If Notre Dame Loses to Texas A&M, Here’s Why

What about Texas A&M could take down the talented Irish team in Week 1?

Louisville running back Jawhar Jordan scored on a 21 yard run in the fourth quarter as the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 33-20 on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 / Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal and USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK

Will Notre Dame Be Ready For This Environment & Big Game Moment?

For any college program, even the best in the land, there will be uncertainties and unknowns leading into the first game of each season. No matter how well you try to prepare, no team really knows where they stand until they face off with another team.

On top of this typical Week 1 variance, Notre Dame must also navigate one of the most chaotic environments in college football to start the year 1-0.

Should the Irish fall Saturday night to the Aggies, I'm confident that the environment will have at least a small role in their demise. One can somewhat predict what to expect from the noise and the heat, but how will the Irish navigate the emotional momentum of the 12th Man on top of these factors?

Opening the year under such brutal conditions is not ideal and carries huge risks.

Only 12 more days until Aggie Football! #12thMan #AggieFootball #GigEm
- @12thMan @AggieFootball pic.twitter.com/DpflWqFFT8

— 12th Man Foundation (@12thManFndtn) August 19, 2024

Most practical Irish in-game concerns are on the offensive side of the ball

Notre Dame feels confident in its defense. This unit was very solid last year and seems to have more talent and depth this season, Al Golden's third in South Bend.

The worries stem from the offensive side. How vulnerable is the Irish offensive line deciding to roll with multiple inexperienced youngsters on the left side in such a chaotic environment against an athletic Aggie defense?

If Notre Dame struggles in this area, it could be a long night for the Irish.

Assuming Notre Dame can manage the environment and the offensive line holds up for the most part, can the Irish receivers be a plus unit in 2024, or is their pre-season hype overblown due to the low expectations set by last year's group?

This is a major question entering such a monumental ballgame against a solid Aggie defense.

And what about new Irish QB Riley Leonard? After missing most of Spring, does he have the full grasp of the new Mike Denbrock Notre Dame offense via fall camp? And if he does, how effective will he be in implementing it?

These are some huge questions for the Irish to answer positively in one of the toughest places to play in America. Can they pull it off? A loss lingers if they don't.

Riley Leonard was 4-6 as a starter on the road at Duke. The wins came in front of an average crowd size of 36,292.

There will be 3X as many people at Kyle Field on Saturday.

All told, this is the biggest road game of the Notre Dame quarterback's career. https://t.co/CloZDa9aVr pic.twitter.com/8bLDVFtHD0

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) August 28, 2024

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