Game Preview: Notre Dame's Offense vs. Texas A&M's Defense

AggieYell.com’s look at the matchup between No. 16 Texas A&M (2-0) and No. 8 Notre Dame (0-1) continues with a breakdown of the Fighting Irish offense against the Aggie defense.

Where, when, weather and TV

Where: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

When: 6:30 p.m. central time, Saturday, Sept. 13

Weather: Clear, with temperatures dropping into the 60s during the game

TV: NBC (Play-by-play: Noah Eagle; Analyst: Todd Blackledge; Sideline reporter: Kathryn Tappen)

Notre Dame offensive depth chart

QB: #13, CJ Carr; RS-Fr.; 6-3, 210

#8, Kenny Minchey; So.; 6-2, 208

RB: #4, Jeremiyah Love; Jr.; 6, 214

#24, Jadarian Price; Jr.; 5-11, 210

#22, Aneyas Williams; So.; 5-10, 205

WR: #0, Malachi Fields; Sr.; 6-4, 222

#14, Michah Gilbert; Fr.; 6-2, 204

#5, Cam Williams; Fr.; 6-2, 200

WR: #1, Jaden Greathouse; Jr.; 6-1, 215 OR #2, Will Pauling; Sr.; 5-10, 190

#19, Logan Saldate; Fr.; 6, 189

WR: #6, Jordan Faison; Jr.; 5-10, 185

#11, KK Smith; So.; 6, 176

#17, Elijah Burress; Fr.; 6, 185

TE: #9, Eli Raridon; Sr.; 6-7, 252

#7, Ty Washington; Jr.; 6-5, 248 OR #85, Jack Larsen; Fr.; 6-3, 250

LT: #54, Anthonie Knapp; So.; 6-4, 300

#71, Styles Prescod; Fr.; 6-6, 292

LG: #74, Billy Schrauth; Jr.; 6-4, 310

#55, Chris Terek; So.; 6-6, 322

C: #70, Ashton Craig; Jr.; 6-5, 310
#64, Joe Otting; So.; 6-4, 308
RG: #76, Guerby Lambert; Fr.; 6-7, 335 OR #75, Sullivan Absher; So.; 6-8, 327
RT: #59, Aamil Wagner; Jr.; 6-6, 300

RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 300 Jr.
76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 335 Fr.

Texas A&M defensive depth chart

DE: #50, Dayon Hayes; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 264 or #18, T.J. Searcy; Jr.-TR.; 6-5, 256

#30, Solomon Williams; RS-Fr.; 6-1, 250 OR #92, Sam M’Pemba; RS-So.-TR.; 6-3, 252

DT: #5, DJ Hicks; Jr.; 6-3, 295 OR #11, Tyler Onyedim; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 295 OR #17, Albert Regis; Gr.; 6-1, 317

#55, Dealyn Evans; RS-Fr.; 6-4, 314 OR #99, Landon Rink; Fr.; 6-2, 294

N: 17, Albert Regis; Gr.; 6-1, 317 OR #5, DJ Hicks; Jr.; 6-3, 295 OR #11, Tyler Onyedim; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 295

#88, DJ Sanders; FR.; 6-3, 315 OR ##99, Landon Rink; Fr.; 6-2, 294

DT: #11, Tyler Onyedim; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 295 OR Albert Regis; Gr.; 6-1, 317 OR #5, DJ Hicks; Jr.; 6-3, 295

#59, Chace Sims; Fr.; 6-3, 294 OR #99, Landon Rink; Fr.; 6-2, 294

JACK: #9, Cashius Howell; RS-Sr.-TR.; 6-2, 248

#15, Rylan Kennedy; RS-So.; 6-3, 239 OR #10, Marco Jones; Fr.; 6-5, 258 OR #92, Sam M’Pemba, RS-So.-TR.; 6-3, 252

