Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Texas A&M Aggies Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 08/31/2024

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, August 31, 2024

Venue:  Kyle Field, College Station, TX 

Where to Watch:  ABC

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  ND +3, TAMU -3; Over/Under:  46.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  ND +3, TAMU -3; Over/Under:  46.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  ND +3, TAMU -3; Over/Under:  46.5 points

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  0-0 (0-0) (FBS Independent)

Texas A&M Aggies:  0-0 (0-0) (SEC)

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  N/A

Texas A&M Aggies:  N/A

Notre Dame finished last season with a 10-3 record overall and they had a 0-0 record in their conference games too.  They were 5-1 in their home games, 3-2 in their road games, and they were also 2-0 in their neutral site games last season, but they will be on the road for this season opener. Last season, their offense was averaging 39.2 points scored per game while their defense was allowing an average of 15.9 points per game. Their offense also averaged 432.2 yards per game while their defense was allowing an average of 276.3 yards per game. Sam Hartman led the team in passing yards with 2689, Audric Estime led the team in rushing yards with 1341, and Chris Tyree led the team in receiving yards with 484.

 

 

 

Texas A&M finished last season with a 7-6 record overall and they had a 4-4 record in their conference games too.  They were 6-1 in their home games, 0-4 in their road games, and they were also 1-1 in their neutral site games last season, but they will be at home for this season opener. Last season, their offense was averaging 33.3 points scored per game while their defense was allowing an average of 22.1 points per game. Their offense also averaged 406.9 yards per game while their defense was allowing an average of 316.2 yards per game. Max Johnson led the team in passing yards with 1452, Amari Daniels led the team in rushing yards with 532, and Ainias Smith led the team in receiving yards with 795.

The current betting odds have Texas A&M listed as a 3 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Texas A&M wasn't great in their games last season with their 7-6 record overall, but now Jimbo Fisher is gone and Mike Elko will be looking to take this program to new heights that Fisher couldn't achieve. Elko worked wonders at Duke last season and now he is going to have a roster with a lot more talent and depth to work with. Texas A&M did have a good defense last season so that is only going to improve under Elko, and the offense will also improve with the talent they have. Notre Dame was a great team last season with their 10-3 record overall, but a lot of those losses came in big games when it mattered most to their season, and this could be another one here. They weren't as good in their road games with their 3-2 road record last season and now they have a new starting QB along with some other key players on offense leaving the team for the NFL. Texas A&M has a big edge in this game though since Notre Dame brought in Riley Leonard to be their new starting QB, and he is someone who Elko is very familiar with from last year. Elko will be able to game plan accordingly for Leonard and that is going to make it that much harder for Notre Dame to win this opening game. Texas A&M also has a lot to prove this season with their new head coach so they have a chance to make a statement at home right out of the gate here. The best way to place a bet here is on Texas A&M to cover the spread in this game. 

Notre Dame Texas A&M Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, August 31, 2024 (7:30 pm ET start time) is Texas A&M 31 Notre Dame 21.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 0-3 ATS in the first half of their last 3 road games. 0-3 (-8.10 units) on the first quarter moneyline in their last 3 road games. 7-2 to the first half over in their last 9 games. 

Texas A&M Aggies: 5-1 ATS in the first half of their last 6 home games. 7-2 (+6.70 units) on the first half moneyline in their last 9 games. 3-0 to the first half over in their last 3 home games. 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  C. Tucker (CB) - Knee. M. Evans (TE) - Knee. C. Jagusah (OL) - Pectoral. G. Payne (RB) - Knee.

Texas A&M Aggies:  R. Owens (RB) - Lower Body. J. Barber (WR) - Foot. D. Green (TE) - Knee.

“This has been the healthiest fall camp, really, since I’ve been head coach. But as we’ve really taken data, probably from the last 12 to 15 years. We’ve had the fewest injuries in, I think, 15 years. We practiced 15% more this fall camp than we had previously. We only had one concussion, and we’re down 30% overall in concussions, strains and sprains. Just wanted to say I’d like to give credit to our sports performances team and the way they’ve supported our players outside of practice, and to our coaches that have bought into the adjustments we’ve had to make going into each practice. The way we’ve structured practice, the results have shown and it’s been really good. We’ve practiced more and had less injuries and that’s a great statistic.” - Marcus Freeman on his team coming into this new college football season. 

“Like coach Elko says, you could put the ball down anywhere. You could put the ball down in the parking lot. We’ve got to go play football, and that’s how I look at it.” - Conner Weigman on the team coming into this season.

WR Collins, Beaux 

WR Faison, Jordan 

WR Greathouse, Jaden

TE Evans, Mitchell 

QB Leonard, Riley 

RB Love, Jeremiyah 

WR Walker, Jahdae

WR Thomas, Noah 

WR Muhammad III, Moose 

TE Watson, Tre 

QB Weigman, Conner 

RB Moss, Le'Veon 

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

Coaches:

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Marcus Freeman (4th season)

Texas A&M Aggies: Mike Elko (1st season)