just for show or you know kind of a a a anecdote or an observation without a whole lot of consequence to it but like new ad here tonight people of Aqua new president and norim gets his biggest roadwi since 2012 um so yeah it just feels like norim keep kind of keeps pushing things forward um and if you want to just sort of stay in place then you get to play Georgia at the beginning of your season and lose what like 34 to3 like that was not a good situation I I mean I agree with everything everyone has said all the Chris about Clemson I do want to like withhold judgment because I I could still see a scenario where Clemson wins the ACC and Georgia's just better than them and it's like nope see like Georgia I think yeah I think not would love it if Clemson won the ACC and then they ran into them in the college football playoff like the world is I've said this again and again someone from the ACC is going to be the three or four seed with a Buy in the playoff yeah and everyone's going to get upset about it but that's that's the system we have now and that's going to require some a lot of mental gymnastics and rewiring for all of us to accept that notame goes 12-0 and they're the five seed and they're only 12 the only 12-0 team there's going to be a lot of weight and now again it's going to work out well for them I think assum oh yeah a group of five team but um yeah Clemson eared their criticism George is so freaking good that I've just I'm not going to like you know kick a man while he's down so to speak and be like ha you also lost to the dogs you should add more transfers like yeah you should you probably still lose to Georgia yeah yeah that's there's one thing that you do not beat Georgia it's the other thing to be not competitive with Georgia and that's unfortunately for Clemson where they are today correct Ben Green MO Obama is a nearly as cool in the post cfp2 Ro because you hear it six times a game there a lot of people were tweeting this at me when I tweeted that Mo bomo was the 12th man tonight frm again as I've said repeatedly I've not played the game uh probably for the better but that does sound like a theme but it was cool to cool to feel this place rocking and cool to see Texas A&M Embrace a Texas grad uh even if you didn't actually sing the song yeah no I'm with you it was a that was a good that was a fun part of the game it felt like you were getting the full Kyle Field experience even if it was just a short first of it in the fourth quarter I'm just going to leave this one up here be nice to me tonight I like when nerd Dame wins because then they're all everyone's in good moods and my mentions are yeah so we're like Marine lir is gonna be a new sponsor or something yeah come on someone there is listening yeah uh Patrick Walsh Freeman brought the juice from the moment he came out of the tunnel love that from him I agree I think you were standing right behind me pregame when he led them out and we usually don't get that close because not every uh venue allows us on the field pregame but even on video I don't know if I've seen him in the tunnel with his team as riled up as as as he was there as far as just in their face clapping yelling screaming and then just running out usually it's much more of a understated walk out together as a team I it was pregame and postgame I think you saw just how much this meant we yeah he's a coach and like every coach will say they all count the same he said afterward I don't don't even know who we play next week um but you could tell this one this one was different from start to yeah for the record they played Northern Illinois and as I was told on the field like that game just sold out so I think that's another part of this season that'll be interesting to track sort of like as you know when Notre Dame is good like good good um that it becomes a thing and I think it we're maybe on the verge of nor becoming a thing on a national level Ben green Herby said it the secondary anyone in the country and likely won't fear any of their receivers uh hard to disagree based on what we know and seen from them I mean again you talk about not your older brothers Notre Dame and we got asked I think we got asked this on a pod last week Julian love goes down and Clemson in 2018 all right that game's over um and that was always the story with Notre Dame in those big moments was they just did not have the depth that those National contenders had we'll whether they have it because again a 12 team playoffs just completely different but yeah I mean they they played how many different guys in the secondary tonight yeah I mean that Rod herd got out there I mean Jaden Mickey got out there he you know had some had a couple rough moments there but uh you know I don't want to take it for granted that Christian Gray in his first start did a bunch of good stuff I mean he lost some won a bunch um you know I I know the staff thinks he's going to is a future Superstar but like you know got to go out and see it and like we saw it tonight so that was that was impressive you know Xavier watt sort of picks up where he left off with a pick um yeah I think the secondary this will be one of those Seasons where you don't hear and Herb Street has said it in the past like the team speed thing like you're not going to hear Team Speed stuff about Notre Dame uh not in the secondary not at linebacker not at defensive line I mean good Heavens Howard crossed with that sack um you know in the first half where he just if you could posterize a guard in a center he did um it's it's a very fast defense um you know it's like even we saw Jaylen C just like when he knows where to go it is fun to watch um you know and tonight they got him to the spot where he knew it to go but yeah secondary i' I've said this before like no position had a better training camp than the secondary that showed tonight uh gray had the biggest hit of the night to on that last A&M drive before Dar D took the lead right down the middle really really cool to see fake name terrible offense all routes less than 10 yards fake news fake name that's all I gotta