Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2024 45 GAME PREVIEW: TEXAS A&M the season. Elko is good at his job and will throw everything he can at likely starting Irish offensive tackles Aamil Wagner and Tosh Baker. Wagner, a junior, stood out in spring practice and earned a starting job in fall camp, but nei- ther he or the graduate student Baker are proven enough to inspire confidence against Scoutron and company. Elko managed to bring back senior cornerback Tyreek Chappell and junior nickel back Bryce An- derson to the Aggies' secondary, and he added to it with Central Michigan graduate transfer safety Trey Jones III and senior UAB transfer cornerback BJ Mayes. Mayes inspires confidence (82.0 PFF coverage grade since 2022), but the Irish probably match up well on the outside. A versatile wide receiver group that includes sophomores Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison should do well in the quick game, at which Leonard tends to excel. In a game that could come down to one big play, Florida International graduate transfer Kris Mitchell's deep ball talents (1,118 yards, 17.5 yards per reception in 2023) might be critical as well. Is it enough to make up for the disadvantage up front? Obviously, the strong-armed but somewhat inconsistently accurate Leonard's play could decide everything. Advantage: Texas A&M SPECIAL TEAMS Texas A&M senior kicker Randy Bond went 26 of 35 (74.3 percent) on field goals last season, but was 5 of 6 from 50 yards or more. Like Notre Dame, the Aggies will start a punter (redshirt fresh- man Tyler White) who has never played in a college game. However, White was the top-ranked punter in the 2023 recruiting class. Owens handled the majority of A&M's kickoff returns last year, averaging 20.8 yards per attempt. Muhammad has minimal punt return experience, but he should take over as the primary option. Notre Dame has the advantage here in a few areas. At kickoff returner, Marshall graduate trans- fer Jayden Harrison is a first-team preseason All- American by multiple outlets, averaging 30.7 yards per return and posting 2 scores in 2023. Price could form a two-headed monster with him, hav- ing taken a kick back for a touchdown himself last year against USC. At kicker, South Carolina graduate transfer Mitch Jeter has made 23 of his 25 field goals over the past two seasons. He's as reliable as they come. Australian punter James Rendell will be punting in a real game for the first time and in a stadium filled with more than 100,000 people. But the Irish have the edge in the third phase. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Elko and Irish head coach Marcus Freeman's situations are similar in some ways and different in others. Both are in their third seasons as head coaches, but Elko — who was Notre Dame's de- fensive coordinator in 2017 — spent his first two at Duke. He did an impressive job there, going 9-4 and winning the Military Bowl in Year 1. In Year 2, the Blue Devils started 4-0 before the injury to Leonard derailed their season. Both teams also boast impressive offensive coor- dinators, with Klein and Notre Dame's Mike Den- brock coming in with reputations as innovative play callers and strong track records to back them up. The Irish have an apparent advantage at de- fensive coordinator, featuring Golden against Texas A&M's Jay Bateman. The latter was most recently the inside linebackers coach at Florida after a rocky tenure as co-DC at North Carolina. Elko, though, will control the defense. The biggest factor: How much has Freeman im- proved ahead of Year 3? Last season, the Irish struggled on the road against strong opponents. This game should provide a litmus test for where he's at right now. Advantage: Even INTANGIBLES Yes, Texas A&M is entering the first game of its new regime. It's tough to tell what to expect in that situation. But a few factors swing the intangibles heavily in the Aggies' favor. First, Elko was Leonard's head coach at Duke. He will know how to beat his former pupil better than anyone in the country and has the advantage in this dynamic. And second, Texas A&M is at home. Kyle Field is one of the largest and arguably the loudest stadium in the nation. Can a Fighting Irish squad that — after Leonard missed most of spring prac- tice recovering from surgery — has to develop its offense on the fly survive its first test in that environment? Notre Dame is the better team, but the better team doesn't always win. Advantage: Texas A&M Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR-X 9 Jahdae Walker 6-4 205 Sr. 11 Jacob Bostick 6-2 183 R-So. WR-SL 7 Moose Muhammad III 6-1 195 Gr. 4 Micah Tease 6-0 180 So. LT 60 Trey Zuhn III 6-7 315 R-Jr. 78 Dametrious Crownover 6-7 330 R-Jr. LG 55 Ar'maj Reed-Adams 6-5 330 Jr. 67 TJ Shanahan 6-4 330 R-Fr. C 54 Mark Nabou Jr. 6-4 325 So. 61 Kolinu'u Faaiu 6-3 330 R-Jr. RG 71 Chase Bisontis 6-6 320 So. 75 Kam Dewberry 6-4 330 Jr. RT 76 Reuben Fatheree II 6-8 320 Sr. 74 Aki Ogunbiyi 6-4 330 Jr. TE 18 Donovan Green 6-4 265 R-So. 82 Shane Calhoun 6-4 250 Gr. WR-Z 3 Noah Thomas 6-6 200 Jr. 6 Cyrus Allen 6-0 178 Jr. QB 15 Conner Weigman 6-3 220 R-So. 13 Jaylen Henderson 6-3 220 R-Jr. RB 8 Le'Veon Moss 6-0 215 Jr. or 5 Amari Daniels 5-9 215 Jr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 11 Nic Scourton 6-4 285 Jr. 4 Shemar Stewart 6-6 290 Jr. NT 17 Albert Regis 6-2 310 R-Jr. 99 Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy 6-3 310 R-So. DT 5 Shemar Turner 6-4 290 Sr. 13 DJ Hicks 6-5 300 So. EDGE 18 Cashius Howell 6-4 245 R-Jr. 92 Malick Sylla 6-6 245 Jr. MLB 21 Taurean York 6-0 235 So. 32 Tristan Jernigan 6-1 225 Fr. WLB 22 Solomon DeShields 6-3 235 R-Sr. 27 Daymion Sanford 6-2 230 So. LCB 7 Tyreek Chappell 5-11 185 Sr. 26 Will Lee III 6-3 190 Jr. SS 9 Trey Jones III 6-2 215 Gr. 3 Marcus Ratcliffe 6-3 210 So. FS 25 Dalton Brooks 6-0 195 So. 33 Jarred Kerr 6-0 195 Jr. RCB 20 BJ Mayes 6-1 195 Sr. 10 Dezz Ricks 6-1 195 R-Fr. NB 1 Bryce Anderson 6-0 192 Jr. 8 Jaydon Hill 6-0 200 Gr. Special Teams Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 47 Randy Bond 5-11 195 Sr. 94 Drake Bhatia 5-7 165 Gr. KO 47 Randy Bond 5-11 195 Sr. 94 Drake Bhatia 5-7 165 Gr. P 37 Tyler White 6-4 225 R-Fr. 33 Keegan Andrews 6-3 252 Jr. PR 7 Moose Muhammad III 6-1 195 Gr. LS 48 Jacob Graham 5-11 220 Gr. 49 Connor Able 6-3 224 R-Jr. 45 Levi Hancock 6-2 225 R-So. H 37 Tyler White 6-4 225 R-Fr. 33 Keegan Andrews 6-3 252 Jr. KR 2 Rueben Owens 6-0 205 So. 6 Cyrus Allen 6-0 178 Jr. TEXAS A&M AGGIES TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART