Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M: Elko’s Debut, Predictions, and Betting Odds

The Mike Elko coaching era begins at Texas A&M on Saturday as the No. 20 Aggies host No. 7 Notre Dame, where Elko had been a defensive coordinator earlier in his career.

Texas A&M is a short favorite on the NCAAF odds.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish +121

Notre Dame has won at least nine games in each of the past seven seasons, with at least 10 victories six times during that span.

This marks the fourth consecutive year Notre Dame will play its first contest away from Notre Dame Stadium at night and the fifth time in the last nine seasons the Irish will begin the season on the road, on its opponents’ home field in prime time.

How’s the Team?

The Irish will be down at least one projected starter in offensive lineman Charles Jagusah as he will miss the 2024 season after suffering a torn right pectoralis muscle during preseason camp. Not ideal considering Notre Dame lost both starting tackles from 2023 — Joe Alt and Blake Fisher — to the NFL Draft. Alt went off the board fifth overall to the Los Angeles Chargers, while Fisher was selected in the second round. Veteran Tosh Baker likely will take Jagusah’s spot.

Riley Leonard

It will be the Irish debut of QB, a transfer from Duke. Leonard emerged as one of the top players and quarterbacks in the portal after back-to-back strong seasons with the Blue Devils. In 2022, he led Duke to one of the biggest turnarounds in college football, as he accounted for 33 touchdowns — 20 passing and 13 rushing — as Duke went 9-4 and blew out UCF in the Military Bowl. Last year, Leonard dealt with some injuries and played seven games, finishing with 1,102 yards passing, 352 yards rushing and seven total touchdowns.

New Players Arrive

Four Notre Dame players were named to the AP preseason All-American team: Graduate defensive lineman Howard Cross III and senior safety Xavier Watts were selected to the first team, while junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison and senior tight end Mitchell Evans earned second-team honors. Cross piled up 66 stops in 2023, which ranked second among all Power 5 front-four defensive lineman.

Of the four defensive linemen that started in Notre Dame football’s Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State last season, three return for, 2024 —tackles Rylie Mills and Cross III and Vyper defensive end Jordan Botelho. All have played more than 45 games in their Fighting Irish careers.

Xavier Watts

A 2023 unanimous All-American and Nagurski Trophy winner, Watts enters 2024 as one of the preeminent defensive backs in college football. He played and started in all 13 games during the season, finishing with 52 tackles, 30 solo, three tackles for loss and 0.5 sack, adding four pass breakups. He forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, returning it for a touchdown. Watts’ seven interceptions led to 33 total Notre Dame points on the subsequent drives.

Benjamin Morrison

Morrison led the Irish with 10 pass breakups in 2023, recording 31 tackles (25 solo). Morrison also intercepted three passes on the season. Evans had a breakout season in 2023 before being sidelined with an injury. He played in eight games as a junior, starting seven, and ended the season as the team’s top receiving target, averaging 52.8 yards per game. Through those eight games, Evans totaled 29 receptions for 422 yards and a touchdown during the season, averaging 14.6 yards per catch.

Mike Denbrock

The Irish have a new offensive coordinator from LSU. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Denbrock worked together as coordinators at Cincinnati from 2017-20, where the Bearcats blossomed into a national power under coach Luke Fickell, now at Wisconsin. Denbrock replaces Gerad Parker, Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach who was hired Dec. 18 as head coach at Sun Belt Conference power Troy in Alabama.

Texas A&M Aggies -148

Texas A&M fired Coach Jimbo Fisher last season and after kicking the tires on some really big-name replacements opted for Duke coach Mike Elko to replace him – a return to College Station. Elko originally came to Texas A&M after successful stints at Wake Forest and Notre Dame as part of Fisher’s initial staff in 2018 as defensive coordinator. Under his watch, the Aggies defense ranked among the best units in the country, especially against the run. During his tenure as DC, Texas A&M went 34-14, capped by a 9-1 Orange Bowl campaign in 2020.

Mike Elko

Elko left to take over at Duke in 2022. In his first season, Elko led the Blue Devils to an impressive 9-4 campaign, its best mark since 2014. He followed it up with a 7-5 record in 2023 despite dealing with major issues at the quarterback position. The Aggies lost a ton of players to the transfer portal with the coaching change but also brought in a lot of guys.

HC Mike Elko speaks ahead of Texas A&M's 2024 season opener vs. Notre Dame https://t.co/gPtzeKeeRc pic.twitter.com/MvONMhQvXr

— Aggies Wire (@AggiesWire) August 27, 2024

Connor Weigman

The starting quarterback remains the same, a former top recruit. He has had some injury troubles but has gone 5-3 as a starter over the past two seasons, throwing for 1,875 yards and 16 scores with just two interceptions on a 61.8 percent completion percentage. He has also rushed for 160 yards and two scores.

In his freshman season, he didn’t take over the starting role until the late-October matchup with Ole Miss, four games until the end of the regular season. Last year, he was injured four games into the campaign. That running ability in particular could play a big role in his success, especially now that he is fully healthy.

Weigman might not have Ainias Smith (Philadelphia Eagles) and Evan Stewart (Oregon) to throw to this year, but the combination of Noah Thomas, Jahdae Walker, and Moose Muhammad – along with a few transfers – is as dangerous as any receiving corps in the SEC.

The Honors

Three A&M players earned preseason All-SEC honors: Defensive linemen Shemar Turner and Nic Scourton were named to the second team, while offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III garnered third-team honors.

Shemar Turner

Turner returns for his senior season after helping the Aggies boast the best rush defense in the SEC and rank third in the league in total defense (316.2) last season. Texas A&M limited its opponents to just 108.8 rushing yards per game and nine touchdowns on the ground, while leading the league in sacks (42.0) and ranking second in tackles for loss (99.0). Turner started every game he played in over the last two seasons. The DeSoto, Texas, native was top-three on the team last year with 6.0 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss, good for eighth and ninth, respectively, among SEC defensive linemen. He totaled 33 tackles and blocked a pair of kicks as a junior, being named to the All-SEC Second Team by season’s end.

Nic Scourton

Scourton arrived in January after leading the Big Ten with 10.0 sacks and ranking fourth with 15.0 tackles for loss as a sophomore last season at Purdue. Starting all 11 games he played in, Scourton was fifth on the team with 50 tackles, while also forcing a fumble and breaking up three passes. He closed out the year, earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors. A native of Bryan, Texas, Scourton impressed in the Maroon & White Game in the spring, tallying seven tackles, including 3.5 for loss, while contributing to both teams.

Randy Bond

A&M also should have one of the nation’s top kickers, who was named to the Lou Groza preseason award watch list. Bond connected on 26 field goal attempts last season and averaged 9.7 points per game for the Aggies, ranking fourth in the nation and sitting atop the SEC in both categories. His 126 total points on the year were also good for sixth in the country and second among league kickers. The senior was one of two FBS kickers to send five field goals through the uprights from 50-plus yards last season. Bond has made 39 field goals in his career, the second-best mark among active kickers, with only two campaigns.

Notre Dame at Texas A&M NCAA Football Info

When: Saturday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Kyle Field
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com

Notre Dame vs Texas A&M Series History

These schools meet for the sixth time overall and first since a Notre Dame loss in the program’s only visit to College Station in 2001.

Notre Dame and Texas A&M first met in 1987 at the Cotton Bowl (a 35-10 Texas A&M victory), then followed with two more Cotton Bowl meetings – both won by the Irish – in 1992 and 1993.

The two programs then held a home-and-home series in 2000 and 2001 with both teams earning a victory on their respective home fields.

NCAA Football Betting Center

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