Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M: Preview, picks, a TOUGH QB choice

well speaking of games where both teams need it and need it bad mhm 7:30 ABC Notre Dame on the road at Texas A&M A&M favored by three points three points this line has moved in their Direction I consulted with some of our friends in the desert it is not the public betters the squares like you and me it is the sharps it is the guys and gals that pay their bills with these bets that moved this line and moved it relatively early so there is confidence that A&M can pull it off Dan I have many thoughts in this game please I've got Notre Dame penet behind me I've been thinking about this game for about six months now yeah let me start with you and then I can do my little diet tribe where where are you at with Notre Dame at A&M a lot new on both sides that I'm sure we can get into but this is a big spot this is the the herban Fowler game yeah where where are you at are you still sleeping with your Howard cross body pillow is that a thing that you've been doing lately in preparation of the return of Irish I got out I got it out of the Cross base yeah full size baby yeah I don't know how big Howard cross is I assume large um I this is going to be really fun this is going to be quite fun uh for Notre Dame right it's just the the Marcus Freeman Megazord he's been given the keys you know a high-profile transfer quarterback yet again a high-profile new offensive coordinator yet again it seems like you know the receiving position has been shorted up whatever whatever Marcus Freeman has needed he has eventually gotten now he need just needs to be the one to to win games with all those players and all those additions to Notre Dame and I talk about the Quest for boredom with Miami it's almost the The Identical thing with Texas A&M it's can Texas A&M now become a reflection of Mike Elco which is just like smart well regarded Savvy wins the right not right way but wins you know pretty consistently and has had success as both a coordinator and head coach pretty consistently so this is going to be great and Mike Elco has the history with Notre Dame so you always like the the overlap The Narrative overlap there um hey real quick it'd be great if you could consider subscribing to the YouTube channel down below it really helps us out we need the monster truck rally voice to introduce this one like Elco Leonard it's G be great I just I'm excited for Conor wigman right that you get wigman hopefully like a symphony of things coming together for a Texas A&M offense that struggled and then for Notre Dame it's just okay it's Mike Den Brock and Riley Leonard what's what's that experience like week one in a chaotic environment well it's not just them it's the line the line is the problem I know you've been harping on what is your your go-to you're just like they they haven't looked cohesive well it's not even that they they have six projected starts returning on that offensive line okay because they're starting a freshman at left tackle they're starting a sophomore at left guard you're talking about Notre Dame or Texas A&M talking about Notre Dame's offensive line that's I fig okay Notre Dame's offensive line to take that into Kyle Field night game opening weekend it you have to have a lot of Blind Faith to just assume that's going to go swimmingly even if you feel good about all the other pieces which I do I like Riley Leonard a lot I think he's a great player I like what they've got in the back field I think the receiver room will be much improved we know they've got a good tight end but the quote the the quote the prophet David Pollock it all starts up front right like it it starts up front the prophet David Pollock I didn't know what to call those are words that have never been I don't even know what to say at this point but we used to make that joke all the time I'll come back to it again it does start up front and so you have to assume Mike Elco will come up with something exotic to throw at that offensive line given their inexperience yeah and it worries me it worries me now how does Mike demro react to that because there had been rumors for a while that they were going to start a freshman Anthony knp at left tackle do we see things like them trying to move the pocket do we see quicker passes and Screen passes and swing passes something to get a guy like a Jeremiah Love and space I think we will see more of that more of that maybe in week one than we see any other week of the Season I'm not an offensive coordinator but that's just maybe what I would do in college football 25 all right so having that inexperience of up front I think is a problem they're going to need to lean on that defense for sure to try and create some disruption and give themselves some separation in a game like this because their defense should be really good which quarterback would you rather be Saturday night rather be personally yeah like rather be not in terms of like uh what your life would be as a noted a quarterback their Texas A&M quarterback but like would you rather be Connor Wegman with who he has in front of him which is still a question on offensive line uh I think some talented receivers it's a beat up running back room with uh Ruben Owens going down um but I think more proven more in the way of proven at receiver now moose Muhammad sort of comes into the starting lineup or would you rather be Riley Leonard with promising but