Texas A&M football has the chance to make some huge waves with a win up in South Bend this Saturday night, but it will be by far their biggest test of the year.
The Aggies are ready to take the next step as a program, but to do so, you have to win some huge games against opponents where you are not the favorite. That describes, to a T, the matchup that the Aggies are facing against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this Saturday.
Make no mistake: Mike Elko's squad has been preparing for this game for quite a while now. This is a contest that they've had their eyes on all summer, even though they had two warmups in the leadup. Saturday night, we will learn a lot more about just how good this Aggie team actually is.
Texas A&M vs Notre Dame: Aggie players to watch
Marcel Reed
This is one of the biggest games of the young passer's life— thankfully, he is good to go, per Mike Elko, after suffering some kind of injury against Utah State last week. He'll have to make plays with his arm and on the ground at opportune moments. With the weapons he has around him, he'll stand a much better chance of moving the ball than the Aggies did last year.
Taurean York
Notre Dame struggled to run the ball against Miami, but they didn't lean too heavily on that aspect of the game. York will be tasked with helping stop a rushing attack that will most likely be the feature aspect of Notre Dame's offense on Saturday night. Quarterbacking the defense isn't easy, but if anyone is up to the task, it's York.
KC Concepcion
Mario Craver is the yardage leader for the Aggies, but make no mistake: KC is the straw that stirs the drink. Concepcion has this opportunity to show that he can live up to all the hype he's gotten over the offseason, and he'll have to do it against some of the toughest man coverage he'll have yet faced this season.
Texas A&M vs Notre Dame: Fighting Irish players to watch
CJ Carr
I think it's safe to say that the goal of the Texas A&M defense in this upcoming game will be to make Carr throw the ball. He started to come on at the end against an aggressive Miami team on the road, but he's still unproven at the moment, so he'll have to have success against an improved A&M defensive backfield. If he's able to beat the Aggies' man coverage, it could be a long night for the Ags.
Jeremiyah Love
The running back for the Fighting Irish bears the title of the best in the country at his position. He's an all-American by whatever service you care to check, but he didn't get near the shine he should have in last week's game. Look for the Irish to lean far more heavily on him in this one.
Drayk Bowen
The junior linebacker for the Irish will have the unenviable task of keeping a suddenly-very-diverse Collin Klein offense in check. The Aggies have the weapons to unleash Klein's run-game wizardry in full measure this year, and this could be the first game we really see it in full effect.
Texas A&M vs Notre Dame: Preview and prediction
This is the third game of the season, but it's hard to say what we really know about these two teams. Notre Dame played a good Miami squad, but it was their quarterback's first-ever start and it was on the road, so how much of that can you really extrapolate?
In like manner, how sure can we be that the Aggies have shown everything so far? It certainly seems like they weren't going full bore in the last two games— but they didn't need to.
I can't get away from this feeling: the A&M offense is far better than it was last year in this game, and the Notre Dame offense and defense both look so far like they are worse than they were last year in this game. The Aggie defense could well be better— they definitely have a much-improved pass rush— but it's TBD until we see it in full measure.
That in mind, I'm going to drink the kool-aid and say that the Aggies take home a victory in South Bend, 28-20. If they do so, it is hard to overstate just how much it would mean for this A&M program.