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Texas A&M Week 1 Preview: Notre Dame Offensive Players to Watch

The Texas A&M Aggies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will meet for just the sixth time in history to begin the college football season.

Matt Galatzan

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) who is hurt, dresses and throws some pre-game passes with fellow quarterbacks Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) who is hurt, dresses and throws some pre-game passes with fellow quarterbacks Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ / USA
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The No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies are set to hit the field for their season opener on Saturday, where they will face a tough test in the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Leading the way for Notre Dame will be new starting quarterback Riley Leonard, who as it so happens, was new Texas A&M coach Mike Elko's starting QB at Duke last season.

Following Elko's departure, Leonard also left for a new home in South Bend, giving both a fresh start at competitive programs.

The Irish made some other significant moves in the transfer portal as well, including bringing in some help for Leonard at receiver, making for a major challenge for Texas A&M.

With that in mind, lets take a look at some players that Aggies fans need to keep an eye on when the two teams face off on Saturday.

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leonar
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) who is hurt, dresses and throws some pre-game passes with fellow quarterbacks Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ / USA TODAY NETWORK

QB RILEY LEONARD

Riley Leonard was new Aggies coach Mike Elko's quarterback at Duke last season before arriving at Notre Dame via the transfer portal. Across three seasons and 27 games with the Blue Devils, Leonard has completed 382 passes for 4,450 yards with a 61.7 completion percentage while throwing 24 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions.

He played in just seven games last season due to an injury and missed the Notre Dame spring game. But he will be ready to go against the Aggies.

Lov
Notre Dame Jeremiyah Love participates in a drill during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

RB JEREMIYAH LOVE

Love is expected to take over for the departed Audric Estime, who rushed for 1,341 yards last seaso and scored 18 touchdowns. Love served in a backup role and rushed for 385 yards on 71 carries and found the end zone once. He also caught fight passes for 77 yards and added another score through the air.

Mitchel
Notre Dame graduate senior Kris Mitchell catches a pass during a drill at football practice Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the Irish Athletics Center in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT: Austin Hough / South Bend Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

WR BEAUX COLLINS AND KRIS MITCHELL

The Irish added three new receivers in Jayden Harrison, Kris Mitchell and Beaux Collins, giving the Irish some added talent alongside incumbents Jade Greathouse and Jordan Faison. Mitchell and Collins figure to have the biggest impact, however, with Collins brigning his previous Power 4 experience with Clemson, and Mitchell coming off of a 1,000-yard season with Florida International.

Either way, both players could play a big role on Saturday.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns In SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks with the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com for 247Sports. He then moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, ex Longhorns Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, FOX News and former ESPN host Will Cain, as well as countless other recruits and former players for each of the teams he has covered. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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