unproven receivers a new line and be on the road so like whose brain would you rather inhabit Saturday night Riley Leonard or Conor Wegman I would rather be Connor Wegman okay I mean but arguably throwing into a more difficult defense I think that's fair yeah but I'd almost always rather be get home in a big spot okay then be on the road especially with a new line look for penalties from that line I mean that's one of the things you see when you've got relative inexperience in the trenches um I do think it's a good A&M defensive line by the way too it's a really good defensive line yeah I do think though that Mike Den Brock is the right guy for this moment to call the plays for Notre Dame because if it were Jared Parker a year ago they just run it 20 times yeah run it 20 times and then if that didn't work they wouldn't have a second pitch I think Den Brock is smart enough as a coordinator to figure out a way around that and at least put his quarterback in a position to get outside the pocket to throw down field to provide a second a third pitch for a defense that look they'll be coached up with Mike Elco I don't think there's any question about that so I am not crazy about the line situation for Notre Dame I do love pretty much everything else including their own defense which I think will be really good and is still kind of underrated given the national conversation I think this is a defensive line for Notre Dame that sets the tone in this game and for Notre Dame the rest of the season uh Notre Dame's going to win this game outright 27 to 21 wow on the road they're going to win this game outright 27-21 I thought about locking it up but my locks have been really unlucky over the last three years now so I'm not going to jinx my own team by doing that but Notre Dame is winning this game 27 to 21 if uh if if the grade is 100 out of a 100 of what Notre Dame's offense looks like as it relates to what LSU's look like last year not necessarily in the success but like what the offense is what the intentions are 100 is identical zero is completely different like what do you think the overlap is with this year's Notre Dame team compared to last year's LSU team like will they run Riley Leonard a bunch like Jaden Daniels was run and they were like crazy efficient as a running team last year LSU well I think they will put him in positions where he can make that decision the option okay you know like one thing that I thought a lot about is and this isn't just me saying that you can go and read any of the preview content that's out there on what it seems like Mike Den Brock would want to do more of with Riley Leonard and it it does speak to what I think the game plan needs to be in this game given the line you might see some quicker passes you might see some RPO stuff really anything that can put the defensive front on skates that could put the ball in the hands of Riley letter to let him make that decision so I think they will put him in plenty of opportunities to go out there and run the football and I think there will be some subset of the offense that relies on him doing that at least the threat of his legs if nothing more he's really good at escaping sacks he's done that really well over the course of his career and so I think the his Mobility his elusiveness gives them something that they did not have a year ago with Sam Hartman who was not his Fleet of foot ran for a big one against Duke to bail him out but that is not his game this is very much Riley Leonard's game okay that's part of why I like the fit here so the offense as a whole I think will look a lot different than it did a year ago if only because they did the same four things last year this year there will be a lot more variability and hopefully given a deeper receiver room he's going to have more options to go downfield figure something out and stretch this defense out or at least provide that threat by the way I have something spicy that informs my pick oh is this our Wendy's this is our spy nugget of the week woo go for it I looked I would probably go get uh like garlic parmesan or like a honey barbecue I think that would be my SAU I'm a buffalo guy myself you go Buffalo that's fine totally acceptable um my Wendy's Saucy nug of the week is the fact that Mike Elco in his first year at Duke his previous job was only there for a couple years at a place that was probably easier to play than Kyle Field less of a HomeField Advantage maybe with a quarterback who didn't have as high a ceiling as a Conor Wegman and the best Riley leard was really good 5- one at home against the really Texas his first year in his first year I mean he's only there two years but yeah remember they were like I I consider them to be like a gust of wind away from being 11 and one first year at Duke they were yeah uh they were five- one at home against the spread are you K five and one at home against the spread Mike Elco different team different time different conference whatever I kind of like that with this home field advantage in week one though so I'm taking A&M 2317 and covering that is a saucy nug thank you yeah seven delicious Ways by the way I've been told by my many people I've had extremely Saucy nugs continue seven delicious ways to try the nugs you already L love just pick a flavor you grab some extra napkins prepare to nug like you've never nugged before oh I've nugged I for a whole new way to nug it's got to be Wendy Dan it's got to be