Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539449
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 20, 2025 29 Reed immediately put the Aggies in Notre Dame territory with a 34-yard catch-and-run over the middle to sophomore wide receiver Mario Craver. Chunk plays through the air had been an issue for the Irish all night, and that was one of them. "Why were there explosive plays?" Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "I'm sure it's about pressure. I'm sure it's about coverage. I'll let you know when I see you guys on Monday. But it wasn't good enough with the standard." On third-and-8 from the Irish 23-yard line with a minute to play, Notre Dame lost containment, and Reed scrambled for a 9-yard gain for a first down. Then, on third-and-16, the Irish had Texas A&M stopped until a flag flew on Gray for defensive holding away from the play. Finally, Reed to Boerkircher happened on fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line. Graduate student kicker Randy Bond's extra point was good, and the Aggies started celebrating. When Boerkircher caught the ball, Talich put his hands on his helmet in disbelief. When Bond's extra point went through, Johnson did the same while ly- ing on the turf after his attempt to block it. Gray, a few yards behind him, keeled over in agony. A dream scenario became a night- mare. — Jack Soble NOTRE DAME VS. TEXAS A&M QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 10:52 5:45 9:05 7:37 16:37 16:42 33:19 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 2-4 2-4 2-4 3-7 4-8 7-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-1 0-1 1-1 1-2 1-2 2-4 Average Field Position ND-37 ND-25 ND-40 ND-28 ND-31 ND-36 ND-33 Texas A&M 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 4:08 9:15 5:55 7:23 13:23 13:18 26:41 Third-Down Conversions 0-2 2-2 0-3 2-4 2-4 2-7 4-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position A&M-22 A&M-39 A&M-25 A&M-25 A&M-30 A&M-25 A&M-28 Play Chart (No. of Plays) Yards ND A&M Nega ve 8 2 0-5 32 42 6-9 12 5 10-19 10 12 20-29 4 2 30-39 2 2 40-49 1 1 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 5 3 2 0 Texas A&M 4 4 0 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 A&M48 Carr pass to Raridon for 43 yards to A&M5 • 1-10 A&M36 Carr pass to Love for 36 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 ND35 Carr pass to Raridon for 25 yards to A&m40 • 3-13 ND22 Carr pass to Fields for 27 yards to ND49 • 1-10 ND35 Carr pass to Greathouse for 34 yards to A&M 31 Texas A&M • 1-10 A&M14 Reed pass to Craver got 86 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 ND46 Reed pass to Concepcion for 45 yards to ND 1 • 1-10 ND47 Reed pass to Craver for 31 yards to ND 16 • 2-7 A&M 29 Reed pass to Craver for 34 yards to ND37 Holder Tyler Buchner's botched snap on the extra point following Jeremiyah Love's go-ahead touchdown proved costly for the Irish. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • The attendance for the game was 77,622, which marked the 14th consecutive sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. Nineteen of the 21 home games coach by Marcus Freeman have been sold out. • The Fighting Irish are now 4-3 overall and 1-1 at Notre Dame Stadium all time against Texas A&M. • Notre Dame is now 110-21-04 all time in home openers, including a mark of 76-18-2 at Notre Dame Stadium. • The Fighting Irish are now 50-28 against SEC teams, including 19-11 at home. • Redshirt freshman safety Tae Johnson scored his first career touchdown in the first quarter, returning a blocked punt 20 yards for the first score of the game. • Redshirt senior defensive end Jordan Botelho made his 52nd career appearance in a Notre Dame uniform, tying him with Daelin Hayes (2016-20), Romeo Okwara (2012-15) and Drue Tranquill (2014-18) for 13th in pro- gram history.