Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 SEPT. 20, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ing into this weekend's games, seven Irish opposing quarterbacks ranked in the top 25 nationally in pass efficiency, and eight of the 12 ranked in the top 25 in total offense. Reed was on both lists, and he looked every bit the part in both areas against Ash's defense, which gave up more total yards in the first half (328) than in the entirety of 10 of the Irish's 16 games in 2024. When it came to the passing game, Reed's 258 first-half passing yards were more than all but three opposing quarterbacks threw for in entire games against Notre Dame on their way to a national title game appearance and a 14-2 overall record. A sell-out crowd of 77,622, that in- cluded former Irish coach Lou Holtz and a big chunk of his 1988 national champs' roster, looked on as Notre Dame found some potent answers on offense at least, including a pair of touchdown runs by native Texan Jadarian Price. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, TEXAS A&M 7 To p m o m e n t : M a rc u s Fre e m a n said a couple days earlier that the punt battle would be a key factor against Texas A&M. He was right. On the Ag- gies' first punt, an untouched sopho- more defensive end Loghan Thomas blocked it and red- s h i r t f re s h m a n sa fe ty Ta e Johnson picked it up with no one in front of him. He ran 20 yards for Notre Dame's first touchdown. Feature performer: It's personal between redshirt s o p h o m o re r u n n i n g b a c k Jadarian Price and Texas A&M, because the Aggies didn't re- cruit him out of Denison, Texas. He ran 5 times for 35 yards in the first quarter, in- cluding a 7-yard score. Stats: Notre Dame ran 14 times for 60 yards after run- ning 4 times for 8 yards in the first quarter against Miami. The Irish held the ball for 10:45 to the Aggies' 4:15. Items: Texas A&M sopho- m o re w i d e re ce ive r M a r i o Craver went 86 yards for a touchdown after Notre Dame junior cornerback Christian Gray and redshirt senior safety Jalen Stroman missed tackles … Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr found senior tight end Eli Raridon for 43 yards on a flea flicker. SECOND QUARTER TEXAS A&M 28, NOTRE DAME 24 Top moment: Carr nearly missed a wide-open sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love on a wheel route. But Love, madman that he is, stuck out his right hand and caught it anyway. He then barreled an Aggies defender into the end zone for six points. Feature performer: Texas A&M redshirt sophomore quarterback Mar- cel Reed completed 7 of 9 passes for 160 yards, an unacceptable number for the Irish defense. Reed got whatever he wanted, primarily to wide receivers Ma- rio Craver and KC Concepcion. Stats: Texas A&M outgained Notre Dame 212-103. Items: Senior running back Le'Veon Moss scored all three of the Aggies' touchdowns in the quarter … Carr con- nected on 7 of 11 passes for 104 yards with the touchdown to Love … Of Reed's 160 yards, 75 went to Craver … Notre Dame redshirt senior kicker Noah Burnette made a 22-yard field goal. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 31, TEXAS A&M 31 Top moment: It's so subtle when you watch it on TV, but it's more notice- able in person: The Jadarian Price head fake is unstoppable. He used it to leave a defender in his dust on the way to a 19-yard touchdown to give Notre Dame a 31-28 lead. Feature performer: Redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields made his presence felt, catching 2 passes for 41 yards. Stats: Notre Dame outgained Texas A&M 128-44. Items: Texas A&M kicker Randy Bond made a 43-yard field goal … Notre Dame punter James Rendell pinned the Aggies at the 1-yard line with a perfectly placed 47-yard punt … Junior wide re- ceiver Jaden Greathouse caught his first pass of the season for 34 yards. FOURTH QUARTER TEXAS A&M 41, NOTRE DAME 40 Top moment: With help from a flagrant missed holding penalty (ju- nior Aggies left guard Chase Bisontis tackles redshirt junior Irish defensive tackle Donovan Hinish), Reed found tight end Nick Boerkircher for a game- winning touchdown. Notre Dame ju- nior linebacker Drayk Bowen covered him well, but it wasn't enough on fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line with 13 seconds to play. Feature performer: Love carried 6 times for 35 yards, including the go-ahead touch- down with 2:53 to play. S ta ts : Tex a s A & M a n d Notre Dame both went 3 of 5 on third or fourth down. Items: Burnette and Bond both made field goals … Texas A&M's game-winning drive went 74 yards on 13 plays … A defensive holding penalty on Gray bailed out the Ag- gies on third-and-16 from the 20-yard line shortly before the game-winner … Redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Bu- chner botched the hold on the extra point following Love's to u c h d ow n , wh i c h t u r n e d out to be the difference in the game. ✦ The Irish had a difficult time containing Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed, who threw for 360 yards and 2 scores while also rushing for 37 yards. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER