Coming into this season, I would have put the Aggies’ chance of beating Notre Dame in South Bend at below 10%. We were talking about a National Championship finalist against an 8-4 team that collapsed at the season’s end.

I’m now at a coin flip after two games for the Aggies and one for Notre Dame.

Either team can win this game, but it’s going to come down to which team can impart their style of offense.

Notre Dame will want to establish the line of scrimmage, while the Aggies, with their new fancy receiving options, will want to attack through the air.

That’s not to say Notre Dame won’t pass the ball, or that the Aggies won’t want to run the ball, but that’s just how the game will be decided. Notre Dame just pounding the Aggie defense on the ground or the Aggie offense able to outscore the Notre Dame offense through the air.

Let’s first talk about the Aggie defense and offense through two games.

Aggie Defense:

After two games, one thing is very clear to me—the Aggie defense lacks elite-level talent.

Sure, the three consecutive sacks by Cashius Howell are as dominating a defensive effort as it gets.

But let’s be real – Is Cashius Howell Myles Garrett or Von Miller? I’m not trying to degrade Cashius Howell, but he’s not in the same class as Myles or Von. Not even close. Howell will get drafted in the NFL and get his shot, but I don’t think he’s truly elite.

I think he’s going to face teams this season that scheme him out of a lot of plays. I hope I’m wrong and he winds up a Top 10 pick, but I want to see him do it week in and week out for the rest of the season before I crown him an elite-level defender.

After Howell, I can’t think of anyone who comes close to being elite right now. I know everyone loves Will Lee, and he’s a good, solid corner, but I don’t think he’s elite. Some young guys on the defensive line could be elite, but I think they’re a season or two away.

Our linebackers are pretty solid, but the group undoubtedly has no first-round pick.

That’s not to say this defense is horrible. It can be pretty good, but it won’t be as dominating as fans want.

I feel that, depending on the opposing offense, this defense will give up 20ish points a game.

And that’s okay if the offense can keep the gas mashed down and score a few more points.

Don’t get me wrong—I’d love a dominating defense. It’s just not there for this unit this season. There will be a lot of frustration points watching this defense give up big plays this season.

I do like one stat from this defense. Mike Elko’s calling card has been limiting the opponent’s third-down conversion. UTSA was 5 for 16 on third-down conversions, and Utah St. was 2 for 14. UTSA was a little higher than I would like, but Utah St. flat-out struggled on third downs against the Aggie defense.

If you can keep the opponent converting less than one-third of their third-down conversions, you’ll keep yourself in a lot of football games. There’s nothing worse than a defense that can’t get off the field on third downs.

With Nick Saban gone from college football, there are no elite defenses in college football. Sure, some defenses have more talent and better coaching than others, but nobody is stacking talent on defense like Bama, LSU, and Georgia did over the last decade.

Thanks to the portal and NIL, college football is in a different era. The defensive talent is more spread out.

You need offensive playmakers and hope your defense can slow down the opponent just enough.

I do still have one overall question for this defense—the secondary. I don’t think our secondary is bad, but we haven’t seen it tested in the first two games. I don’t think we’ll see it against Notre Dame, but we’ll find out more about it two weeks later when Auburn comes to town.

Aggie Offense:

I can’t say enough good things about the new toys the Aggie offense has at receiver.

I was skeptical coming into the season because I’ve seen so many receivers hyped up in the offseason but failed to deliver. However, Concepcion and Craver seem like they can live up to the hype. Sure, it’s just UTSA and Utah St., but it’s been since Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds that we’ve had two players of this caliber at receiver.

Even against inferior competition, I can’t recall two guys producing in consecutive games right out of the gate. It’s really nice to see.

What’s even better to see is the coaching staff using them.

My greatest fear coming into the season from an offensive standpoint was Elko and Klein’s desire to lean on teams with the running game. We’ve got a seasoned line and a loaded running back room, so I feared Elko would tell Klein to see if we could lean on the other team.

That doesn’t appear to be the case for the 2025 offense. We appear to want to challenge opposing defenses through the air and on the ground.

I don’t know if it’s because Elko realizes his defense is deficient, which means we’re going to have to score points, or if it’s just finally having some weapons at receiver. It’s likely a combination of both.

This offense won’t be without hiccups, but it’s nice to know we now have weapons on the ground and through the air. That will make it more difficult for opposing defenses to defend.

I do like what I’ve seen out of Marcel Reed so far. He hasn’t been dominating or perfect, but he appears really comfortable with what Klein wants to do and can execute on it more times than not. He’s had some excellent passes. Sure, he’s missed a few completions he should have made, but Reed has looked good so far.

In addition to the talent increase at receiver, I’ve been impressed by Klein’s playcalling and design. I didn’t know he had this in him.

There have been some playcalls at the goalline that I absolutely loved. I wish we had run them last year.

The playcalling has also been pretty balanced, with us not trying to do too much through the ground or air. It’s not perfect, but I agree with Klein’s approach this season.

My question for the offense is the offensive line. I don’t think it’s been tested at all. It’s looked good, so I can’t complain, but I am excited to watch it on Saturday night in South Bend. We’ll find out if this unit is as good as we hope.

The Notre Dame Game Itself:

This is cliché, but this game will come down to big plays and turnovers.

I think Freeman knows he has the better overall team and will look to wear down the Aggie defense and bust off some big runs. Miami did a nice job of limiting Notre Dame’s rushing attack, but I don’t think Freeman will abandon it just because Miami limited it. Rushing the ball is Notre Dame’s bread and butter.

The Aggies have more playmakers than last season, so they must take some shots. They’ve indicated they will do that in the first two games.

If Elko tries to win the line of scrimmage like he did last season, the Aggies will lose—just like they did last season. I hope he’s smarter than that.

The line on this game is Notre Dame by 6ish. I know Vegas has some brilliant people, and they usually come out really close. I think they’re favoring the Irish a little too much. I believe this is a 4-point game by one team or the other.

I think both teams will score in the 20s, but it’s just a matter of who makes the big plays and can hold onto the ball.

I personally can’t wait, as a lot of questions about the 2025 Aggies will be answered on Saturday night.

BTHO Notre Dame!

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