LB: #21, Taurean York; Jr.; 5-10, 227

#54, Jordan Lockhart; So.; 6-1, 229 OR #27, Daymion Sanford; Jr.; 6-2, 222

LB: #0, Scooby Williams; Sr.; 6-2, 230

#27, Daymion Sanford; Jr.; 6-2, 222 OR #23 Noah Mikhail; Fr.; 6-2, 223

NICKEL: #7, Tyreek Chappell; RS-Sr.; 5-11, 180

#19, Bravion Rogers; Jr.; 5-11, 188 OR #8, Jordan Shaw; RS-So.; 5-11, 182 OR #14, Jayvon Thomas; Jr.; 5-11, 196

CB: #4, Will Lee; Sr.; 6-1, 189

#6, Julio Humphrey; RS-Jr.;-TR. 6-1, 195

#14, Jayvon Thomas; Jr.; 5-11, 196

CB: #2, Dezz Ricks; RS-So.-TR.; 6-1, 188 OR #6, Julio Humphrey; RS-Jr.-TR.; 6-1, 195

#20 Adonyss Currie; Fr.; 6, 174

S: #1, Bryce Anderson; Sr.; 5-10, 186

#29, Myles Davis; So; 6-1, 196

#13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson; Fr.; 6-1, 198

S: #25, Dalton Brooks; Jr.; 6, 193 OR #3, Marcus Ratcliffe; Jr.-TR.; 6-2, 209

#33 Jarred Kerr; Sr.; 5-11, 190

#13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson; Fr.; 6-1, 198

Injury update

Notre Dame: TEs Justin FIsher and Cooper Flanagan, OL Devan Houstan, Charles Jagusah and Peter Jones are all out for Saturday. RBs Kedren Young and Dylan Devezin and TE Kevin Bauman are all out for the year.

Texas A&M: Nickel Jordan Shaw, who did not play in the first two games, is expected to return this weekend.

Notre Dame offensive statistical leaders

Passing: Carr, 19-30 (63.3%), 221 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

Rushing: Price, 6 carries, 45 yards (7.5 YPC)

Love, 10 carries, 33 yards (3.3 YPC)

Carr, 11 carries, 16 yards (1.5 YPC), 1 TD

Receiving: Raridon, 5 catches, 97 yards (19.4 YPC)

Faison, 5 catches, 33 yards, 1 TD

Love, 4 catches, 26 yards

Texas A&M defensive statistical leaders

Tackles: York, 12

Scooby Williams, Ratcliffe and Lee, 9

Regis, 8

Tackles for loss: Howell, 3

Scooby Williams, 2.5

Lockhart, M’Pemba and Chappell, 1.5

Sacks: Howell, 3

Four players with 1

Forced fumbles: Scooby Williams and M’Pemba, 1

Fumble recoveries: M’Pemba, 1

Notre Dame players to watch

QB CJ Carr: Carr made the first start of his career at Miami and didn’t play badly, but he did throw one really bad interception that ended up in a Miami field goal, the difference in a three-point game. He’s got a good arm and the Irish want to utilize it off of play action, but they’re still RPO-heavy. Carr doesn’t run like Riley Leonard, but Notre Dame ran him a lot against the Hurricanes.

RBs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price: Possibly the best 1-2 punch A&M will see this year, with only Texas coming close. Love ran all over the Aggies last year, carrying 26 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. His 21-yarder late in the game broke the back of the Aggie defense. But it was Price who was the home run threat, breaking off a 47-yard touchdown run to put Notre Dame ahead in the third quarter. He didn’t do much besides that (-3 yards on 7 additional carries), but he showed that home run talent again against Miami two weekends ago with a 30-yard dash. The Aggies must tackle well and not make mental mistakes against these two.

WR Jordan Faison: Notre Dame’s top returning wideout, Faison caught 5 passes for 33 yards and a touchdown against Miami. He averaged nearly 12 yards a catch last year and he’s their speed guy. He’ll likely play a lot in the slot, so Tyreek Chappell will probably shadow him as he did last year when Faison had 2 catches for 12 total yards.