say to you put your name behind it yeah I mean it was that was the game plan tonight there's that this was a Do no harm pass game um and that that's fine especially when your defense is playing as well as it did like if notame got down early I don't think we would have seen the same offense but because the defense played so well it allowed Mike Jrock to call the game that he wanted to call which was more conservative by Nature a lot more short stuff I mean it's I think it made perfect sense to play it the way that they did just posting rebuttal to fake name here and getting a kick out of someone tweet posting at fake name uh Michael blah free man a good night but the one thing that bothers me is calling a timeout and plus territory in fourth down if you're not going to to play that don't stop wasting a timeout just taking a pun I agree I want that my notes in real time um but he did have a great game but I do agree with that another weird One D Man Wayne wri re-elect Ted Cruz Ted Cruz held a press conference pregame which he got asked about nerd athletic director P of aqua and he said nerd's very supportive uh he also said college football and then I also corrupt that Nick Sabin ran away from it which should tell you everything you didn't know I politics aside I think sa being 72 had more to do with um him retiring also he was phenomen on Game Day from start to finish today like I knew he could hold his own as a football talker he was hilarious and I saw ree Davis on the field uh during the final drive and I said that to him and he said we got he said he got a message from an Alabama fan who said um seeing how happy Sabin is right now on TV makes me feel better about him retiring from my favorite team and it like that's the deepest most heartfelt fan message I think I've ever seen from a fan to a coach so looking forward to more that and we'll see maybe Notre Dame we'll see I'm trying to think of a game day worthy game for Notre Dame this year it's it's kind of hard to think of after this week but yeah no I mean I think game day will follow around uh the two semifinals on January 11th so maybe um maybe we'll sit Nick Sav at they gotta do an on campus one for um for the on campus playoffs right they got to choose one of them to go to yeah no good point good not then like if not is 12-0 they're number one in the country but the five seat not would be a good place to go in spite the fact that it's December 20th on subject of game day someone if he hasn't already and I'm assuming he didn't because he hasn't mentioned it yet publicly someone needs to inform Pat McAfee about James Randell because I feel like those two punter Bros who were jacked out of their minds would absolutely get wrong get along and would make for a great segment so someone make that happen Bart Adams wish I could have found a prop bet on Texas A&M four ball starts than ours yeah you and me both be rich men right now again there there's a lot to work on with this line but I thought they more than held they up they never fell the moment never fell too big for them there yes there were some moments where they like you the Pendleton fall start that would be a the moment was too big but like Alabama had nine procedure penalties when they played here last year and their offensive line even though it wasn't like Alabama standards good I think it was like a Joe Moore contender like they they had NFL guys on the line um they had a hell of a lot more like notame doubled its career starts uh for its starting offensive line tonight from 6 to 11 um for No Name just to like function on the offensive line I thought was impressive they definitely had some some beats some mistakes um a young line is going to have that um but as you said earlier like for Joe Rudolph to be like hey let's focus on where we can get better also we're one and0 and won't play a defensive line that good the rest of the season like that's a good combination of things to have Clint Novak this is the best secondary Andy has had since um take this one and I don't know so it's like if you went with the starting group the Julian love Troy Pride Jaylen Elliot alohi Gilman like those are all NFL guys um but we saw how thin it was in the playoff you know a a great underrated secondary 2002 Shane Walton vontes Duff Glenn Earl and um I cannot believe I'm blanking on the other safety's name but um that that was a good that was a really good group um so yeah they've they've had a few like sort of perfect sets um on the secondary and I they have I think they have one now but they usually don't have the fifth guy the sixth guy and the seventh guy guy uh and I think that's the difference with this secondary com compared to some other ones Nathan Z does this team have some 2012 in it offense just needs to do enough while the defense takes care of business culturally this off this offense is way better than yeah say culturally yes because I think they're going to go into every game now believing they can win and knowing they can win uh yeah Jerome sorry Jerome sap I just have to correct that oversight on my part um but no we're not I no this this 2024 Riley Leonard is not 2012 ever goon does not need a 2012 Tommy Reese to come in and save him when the moment gets too big for him um no it's it's they're much much much better and deeper on offense this time around than they were uh 12 years ago ryal noer mid sheer three key field goals goes most unero most unsung hero here yeah I mean it's not something I thought about until I just read it but yeah going three for three um in this spot in this environment and he's played in this very building before and in other buildings like it but um that's very very crucial um yeah I say this you're never gonna high school recruit again I think if you're nerd aim and no a great example why no um yeah a 26 y but then two 46 yarders which I think we're comfortably good yes Mike you were the one who reminded me of Jerome sap in the comments uh Mike oh I see I put that in there as like a hat tip I didn't know you actually no I I saw the comment so Mike E I'm just going to leave