Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame football program were hoping for a huge home-opening loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday night, but unfortunately, the Fighting Irish fell, in disastrous fashion, by a score of 41 to 40. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash is taking a lot of the blame for the loss, and deservedly so. It was one of the worst defensive showings we have seen from this Irish defense in a long time, and it was magnified by being in their home stadium.

While the conversation is going to be an extremely negative one for the foreseeable future, there were several Notre Dame players who did impress on Saturday night. There were even more who left a lot to be desired. Here are the studs and dudes from that disappointing loss, and here is to hoping that things get a whole lot better soon.

STUDS

Leonard Moore 

One of the biggest highlight plays of the day came from Moore on a tremendous interception. It was very early on in the game when quarterback Marcel Reed and the Aggie offense decided to stop throwing at the 6-2, 195-pound sophomore. He was the only member of the secondary that played well on Saturday night.

The running backs

Between Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, the duo finished with 35 carries for 162 yards and three touchdowns. Love also hauled in four receptions for 53 yards and another score as a receiver. Even when the blocking wasn’t great, that duo managed to make some big plays. There is a reason why they were considered arguably the best running back duo in the country returning in 2025.

Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 

The box score won’t tell the full story about how good Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa was against Texas A&M. He was by far your best and most impactful linebacker on the team. KVA is an impressive blend of size, movement skills, and versatility. All he does is make plays with the reps he receives. He still needs to play more.

CJ Carr to Malachi Fields

The CJ Carr to Malachi Fields connection had some flashes against Miami, but it was impressive in this game against the Aggies. The redshirt freshman finished with 293 yards passing on the day, and five catches for 77 yards went to Fields, but it felt like a lot more. As they gain even more chemistry, that duo has a chance to be very good this season. There is no questioning who the top wide receiver is right now for Notre Dame.

Tae Johnson

Johnson had Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the day off a blocked punt by Loghan Thomas. The redshirt freshman also made several flash plays during the game on defense as well, finishing with six total tackles and a pass breakup. His range and playmaking upside is just too good to keep off of the field moving forward.

DUDS

Chris Ash 

There is no sugar coating how poorly of a game that Coach Ash called on Saturday night. His defense was uninspired and suffered from poor communication throughout. All offseason, we heard that Ash was here to run the Notre Dame defense. I don’t remember that Irish defensive unit being built off of being passive, slow, and running a ton of zone coverages. Ash will need to find some answers, and quickly.

Jalen Stroman 

After a solid opening game from the Virginia Tech transfer, Stroman played very poorly against the Aggies. It started with his coverage and tackling blunder on a long touchdown from wide receiver Mario Craver. He was in a poor position too often and just didn’t make any plays. It was a game to forget overall for him.

The rest of the secondary not named Leonard Moore

The Aggies figured out very early on in the football game that testing More was probably not a great idea. Unfortunately, the rest of the Irish secondary was not up to the task. Christian Gray had a game to forget, as did Karson Hobbs and safety Jalen Stroman. There was a lot of miscommunication on the back end, and the secondary played a bit slow overall. That group is the main victim of the new defensive approach from Coach Ash.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish News

Risky Notre Dame offseason hire has gone from a “don’t mess it up” situation to completely derailing the Fighting Irish identity 

The Notre Dame defense has a problem, and it is rooted with one offseason addition. This unit needs some answers, and quickly.

Ryan Roberts