Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 13, 2025 37 GAME PREVIEW: TEXAS A&M The Irish absolutely must win this matchup, and it's hard to imagine the Aggies having an answer for it. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. TEXAS A&M PASS DEFENSE Neither team should be supremely confident in this matchup. But the Irish have more to prove with an inexperienced quarterback. Redshirt freshman CJ Carr won the preseason quarterback competition by a close margin. That's the result most expected earlier in the year, be- cause his potential to make big-time throws is obvious. Like with most young quarterbacks, turn- overs are the biggest concern for Carr. Notre Dame has some attractive receiving op- tions with the offseason graduate transfer addi- tions of Virginia's Malachi Fields and Wisconsin's Will Pauling. Fields led the Cavaliers in receptions in 2024 (55). Pauling led the Badgers in receptions in 2023 (74) and 2024 (42). Their past production and leadership should be extremely valuable to Carr. Notre Dame's homegrown receivers should be on the rise as well, with juniors Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison aiming to be more consistent this season. Greathouse showed his potential in the last two playoff games, but Faison was limited by an ankle injury for most of last season. Notre Dame's tight end depth is lacking, but of- fensive coordinator Mike Denbrock believes starter Eli Raridon, a senior, can be elite. He finished his first healthy year of college football last season with only 11 receptions for 90 yards and 2 touch- downs, but that production will rise as an outlet for Carr. Notre Dame's experienced offensive line will be relied upon to give Carr his best chance to succeed. It held up decently well last year against a more imposing A&M defensive front, but Leonard made life easier on them. Carr might not. Texas A&M has plenty of experience in the sec- ondary at safety and with cornerback Will Lee III, a preseason All-SEC second-team selection. For- mer Rivals Industry five-star recruit Dezz Ricks and Georgia transfer Julio Humphrey are among those expected to help Lee at cornerback. Defensive end Cashius Howell will be the biggest threat to pressure Carr. He finished with a PFF pass rushing grade of 91.4 last season, which tied him for fifth among edge defenders with at least 200 defensive snaps. Colorado transfer Dayon Hayes, who is in his sixth season of college football, could be a pass rush threat on the other side, too, but others will rotate into the mix. Carr isn't experienced enough to get the benefit of the doubt in a close matchup, so give the Aggies a slight edge here. Advantage: Texas A&M SPECIAL TEAMS For all the special things Notre Dame did last sea- son with fake punts and fake field goals, the special teams units weren't consistent enough in the ac- tual punting and kicking. The Irish have reason to believe that North Carolina graduate transfer Noah Burnette can perform better as a kicker than an injured Mitch Jeter did last season. Special teams coordinator Marty Biagi also has faith in Australian punter James Rendell's ability to improve on his second season playing the sport. Texas A&M doesn't need as much hope in what its specialists can do, because kicker Randy Bond and punter Tyler White are proven commodities. Bond hit 20 of 24 field goal attempts (83.3 percent) last season with a long of 55 yards. White averaged 44.9 yards per punt in 2024. If Notre Dame does find an opportunity for Love or Price to return a kickoff, the Irish could add a dangerous threat in the return game. But Terry Bussey is an explosive threat for A&M as a re- turner, too. The punting and kicking competence from A&M means too much to give the Irish an advantage even at home. Advantage: Texas A&M COACHING Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman earned so much trust through last season's run that it will be hard to side with a staff on the opposing sideline of the Irish this season. Mike Elko could be on his way to gaining that kind of trust as Texas A&M's head coach, but Freeman has already beaten him twice in very close matchups. Freeman's Irish beat Elko-led teams at Duke in 2023 and Texas A&M in 2024. Elko needs second-year offensive coordinator Collin Klein to outcoach Ash for Texas A&M to OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 7 KC Concepcion 5-11 190 Jr. 18 TK Norman 6-0 182 Fr. WR 1 Mario Craver 5-9 165 So. or 2 Terry Bussey 5-10 195 So. LT 60 Trey Zuhn III 6-7 319 Gr. 79 Lamont Rogers 6-6 337 Fr. LG 71 Chase Bisontis 6-5 315 Jr. 73 Ashton Funk 6-6 322 R-Fr. or 77 Tyler Thomas 6-4 329 Fr. C 54 Mark Nabou Jr. 6-3 322 R-So. 61 Koli Faaiu 6-3 333 Sr. RG 55 Ar'maj Reed-Adams 6-5 325 Gr. 52 Blake Ivy 6-3 336 R-Fr. RT 78 Dametrious Crownover 6-7 336 Gr. 70 Robert Bourdon 6-6 318 R-Fr. TE 17 Theo Melin Öhrström 6-6 257 R-Jr. or 87 Nate Boerkircher 6-4 250 Gr. or 84 Amari Niblack 6-3 235 Sr. WR 3 Ashton Bethel-Roman 6-0 185 R-Fr. or 2 Terry Bussey 5-10 195 So. QB 10 Marcel Reed 6-1 185 R-So. 16 Miles O'Neill 6-5 220 R-Fr. RB 8 Le'Veon Moss 5-11 210 Sr. or 4 Rueben Owens II 5-11 215 R-So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 50 Dayon Hayes 6-3 264 Gr. or 18 T.J. Searcy 6-5 255 Jr. DT 5 DJ Hicks 6-3 295 Jr. 55 Dealyn Evans 6-4 314 R-Fr. N 17 Albert Regis 6-1 317 Gr. 88 DJ Sanders 6-3 315 Fr. DT 11 Tyler Onyedim 6-3 295 Gr. 59 Chace Sims 6-3 294 Fr. J 9 Cashius Howell 6-2 248 R-Sr. 15 Rylan Kennedy 6-3 239 R-So. LB 21 Taurean York 5-10 227 Jr. 54 Jordan Lockhart 6-1 229 So. LB 0 Scooby Williams 6-2 230 Sr. 27 Daymion Sanford 6-2 222 Jr. CB 4 Will Lee III 6-1 189 Sr. 6 Julio Humphrey 6-1 195 R-Jr. S 1 Bryce Anderson 5-10 186 Sr. 29 Myles Davis 6-1 196 So. S 25 Dalton Brooks 6-0 193 Jr. or 3 Marcus Ratcliffe 6-2 209 Jr. CB 2 Dezz Ricks 6-1 188 R-So. or 6 Julio Humphrey 6-1 195 R-Jr. NB 7 Tyreek Chappell 5-11 180 R-Sr. 19 Bravion Rogers 5-11 188 Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 47 Randy Bond 5-10 198 Gr. or 99 Jared Zirkel 6-2 194 Gr. KO 99 Jared Zirkel 6-2 194 Gr. or 47 Randy Bond 5-10 198 Gr. P 37 Tyler White 6-3 225 R-So. 47 Randy Bond 5-10 198 Gr. LS 48 Jacob Graham 5-10 218 Gr. 45 Levi Hancock 6-1 220 R-Jr. H 37 Tyler White 6-3 225 R-So. 36 Truette Tumey 5-11 180 R-Sr. PR 7 KC Concepcion 5-11 190 Jr. or 2 Terry Bussey 5-10 195 So. KR 2 Terry Bussey 5-10 195 So. or 23 Jamarion Morrow 5-9 205 Fr. or 4 Rueben Owens II 5-11 215 R-So. TEXAS A&M AGGIES TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART