Previewing Texas A&M's 2024 season, opener vs. Notre Dame

two one what's up y'all you're listening to The mayag Nation Podcast I'm Alex Miller with the eagle joined Always by Robert Cessna CE here we are it's game week another season um you know what's uh what's kind of your impression of how things feel around this town heading into aam season opener against Notre Dame and I touched on that the other day I think it's close to when Alabama came here in 2013 with game day and new new change with Elco putting Jimbo in a rear viiew mirror I think uh each day it's gained a little bit I I think I I think it's just a huge weekend and I think it's really going to hit a lot of us come Friday night or we wake up Saturday morning it's game day it's Notre Dame well let's preview the 2024 season um CE you know I think there's still a lot of question marks about this A&M team um let's just let's maybe first talking about uh some key players on each side of the ball who's who do you think is going to be a a key player for A&M this season on the offensive side of the ball well you got to look at Wagman I mean it gets sometimes don't try to go ahead and and look at somebody's you know booger in his nose whatever just State the obvious and if Wegman doesn't have a good year you could say well Cessna Henderson's great the backups are great Reed yeah but if Wegman doesn't have a big year I don't see A&M having a big year and you know you could it's amazing when you mentioned that Alex I think you can say the offensive line I think you can say the wide receivers and suddenly I do have a lot of question marks because until all three of those entities quarterback line and wide receiver do it I've got questions I think for me the guy I'm watching is Noah Thomas at wide receiver you know Michel Co alluded on Monday that yeah he thinks SS got a number one receiver he didn't say who it was though but you know I think if we're if we're smart and we're putting the P pieces of the puzzle together and reading the te leaves right I think we all know that they're expecting Noah Thomas to be that guy going into the season you talk about the health issues with Connor wigman you know Noah Thomas has had his battles over the last couple years as well and so you know I think I think he's a guy that he's got the frame he's got the skills and they're really hoping that he can be that playmaker on offense that that can get things going um I definitely uh I definitely am curious how the running back room shakes out too uh you know losing Owens I think is going to show to be a pretty big deal but you know moss and Daniels have had good times and it sounds like Smith is healthy right now for the most part transferring in from Stanford um I'm also curious what this Colin Klein offense is actually going to look like uh you know it sounds it sounds very Innovative and and new and foreign but uh it sounds like A&M's kind of grasp what the concept is pretty early on well I got to laugh is because I do get back to the offensive line because when you look last year the running numbers were great if the if the line blocked and if they didn't block even Owens only average like 3.3 or or whatever in other words if the line blocks Dani in Moss to me are more than adequate with as you mentioned a very Innovative CL client offense based on what he's done but if the offens of line has been like its last two years then it doesn't matter uh will Wegman stay healthy not if the offensive line doesn't do their job and the running backs and it all goes back to is I think the offensive line will be better just by adding their two transfers and the fact is these guys uh zoon uh nabo these guys we mentioned it's time for them to step up forget about potential and I I know Zoom was hurt and all that but lines got a block how about on the defensive side defensive side I have a lot less questions only because I know that defensive Line's going to do the job I mean that defensive line is one of one of the best in the country but you can say about about eight teams in the SEC so then it does get that back who is that second linebacker and who is is the secondary really that good because you you know sometimes you look at an's numbers last year the secondary was okay but it's like that commercial you sure is it okay can it take that next step so I'm waiting for another linebacker and for that secondary to take the next step because I I just can't get over the can't make more turnovers with that defensive line I'm still even last year how did they not have more turnovers you know speaking of that I I think the guy that I'm really watching is Shamar Stewart I think Nick scorton has gotten a a lot of the hype and the attention because of what he did at Purdue he's the hometown kid coming back but you know Shamar Stewart talked about it when we talked with him in the preseason like he was this close last year to having a much larger sack total than what he did you know if he can find a way to get home to the quarterback a few more times I mean he can he can really be kind of an X Factor off the edge he he's built differently than Nick scorton too scorton scorton is a really big guy that'll just B rushia off the off the edge got a spin move Stuart is you know I'm not I'm not saying he's miles Garrett he's built more like miles Garrett though where you