NCAAF

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Texas A&M Aggies

· NCAA - Football
Final
23 - 13
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No. 7 Notre Dame pulls away late to beat No. 20 Texas A&M 23-13

Highlight: No. 20 Texas A&M drops heartbreaker to No. 7 Notre Dame

Love burst through the line and shed two would-be tacklers before waltzing into the end zone to give the Fighting Irish the lead.

The Aggies had a chance to tie it, but Christian Gray jumped the route to knock down Conner Weigman’s pass on fourth down to give Notre Dame the ball back.

The Fighting Irish added Mitch Jeter's 46-yard field goal with 30 seconds left.

Riley Leonard had a strong performance in his Notre Dame debut after transferring from Duke. He threw for 158 yards and added 63 yards rushing.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “The defense played lights out, (forced) turnovers. And our offense didn’t turn the ball over. Yes, there’s a lot of things we need to work on but man they did a great job at least trying to move the chains and… they didn’t make a detrimental mistake.”

Elko’s Debut Saturday was the debut for Texas A&M coach Mike Elko after he was hired from Duke this offseason following Jimbo Fisher’s firing late last season. Elko was looking to take the Aggies to the next level after last season's disappointing 7-6 season, but instead finds his team in an early 0-1 hole.

“I told the locker room for us to get this program over the hump, we have to put ourselves in the position to play the game the way we need to, and we didn’t do that tonight,” he said.

Running Wild Notre Dame had 198 yards rushing led by 91 from Love. The game was tied at 6-all with about seven minutes left in the third quarter when Jadarian Price escaped a tackle at the line, darted down the left side of the field and simply outran everyone for at 47-yard TD that put the Fighting Irish on top.

Texas A&M linebacker Taurean York said improving the run defense will be a priority for the Aggies.

“Them running for 198 yards, that’s no bueno,” he said. “It starts with me, so it will be fixed.”

That's Sick Television cameras caught Weigman vomiting as he returned to the sideline after a drive in the second half. Elko said he wasn't ill and it wasn't a big deal.

“In the heat of the moment just got a little sick,” he said. "Puke and rally.”

Key takeaway Notre Dame: The defense — especially the secondary — was as good as advertised. Xavier Watts, whose seven interceptions tied for most in the nation last year, got another one against the Aggies and Adon Shuler added a second one. Notre Dame held Texas A&M to 246 yards.

Texas A&M: Weigman will have to get better before SEC play begins after the A&M offense struggled to move the ball for most of the night against Notre Dame’s staunch defense. Their only touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Le'Veon Moss with about 12 minutes left. Weigman managed just 100 yards passing with the two turnovers in his return after missing most of last season with a foot injury.

Up next Notre Dame: Hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Texas A&M: Hosts McNeese State on Saturday.

How To Watch

How can I watch Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Texas A&M Aggies?
  • TV Channel: Fighting Irish at Aggies 2021 College Football, week 1, is broadcasted on ABC.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Aggies: 41.2%
Fighting Irish: 58.8%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

TA&M FG 1st Period 11:07 Randy Bond 34 Yd Field Goal
ND FG 1st Period 6:39 Mitch Jeter 46 Yd Field Goal
TA&M FG 2nd Period 14:14 Randy Bond 49 Yd Field Goal
ND FG 2nd Period 8:32 Mitch Jeter 26 Yd Field Goal
ND TD 3rd Period 6:50 Jadarian Price 47 Yd Run (Mitch Jeter Kick)
TA&M TD 4th Period 11:49 Le'Veon Moss 1 Yd Run (Randy Bond Kick)
ND TD 4th Period 1:54 Jeremiyah Love 21 Yd Run (Mitch Jeter Kick)
ND FG 4th Period 0:30 Mitch Jeter 46 Yd Field Goal

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/87.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originND https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/245.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTA&M
18 1st Downs 17
2-12 3rd down efficiency 4-13
1-2 4th down efficiency 0-2
356 Total Yards 246
158 Passing 100
18/30 Comp/Att 12/30
5.3 Yards per pass 3.3
198 Rushing 146
34 Rushing Attempts 38
5.8 Yards per rush 3.8
11-99 Penalties 6-55
0 Turnovers 2
0 Fumbles lost 0
0 Interceptions thrown 2
31:35 Possession 28:25

Game Information

Kyle Field

Location: College Station, TX
Capacity:
Full Standings

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