it as Mike E Yeah Jerome sap was the fourth defensive back and that starting group in in 2002 and that was that was an outstanding secondary um yeah so but this this group probably there was not a first round pick at corner like this group has or the defensive player of the year like this group has so you got give that I'm just that was a good secondary this secondary this one right now is better uh I'm putting so someone texted me this after the game and I thought was a friend just being a smart ass but it was this exact stat which means it's at least going around somewhere it's pretty hilarious I saw some people on college football social media tweeting out as well um yeah he said n Dame was gonna get their ass kicked tonight and he was wrong so so this you're just if you're just listening to the podcast and not on the YouTube Joe corsaro says bets are now 16- two since 2017 when betting the money line against teams Ted Cruz shows up to support in person there you have it another sign that everyone's just being nice to us tonight and even crediting us for this defense Ben isaki hope I'm pronouncing that right agie fan here got a tip the cap to your defense was excellent all night DBS were so locked down good game Irish thanks I guess um I will say the fans here were very very nice I see hear any incidents and usually that is the case um when it's an onc conference game everyone wants to put their best base on but um shout out to agilan it was a very very fun environment uh great game great weekend from start to finish and uh looking forward to uh the next big one like it I don't know if they're you know at Alabama in a couple years I know am comes to another Dame uh but the more games we can get you know for purely selfish purposes although I think most fans would agree getting to go to venues like this every once in a while outside of the usual rotation is really really cool and it's kind of what makes college football so special um' gone past an hour now do you want actually you can answer this one because you were here uh HJ gadient do we have any footage of the midnight yellow leaders jokes pumped laugh and cringe after a w do they have jokes you went they had jokes um they're kind of like Dad jokes but like not as funny um I I would like I went to midnight yell I respect the commitment to the bit here um everyone was really into it and college football is nothing without really weird Traditions that you have a hard time explaining to people that don't uh have them pounded into their brain since birth um but yeah they did they had some jokes about uh like a notame Yankee lawyer which was like a little offensive to me as someone who's married to a Notre Dame lawyer but um yeah it was it was fun like no harm meant by it um yeah it just like A&M is a is oneof one there's not another place like it in college football that's probably for the best um but it was cool to be here and see midnight Yale uh be scared like hell of the cannon when it went off uh when you're down on field level but um that was a cool that was just like a cool part of the whole the whole thing down here I was I was glad that I made the effort to go Friday night W out it up here Nicholas erens do you believe that some QBs are just winners with intr intrinsic Poise Riley seems like that guy not to be the cliche over the head but yeah I mean I think that's what nerd Dame sees in him obviously Beyond just that mentally but um yeah I mean I think that was when you look at the way things went for this offense for 54 minutes tonight mostly not great but not catastrophic I don't think there was anyone on that sideline flinching when Riley Leonard took over that huddle with six minutes to play and led them down um I just think he inspired that kind of confidence and faith in his guys which all the more impressive when you consider he barely played with these guys in Spring and you could tell in his voice afterward that that was something that really nod at him not getting a chance to truly prove it with them on the field until tonight um we will wrap up on go ahead if you want to add to that no just I agree I think that Leonard just sort of got that extra part to it and but I mean some of it is physical too too like I think it's hard to be an IT quarterback if you can't run and make something out of nothing you know I I mean I think I agree but like in college at least but mentally like to put your head down and go fourth and one and like just to escape danger time and time again I mean especially that third down play I referenced earlier where if he gets just a little bit more on it Devon Ford catches it maybe takes it to the house 90 plus yards um he was dead to rights on that play uh now obviously being strong and fast and physical that goes into it there's genetics that go into it he wouldn't be here otherwise but I think he's got a mentality I think ner Dame learned about that mentality playing against him last year um and I think that's something that ooes confidence through the rest of the program um I think we'll wrap it up on there we've gone over an hour um not our first live win post game I think we did one after UFC last year but I saw someone from notame on the field pregame who said hope this is a much happier live post game than our last big game against Ohio State when it was just a very depressing drive home no drive home safely uh fly home safely uh probably the happiest flight I'm looking forward to the flight back to to Chicago tomorrow because I think every single person on my flight on the way here uh was a nerd a fan coming for the game that was very excited and it's going to be a fested flight on the way back I'm sure as well but party hard Irish F you've absolutely earned it and deserved it with with a win like this one a signature win nerd aame 23 Texas A&M 13 Marcus Freeman kicks off year three with a bang that's all for me Pete feel free to add whatever you want but uh that's a great r as as the guy who predicted a win I think you get the last word on the podcast 1714 close enough thanks everyone we will talk to you guys soon