Notre Dame football was once again in a primetime moment, a situation that the Irish have struggled tremendously in recent memory. Not only does being a part of the Irish program bring big expectations, but this contest held a lot of massive storylines.

Of course the most obvious one was Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko, who spent a season as defensive coordinator in South Bend. He had the chance to kickoff the Aggie tenure against one of his former squads, and hopefully come out with a great victory to begin the 2024 season.

Then of course there was the relationship with Notre Dame starting quarterback Riley Leonard, who served as his lead signal caller previously while a part of the Duke program. That was a battle that many talked about, and Leonard came out on the winning end 23-13.

As a part of that victory for the Irish, Leonard would account for 221 yards. Notre Dame was buoyed by their rushing attack, which accounted for 198 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. They also received some timely catches from wide receiver Beaux Collins, who led the team with five receptions for 62 yards.

Here are thoughts broken down by each half:

We First half thoughts

The first half was a struggle for both offenses. For the Notre Dame unit, led by former LSU offensive coordinator, it was a mostly mired by missed opportunities. Quarterback Riley Leonard looked sharp to begin, but became very erratic toward the tail end. Overall, the passing game looked very stagnant and never really opened up. Outside of a couple solid chain movers, it wasn’t an overly showy performance. It left a lot to be desired.

From the run game perspective, it went with how the offensive performed. It was a very feast of famine performance in that half, with the big play being a 29-yard gash from sophomore Jeremiyah Love. The offensive line battled, but they looked like a unit that only had six career starts combined.

It was actually a pretty ugly start for Notre Dame on the first drive of the game, but the staunch Irish defense stiffened when they needed them most. For the rest of the first half, the unit played inspired football. You saw plenty of younger players make big plays, including the first career interception from safety Adon Shuler. You also saw huge plays from veterans Xavier Watts and Howard Cross, who nabbed an interception and a big sack respectively.

Second half thoughts

The Notre Dame offense was finally able to break through with the game’s first touchdown of the game, coming in the form of a 47-yard run that Jadarian Price bent to the sideline and outraced the Aggie defense. With how the defense had been playing, it honestly felt like for a minute that this was the Irish’s game to ice.

With the Irish offenses stalling for a couple drives in a row, the Aggies were eventually able to break through and tie the game up 13-13 to kick off the fourth quarter. The Irish defense had been on the field a ton, and they weren’t going to hold forever. They just needed more on the offensive side of the football.

Both the Irish and Aggies traded a couple of empty possessions from there, seemingly trending toward the end of the game. Who would win? It would depend largely on which offense could make a big play in the biggest moment of the game.

Beginning a drive inside the twenty yard line, with only a little over six minutes left on the clock, Notre Dame began a big drive. That drive included a huge third down conversion to wide receiver Jaden Greathouse, as well as a couple huge runs by Leonard and Love. The drive ended with a huge 21-yard run by Love, who was a big reason for that massive drive.

The big story of the game was the offensive line, who grew up before our eyes. After an up and down start, they rallied and dominated the Aggie front down the stretch. That unit gets the game ball.