We won in a very tough place, with a lot of question marks on offense.

QB)  I thought Leonard was clutch, he's a gamer and you can see his coolness during the game.  He was talking to his guys, never looked overly frustrated about negatives.  I think the plan was to not make him do too much, short/quick passes, and manage the game.  He did what asked IMO and it worked.  Also had some nice runs when things broke down. 

RB)  Love and Price had our only two TDs, and both occurred on long runs.  Price had a long gain called back, but Love hit a big gain the next play after that penalty.  It was frustrating most of the night.  Love could've had a TD catch if he ran that route better in 2H.  

OL)  Welp, it was about as I expected it to be, a mismatch of their strength vs our weakness.  Our guys played hard, there wasn't a lack of effort out there, just lack of experience and proper gelling of the line.  This game will pay big dividends as the season moves along, it truly was a baptism by fire.

TE/WR)  I hope Fasion is alright, we need him.  Collins was a good get and was Mr Reliable tonight, keep that up.  It was tough going for the passing game.  I did see good efforts to try and block on run plays though.  Got to get TEs more involved with seam routes.  All will get better with Leonard as season progresses.

Defense, very impressed all the way around.  Our depth is impressive at all three levels.  Two picks but only one sack I think.  We were getting pressure, and we worked their OL hard causing fatigue and injury issues for them.  Some missed tackles here and there which will get better.

Special Teams)  again hope Fasion is OK, need him on PR.  Aussie punter is kind of mixed reaction to him right now.  Our kicker is clutch with 3 FG, looked very relaxed out there and does his job.

This is one hell of a defense and I can’t say enough about this performance. All three levels were on point, but good lord this secondary is scary good. Adding in Shuler to this group is a cherry on top, he’s going to be an absolute stud. This D gave up ZERO explosive plays to a Klein offense where that’s their signature. 3 something yard per pass, 3 something yards per run. Dominating performance.

Oline was what we expected, but let’s give credit for what they did opening up for Loves TD run. I would expect this group to continue to get better. Zero sacks given up (though that has a lot to do with Riley Leonard).

Speaking of Leonard, he’s a gamer. I thought the play calling was super conservative and for a reason, but that was pretty clearly intentional with a brand new line in that environment. He made some great throws and missed some too.

Mitch Jeter is clutch.

After trying to pick on Christian Gray all game, what a finish by the kid.

These kids PLAY for Freeman and it’s obvious. Love the aggressiveness in the 2nd half, and his postgame reactions show why these kids play they do.

It’s really hard to put the game in perspective. 
A nice win in a pressure environment. Thats the biggest take-home for me. 
I don’t really know if the defense is that good, or if the A&M offense just stinks.  
I don’t know if ND’s offense is truly that pedestrian or if A&M’s defense is really good. 
I do know that the inexperienced offensive line was good enough to create the scoring opportunities. 
Unlike other previous big games, I didn’t see Al Golden make glaringly bad defensive calls at key moments. And I loved that he didn’t play the dreaded prevent defense in clutch time. 
The kicking unit deserves huge credit. 
Strength and conditioning deserves huge credit.  
A&M fans still get to see LSU, Texas, and Missouri at home. Great for them. I just hope A&M wins 9 games this season. But if they go 6-6, this win won’t be remembered by national fans as meaning very much. 
 

But, to borrow an Aggie term, WHOOP!!! I’ll take that performance and celebrate for weeks! ND won a big game in a hostile environment. Other than Corso, everyone on College Game Day picked A&M. 
WHOOP!

I agree with nearly everything in the comments above, and I love our defense. But man, what’s with all their penalties? Just nerves in an energetic environment? I do expect a huge improvement on that front.

27 minutes ago, smaster said:

I agree with nearly everything in the comments above, and I love our defense. But man, what’s with all their penalties? Just nerves in an energetic environment? I do expect a huge improvement on that front.

First game and difficult to hear environment.  I fully believe those will get better as we go.  Biggest improvement for teams is week one to week two generally.  Lots to work on and the film will tell the tale.

The big question is how much of this was good defenses or mediocre offenses? Both defenses are good/very good. Al Golden warrants another raise! 
 

