Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 SEPT. 13, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: TEXAS A&M BY ERIC HANSEN T he declaration this summer from d e p ose d fo r m e r Texa s A & M head coach Jimbo Fisher that he is looking for a coaching reboot makes Year 2 of Aggie football without him a bit of a referendum. Is the big-splash, big-money SEC program idling in wannabe status in- stead of competing for national titles a Fisher problem or something endemic to the program and the culture itself? The Aggies' Sept. 13 venture to Notre Dame Stadium under second-year A&M head coach Mike Elko could begin to an- swer that question, as well as whether Texas A&M is ready for a double-digit victory season for only the second time since 1998. After opening at home with UTSA and Utah State, Game 3 of the 2025 season will be Elko's first trip to Notre Dame Stadium since a soggy Senior Day on Nov. 18, 2017, the last home game of his one-year run as the Irish defen- sive coordinator. A couple of late Kevin Stepherson touchdown catches helped the Irish escape with a 24-17 triumph over Navy. The 59-year-old Fisher, who hired Elko away from Notre Dame, will be spending the afternoon and all season as an analyst for the ACC Network, and all the while still collecting a $76 mil- lion buyout that came with no offset in case he does regenerate as a college head coach. The Aggies team that Elko brings with him for A&M's first road trip to South Bend since 2000 and second ever is one in which he reinvested himself in the defense, becoming more involved in ev- ery aspect than he was in Year 1 of his head coaching regime. In an 8-5 season, Texas A&M finished 63rd in total defense out of 133 FBS teams last year under coordinator Jay Bateman. Down the stretch of their 1-4 finish they were much worse than that. It's still the side of the ball in 2025 with the most question marks, with the defensive line now the potential soft spot or at least the position group with the most to prove on either side. Mean- while, preseason All-America line- backer Taurean York and nickel Tyreek Chappell are two of the standouts in the back seven for A&M. The anticipation inside the Ag- gies program is that the offense has a chance to be special after being sporadic in 2024. The offensive line, led by pre- season All-American guard and former Kansas Jayhawk Ar'maj Reed-Adams, is considered elite. The running game, with Le'Veon Moss back after missing the last third of the 2024 season due to a knee in- jury, is expected to thrive, with redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed's legs being a big part of that expected running prowess as well. STRESS TEST Former Irish defensive coordinator Mike Elko returns to Notre Dame Stadium for the first time since 2017 Elko led Texas A&M to an 8-5 record in his first season in charge of the Aggies. PHOTO COURTESY TEXAS A&M ATHLETICS