know you looked at Miles and I mean he's just ripped right the muscles just got out at you he's real cut in the middle um that to me is more what Shamar Stewart's build is um and I I'm curious what you know playing across from a guy like scorton can open up opportunities for him cuz now they got to account for two guys versus just one well once again you're right when you look at the offensive line if they've got to have three or four guys to keep two ends on the tackles are going to get through tackles are going to make huge plays so once again is A&M has the makings of a great defense just because the point of attack's great I mean there's going to be very uh there's going to be a lot of teams that are going to be excited opponents at their offensive line held their own they'll be excited if they hold their own against A&M cuz then maybe you can exploit that other linebacker maybe exploit exploit the secondary but there's going to be a lot of good offensive lines they're going to lose to A&M's defensive line how about on special teams what's kind of your read there I just chuckle and I think okay 105,000 people uh if Anam goes three and out the first time they the ball they're going to have a guy white or someone come out and punt for the first time in h college football and you see guys in the NFL making their first punt sometimes they'll shank it they won't handle the snap ready so now I'm talking about an 18 to 20 year old kid uh first snap and maybe uh Notre Dame knows that too so they come with an allout block first time and we've seen a lot of games over the years hinge at A&M on special teams because of a screw up or something positive so I I think off the bat I'm thinking if A&M can punt six f six times in this game and have all punts 40 yards or better with no hiccups that would be great what's a game on this schedule that you think is the biggest game for A&M this season well you always got to go with Texas and I'm laughing I always I'm looking at the the start and the end because nothing's bigger than Texas I mean we're sitting here three months away uh We've waited all of us whether you're media some fans and I know some fans still aren't AR cool with it I get it but 13 years for that this game to happen or whatever so you can't underestimate A&M in Texas and much like this week that Texas game is just going to continue to build it's going to get closer and the prices are going to keep going up I don't care if they're four wins or five wins but Notre Dame I mean this is going to tell me so much about A&M they're not playing the E state if they're playing the E state right now none of those questions matter the offensive line wins the other linebacker wins the secondary wins the punter is not really nervous he could drop the ball and probably still get the ball off they may not even punt they might not even have to punt right but Notre Dame man a lot of my questions are going to be answered I'm going to go a little off the wall on the most important game from my perspective I'm going to say it's going to be at Florida week three I say that I read your mind you you read my mind and it's not because I'm looking forward to go to the casino with you but to me here's why I think Notre Dame if aam loses they're they're they're not necessarily expected to win I think A&M can win like if they won the game it wouldn't surprise me but if they lost it also wouldn't surprise me Notre Dame is ranked in the top 10 aam's 13 spots behind them right this is a first year head coach coming in with a team that's coming off a seven- six record uh you know Florida is a big game because okay if you lose to Notre Dame or even if you win right Adam's got to get a monkey off its back this year and that's winning a road game right and and that first road game's going to come quick Florida's playing for for its coach's job Napier's on the hot seat we all know that that's a big story line coming in the season for the Gators and Florida's not an easy place to play I mean I think I think the last time A&M played there it was kind of a similar situation Florida was down as a program it was only three quarters the way full um you know it was a ugly game they wore those ugly gator skin uniforms you remember that kind of forgot that but I do remember uh I did like going to the swamp yeah but I agree with you 100% because you lose that game even if you Bea Notre Dame you're kind of like ah you're you're back to being takes the wind out of yourselves you haven't one on the road again da da da where is if you lose to Notre Dame and then you beat uh Florida you're jacked up you want on the road you're going you you're one to0 in the SEC you know a lot of things G on for you if and it's like that Devil's ad if you want to pick one they have to win really it's a Florida but of course you want to win your open you want to you want to be greedy you want to be three in0 and number 10 in the nation 3 and0 versus 1 and two is going to have very different outlooks for the rest of the season would you say and like I said is the good news is I'm going to get so many things answered and I could honestly say I think playing Notre Dame will help them going to Florida because they will recognize some of their weaknesses cuz I don't think you want to go into Florida riding a 2 and0 start against two nobody's because you