Notre Dame football is set to kick off the 2024 season on Saturday against the Texas A&M Aggies. Traveling to Kyle Field is a difficult task, and the Irish team must be ready to answer the bell in prime time.
On paper, there is a lot to like about Notre Dame in this contest but games aren’t played on paper. There are several keys for victory for the Irish, which starts with dominating up front. These keys will be important to monitor during the game action.
Play clean on the offensive line
Notre Dame heads into the matchup against the Aggies with only six career starts on the offensive line. That’s not the situation you want to be in when you are going against the likes of Nic Scourton , Shemar Turner, Shemar Stewart, and company. With a true freshman starting at left tackle in Anthonie Knapp, as well as redshirt freshman Sam Pendleton getting the nod at left guard, that’s where the eyes are going to be from Irish fans all night.
Nobody should expect Notre Dame to dominate up front offensively. If they do, then it’s going to be a long game for Texas A&M. You just want the offensive line to play clean football. They are going to lose reps but make those slow losses, not quick ones. You can bet there is going to be something that Mike Denbrock does to scheme around the inexperience, but in the end, the offensive line has to play a solid football game to come out on top.
Wide receivers need to show up
The biggest Notre Dame advantage offensively is going to be, at least on paper, the revamped wide receiver room against the Texas A&M secondary. With Kris Mitchell, Beaux Collins, and Jayden Harrison in the fold, the wide receiver room got a lot deeper quickly. Add in the emergence of Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison, as well as Jayden Thomas and you have the deepest wide receiver room the team has had in some time now.
That wide receiver room will be facing off against a talented Aggie secondary that has some talent, but is largely unproven. Tyreek Chappell is a good cornerback, and Bryce Anderson is talented but otherwise, they will be depending on a lot of transfer portal additions and new faces. Notre Dame must take advantage of that question mark on the back end.
Dominate on the defensive line
On the defensive side of the football, Notre Dame has the clear advantage up front. For as much time as analysts have spent talking about the Irish offensive line questions, not enough time has been spent on the A&M side. They also have major question marks, including an unsettled battle at right tackle, position switches and a transfer taking over at offensive guard. This is a group with talent, but one that hasn’t played together in its current form.
They will be facing off against a deep and talented Notre Dame defensive line. That includes a stellar interior duo of Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills, as well as Duke transfer pass rusher RJ Oben. On paper, the defensive line is a massive advantage. Notre Dame must make sure they capitalize on it.
Riley Leonard is the X Factor
The Irish haven’t had a dual threat signal caller like Riley Leonard in some time now. At nearly 6-4 and 216 pounds, Leonard is a gifted athlete who ran 4.52 seconds in the forty-yard dash for scouts last offseason. When healthy, he is one of the more gifted signal callers in all of college football entering the fall.
Letting an athlete like this loose is a priority for Notre Dame. You didn’t get him from the transfer portal to be a game manager and be risk averse. You want him to go out and make plays, and not be afraid to fail. Getting the best version of Leonard on Saturday night is a priority for Notre Dame.
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