Head to head: Notre Dame’s offense vs. Texas A&M’s defense

Category	Notre Dame	National rank	Texas A&M	National/SEC rank
Scoring offense/defense	24 PPG	91st	23 PPG	80th/15th
Total offense/defense	314 YPG	108th	311.5 YPG	62nd/14th
Rushing offense/defense	93 YPG	123rd	140.5 YPG	83rd/13th
Passing offense/defense	221 YPG	73rd	171 YPG	47th/12th
First downs/allowed	18	134th	35	63rd/13th
3rd down conversion %/Defense	44.4%	53rd	24.1%	25th/7th
Red zone conversion/ defense	100%	1st nationally	83.3%	61st/9th
Tackles for loss allowed/TFL	5/game	60th	9/game	11th/2nd
Sacks allowed/sacks	3/game	119th	3.5/game	11th/3rd
Turnovers/ Turnovers forced	2	56th	1	92nd/11th
Turnover +/-	-2	125th	Even	65th/10th
Time of possession	26:03	114th	30:17	68th/10th

What Notre Dame wants to do

Run the ball down A&M’s throat, then hit them with play action over the top. Even though the Fighting Irish struggled to run against Miami, they surely saw what UTSA did and remember what happened last year and think they can repeat the feat.

This week, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman insisted “the whole playbook” was available to Carr as he makes his first home start, but also said the offense should be centered around Love (which it was not in Miami). Freeman said they’ll continue to use the RPO game heavily, but he wants to take deep shots to force A&M to back off if they stack the box. That sounds like a challenge pointed directly at Will Lee, Dezz Ricks and Tyreek Chappell.

If Notre Dame stays RPO heavy, they may look to try to pound the ball with Love and Price anyway. Carr didn’t have much success with quarterback keepers against Miami, and he’s not Riley Leonard. One positive that came out of the Miami loss was the emergence of TE Eli Raridon, who had a 65-yard catch and 97 yards for the game on 5 receptions. The Aggies can’t get too hung up on the receivers and let him run wild in the middle of the field.

Freeman doesn’t want to admit it, but he wants to protect Carr as this will be just his second start, and he knows his offense got away with the biggest weapons — their backs — two weekends ago. Considering the results from last year, odds are the Irish will try to beat up A&M with the run first, just like they did at Kyle Field.

How A&M may try to counter

Put the game on Carr’s shoulders and stop screwing around on defense. The Aggies have shown periods of utter dominance in both of their first two games, but they’ve also made massive blunders that have led to essentially free points. Last year, Notre Dame took advantage of poor tackling and blown assignments to 356 yards of total offense — 198 of it on the ground. A&M has shown more of the same early on this year, and it has to have stopped at the end of the Utah State game if they’re going to take this one.

This is where the Aggies are going to find out whether slimmer and faster works on the defense line. Utah State ran for 78 yards at 2.2 yards per carry last weekend, but Notre Dame is not Utah State. The big interior three of Albert Regis, DJ Hicks and Tyler Onyedim will have to hold up and not allow the middle of the field to open up.

A&M has played a pretty vanilla brand of defense so far, but you can bet that the gloves come off this weekend. More exotic blitz packages, with the linebackers, safeties and the nickel, should all be on the table. They’re going to want to mix things up and confuse Carr, who as noted will be making his second career start.

If A&M’s going to stop the run, linebackers Taurean York, Scooby Williams and Jordan Lockhart need to be on their A game. Williams had 6 tackles last week, but got washed out on Utah State’s biggest run (30 yards to start the second half). York was largely a non-factor. The Aggie linebackers need to be both aggressive and smart.

Mike Elko likes to come after quarterbacks anyway, and with a rookie starting for Notre Dame, he probably senses opportunity. But if the Aggies are aggressive, they’ve got to make sure they don’t overdo it. If they only use their head for a place to put their helmet, they’re going to lose.