haven't answered anything yet and then as you mentioned the swamp they're trying to you know they'll some people remember they lost ADM last time they got a win for Napier uh who knows SEC today might be there for that you never know it's going to be a big game anytime you're in they're big games well CE what what what what is your preseason record prediction for how A&M's going to finish in 2024 I'm going eight and four we always do this and I always have to laugh because injuries will play so much of a factor in their record or who they play uh A&M's got a very favorable schedule but I know that every time that I've ever said that A&M's got a favorable schedule most times it wasn't a favor they they didn't take advantage of it so history has shown that time and time again and now more than ever uh I I did all the SEC previews I mean everybody's got like 30 new players I mean it's it's absolutely phenomenal that there's so many unknowns and unlike most years 10 years ago when you're bringing all these freshmen in you go ah maybe someone them'll be on special teams a four or five are going to be studs and play a lot but not like now I mean I watched this that game last week in Georgia Tech in Florida State and every time they announced somebody oh that guy he came from Edinburgh he came from nowhere and suddenly he's helping Georgia Tech knockof a top 10 team we're going to see that all across college football forever now because of the transfer portal maybe I'm a little too uh optimistic I do think aam no absolutely not I don't here's the thing though I don't think there's a game onm schedule that they can't win I think they could win every game but I know they're not I I I I I have the Eggies going N9 and three though uh you know with with the way things set up that you got your hardest games at home uh you get Florida early um Auburn's kind of a wild card at the end of the season I think Auburn's going to be the most improved team in the SEC by the end of the season but I don't know just the way things are shaping up you know I I I can't see amm's offensive line getting any worse than it was last year I mean never say never but I mean it was it was pretty bad you know if Wegman can stay healthy uh revamped uh offensive look um I think A&M's got the makings to to have a you know a good but you know not a not a championship level season is kind of what I'm thinking what do you think the ceiling for this team is though like if everything went right uh I think if a lot of things went right they could go ten to because like you said there's too many uh variables that there's no way they're going to win all their games I mean just just when you're in the SEC you just don't go from seven and six and you know be 11 one or or you know 12-0 it's just not going to happen they've got to me they got too many question marks and the SEC is too good and you got to go on the road and then uh it'd be a nice problem for A&M now have how do you handle beating five and0 how you know suddenly Arkansas jumps up and beats you whatever uh they're just not to the point yet that you can expect that team to really be good but we know there's Talent we just mentioned that all the people they brought in offensive line uh secondary they brought people in from the Big 12 that were were that started 30 40 games some of them that they're good they're the blanket you know whatever they can do the job you like that nickname I love that nickname because if you get if you get get a quarterback that can lock down the other team's best receiver uh to me you're going to win one more game and andm really hadn't had that the last few years hadn't had that but you know in the old days when they had the mickens they had the Kevin Smiths they had people that could do that and A&M hasn't had that they Alabama's have and other teams like that Georgia and that's why they win Ohio States and uh you know that's why I'm saying eight and four uh I I think there'll be a lot of I think there'll be some a lot of good Saturdays I think there'll be some frustrating Saturdays well CE anything else uh before we wrap this up I'm just glad they're playing Notre Dame I'm glad they're playing a team that we're going to see a lot with and uh I I just like the feel around the team uh when you bring in baitman you bring in Klein uh Elco it's it's not flashy it's pretty meat and potatoes I'm a meat and potatoes guy here we go you know don't blow smoke up my dress let's just go ahead and play football and I think elco's a little down Earth reminds me a lot of Mike Sherman the coaches recently since RC was so how would you say likable and just down there doing you know just one of those guys it's hard not to like Sherman but he had too much Pro in him you know he just just didn't make back I could still say he's probably the best o line coach A&M ever had but uh now you got Elco and you could say he's one of the best defensive coordinators Anam ever had well I guess it's a good thing anam's not playing Arkansas State this week all right hey that'll do it for this week's episode of the mayagi Nation Podcast be sure to check the eagle.com for all of our content leading up to Saturday's game I feel bad for making that Arkansas State joke now no it's actually good I me Alex tell everybody has a good job we'll see you next week on the mynation podcast