Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 7, 2024 29 Gray broke up a pair of passes. Mor- rison broke up one. It felt like the Irish had more than three as a team, but when you factor in 2 interceptions, one from Watts and another from Shuler, plus 13 more incomplete passes, it all equated to an abysmal aerial attack for the Aggies. Weigman only completed 40.0 percent of his passes and averaged a meager 3.3 yards per pass attempt. "There weren't a lot of easy access throws to get him in rhythm and get him going," Elko said. Weigman's sad story isn't novel. Rather, a recurring nightmare for Notre Dame opponents. The Notre Dame de- fense that led the country in pass ef- ficiency in 2023? It's back. And maybe better than before. "Our defense played lights out," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. Sure did. After the Aggies tied the game at 13-13 early in the fourth quar- ter, they went three-and-out and turned the ball over on downs on the Gray pass break-up on their next two drives. The desired outcome was still very much within reach for the home team, but the Notre Dame defense stiffened up and didn't leave anything left to be desired from its own faithful. Golden's group delivered, as has been customary, and produced another gem of a performance. Save for some infractions that could be traced back to first-game jitters and the magnitude of the moment, A&M might not have entered the end zone at all. Its only touchdown drive came on a possession in which the Irish defense committed two costly penalties. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard wasn't perfect in his first game with the Irish, but he didn't need to be. His defense had his back, like backing up a struggling starting pitcher with plenty of run support. "When you have a good defense, you don't have to put the ball in jeopardy," Leonard said. "You don't have to play risky." ✦ TEXAS A&M VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Texas A&M 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 9:32 4:19 8:20 6:14 13:51 14:34 28:25 Third-Down Conversions 1-4 1-2 2-4 0-3 2-6 2-7 4-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-2 0-2 Average Field Position A&M-29 A&M-16 A&M-37 A&M-23 A&M-23 A&M-30 A&M-26 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 5:28 10:41 6:40 8:46 16:09 15:26 31:35 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 0-3 0-3 1-3 1-6 1-6 2-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-2 Average Field Position ND-19 ND-39 ND-27 ND-35 ND-32 ND-31 ND-32 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards A&M ND Nega ve 3 7 0-5 44 30 6-9 12 10 10-19 8 10 20-29 0 3 30-39 0 0 40-49 0 1 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Texas A&M 2 1 1 0 Notre Dame 1 0 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-14 ND20 Love 29-yard run to ND49 • 2-14 A&M47 Price 47-yard run for a touchdown Texas A&M None Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray made 2 tackles and broke up a pair of passes in his first career start. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Sophomore safety Adon Shuler notched his first career interception in the second quarter. His 12-yard return to the Aggies' 29- yard line set up Notre Dame's second field goal of the game. • Freshman offensive tackle Anthonie Knapp, freshman offensive guard Sam Pend- leton, sophomore offensive tackle Aamil Wag- ner, sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen and sophomore cornerback Christian Gray and Shuler all made their first career start. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard, senior wide receivers Beaux Collins and Jayden Har- rison, senior defensive end RJ Oben and senior defensive back Jordan Clark all made their first career start for Notre Dame. • Graduate student James Rendell's first punt of his collegiate career traveled 47 yards in the first quarter. • Three Irish defenders set a new career high for tackles: graduate student vyper Jordan Botelho (6), sophomore nose tackle Donovan Hinish (5) and sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry (4), while sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen matched his career high (4).