(Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker/USA Today)
Saturday night 107,315 Texas A&M fans stood for four hours and made enough noise to trigger local seismographs. But it wasn’t just the clamor of a crazy loyal fanbase that came through loud and clear. Because just as deafening, was the roar of a Notre Dame program coming of age.
There was plenty to like about the Irish effort. Start with a defense that repeatedly made plays when they had to. The Irish held the Aggies to just 246 yards of total offense. The Aggies talented triggerman, Connor Weigmann was off balance all night long enroute to a 12-30, 100 yard 2 interception performance. On the night, A&M managed just 3.8 yards per rush.
With 1:54 remaining when the Irish had just taken a seven point lead. A&M took over after the kickoff at their own 25 with timeouts and a do or die opportunity to tie or win. This one was going down to the wire. I wondered aloud at the time on X, On the other side of the ball, the Irish racked up 356 yards of offense. A more than respectable total against any Mike Elko defense, particularly one that is loaded with NFL caliber talent. For certain, ND’s young offensive line struggled, especially early on, but as the humid Texas night wore on, it was Texas A&M that wore down. The Irish had the look of a team that was fully prepared for the rigors of a 60 minute prize fight.
Left tackle and true freshman Anthonie Knapp dueled all world game wrecker defensive end Nic Scourton to a draw. The young line gained valuable experience under the most adverse conditions imaginable. As a whole, they gave up no sacks and managed to create just enough running room to give Jadarian Price and Jeremiah Love room to do what they do best. Cue two explosive TD runs. Those two have the talent to terrorize defenses all season long.
The receiving corp had moments. Beaux Collins led the group with five catches for 62 yards and his contested catch on the winning drive was a work of contested art seldom seen in the last few years around Notre Dame football. Perhaps the biggest receiver play was not a catch. Jayden Thomas become a defender and stopped a possible interception bid in the third quarter that might have resulted in disaster. The receiving group is full of weapons and will see a lot more opportunities this fall especially against defenses not named Texas A&M.
For his part Riley Leonard showed his dual threat talent with planned runs and movement in and out of the posket. Matched up against an unrelenting A&M pass rush and Mike Elko scheme his passing was not particularly accurate, and he wasn’t able to get the ball down field. But his skill set will be a nightmare for opposing teams for much of the balance of this regular season schedule, and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock knows it.
In fact Freeman acknowledged post game that ND’s offensive game plan had to take into account how tough the A&M defense was expected to be. “We had to be smart against a really good defense.” Penalties were an issue, and a few line breakdowns resulted in tackles for loss, but ND committed no turnovers. “We executed really well”, Freeman concluded.
In 2020 the Irish rode a perfect regular season to the College Football Playoff, and a semifinal matchup against eventual national champion, Alabama. In that game the Irish went down at the hands of a team that was visibly faster and more athletic. ND had a great season in 2020, but they were not quite ready as a program for elite status. Fast forward four years. Against A&M Saturday, ND passed the eyeball test. ND was faster and more athletic than the Aggies, a team full of five star talent, and it was pretty obvious. This change in team makeup is a tribute to a coaching staff and program that is now as good as any at evaluating and developing talent.
In Marcus Freeman’s first season he managed some big victories. The Irish dominated and knocked off #5 Clemson in 2022 and concluded that season with an impressive Gator Bowl win over South Carolina. But they also lost a couple of head scratchers. Against two huge underdogs at home ND lost to Marshall and to Stanford. Yikes! (Sorry to bring those two dark days up at such a happy time!)
In year two Freeman’s team showed progress by eliminating the really bad losses, but questions about his coaching still arose. The self immolation against Ohio State, and poor performances in road losses at Lousville and Clemson were perplexing and raised legitimate questions about his team’s preparation.
But now in year three, he looks comfortable in his role and has slayed the “can’t win a big one on the road” dragon. On the Fighting Irish Preview podcast this week my colleague Tim Prister, who has covered ND football for 42 years, referred to Marcu Freeman as, “a wisdom seeker”. Freeman has the look of a guy that knows what he doesn’t know, but he seeks out and finds answers and is a quick study. That symbolizes a maturity that belies his tender of age of 37.
Don’t expect Marcus Freeman to ever be satisfied with things the way they are. Rather, expect him to continue his current growth into a top notch head coach.
“A lot of work went into this first game.” he remarked post game, a fact to which anyone following the program will attest. But Freeman looks to have things in perspective because he followed that up with, “Let ’em celebrate tonight, we get refocused tomorrow, and get back to work.
A high standard has been set with a game one win in College Station, but the hard work will continue.