I think much of the ND offensive game plan was predicated on not exposing the ND OL to too much… shorter passing routes etc. I wasn’t able to see the entire game live, but it seemed the O line got better as the game went on. I think the O-line will just see more improvement as the season progresses, and with that the O will also get better and better!
 

Didn’t look like Mitch Evans is fully recovered yet.

 

One note about Leonard.  I believe that the play calling was designed to have him not throw much.  I think this was because we’re breaking in the young OL and throwing against a great defense without good blocking is a recipe for disaster.  Could he have looked better?  Yes.  Will he look better when the OL has gelled more?  Also yes.

We have an elite defense which will keep us in every game, but the offensive line needs to be more consistent to open holes for both our game breaking backs and Leonard's designed and option runs. Too often A&M got penetration to stop running plays behind the line of scrimmage.

Additionally, Leonard and the receiving corps have to be able to complete 15-25 yard patterns downfield and between the hash marks both in the seams in zones and also in man coverage. The passing game was very vanilla last night. However, Leonard's propensity to not work inside the pocket to buy time and bail quickly bail towards the sideline is not a good sign. He also telegraphed a few passes that could have been picked off.

Denbrock has got his work cut out for himself trying to turn Leonard into an elite QB. I believe he's got the size and the arm strength. Well see.

If the o-line and Leonard don't improve a lot we will still my make the playoffs, but there's no way we're going to win a NC.  

Edited September 1, 2024Sep 1 by Frankus

Man, what a game! Great job by the coaches and players for winning a very hard fought game in an extremely tough environment! I saw ESPN show a graphic that it is ranked the #1 hardest place to play for a road team! Just outstanding!

Offense: Did what they needed to do, but took them a bit to get going. Leonard did appear to be handcuffed, and the play calling was very safe. Case in point was after the Leonard slide that led to Targeting, they should have taken a shot, but called a running play. 😑 Love and Price are the real deal, and will be the work horses for this offense! Collins is going to be a star, and Greathouse played well too! TEs were hardly used, but maybe that was by design. Flanagan did look good. Need to see more of Raridon, and Evans does appear to still be taking it easy.

Defense: ELITE!! They took a bit to get settled, because those procedural offside penalties were bad, but once they did, it was lock down! Cross and Mills played well and stuffed the run pretty well. I felt Kiser, Bowen, KVA, and especially Sneed played very well. Botelho was great! Morrison and Watts are outstanding, of course. I mean, Weigman didn’t even attempt to throw Morrison’s way, and we saw what happened when he did throw toward Watts! 😂 Big props to Gray and Shuler too! They made the most of their first start, and did a great job! Shuler’s pick was big, and Gray was tested a lot, but felt he locked his side down!

Special Teams: Jeter has ice in his veins. 3/3 on field goals, and 2/2 on PATs! Outstanding! Rendell needs a bit more time, because his punts were okay. He had the hang time, but couldn’t really flip the field like he should have been able too.

Overall, amazing job and a HUGE win for Notre Dame! I just couldn’t be happier, and now I can’t wait to go to work and mess with my Texas A&M Engineering co-worker graduate! 😝😂

 

 

 

48 minutes ago, Baldy said:

TEs were hardly used, but maybe that was by design. Flanagan did look good. Need to see more of Raridon, and Evans does appear to still be taking it easy.

I’m predicting that the TEs will continue to be used as blockers until the OL proves itself.  They probably get fewer opportunities early in the season, although playing less potent defenses in the next few weeks will probably free them up.

3 hours ago, TexasDomer said:

I’m predicting that the TEs will continue to be used as blockers until the OL proves itself.  They probably get fewer opportunities early in the season, although playing less potent defenses in the next few weeks will probably free them up.

That’s a very good point about the TEs being used to help with the blocking more than as a pass catching weapon. And we’ll see less and less of that as the season progresses. Probably won’t see another DL of that caliber the remainder of the season- except in practice of course!

13 hours ago, mcgov12 said:

After trying to pick on Christian Gray all game, what a finish by the kid.

 

I think we are in for a good season if passing offenses are going to try to pick on Gray to score.  

Regarding the tight ends, I thought Cooper was solid.  I think that they were giving Evans limited snaps to ease him back into it.  He's only about ten months out from his injury.