Irish get it done
Jeremiyah Love's touchdown run with less than two minutes to play gave Notre Dame the lead, and the Irish defense got the stop on fourth down it needed. That gave the Irish a huge road win to start the season.
Conditioning was an advantage for Notre Dame
It's worth noting tonight that Notre Dame was the better conditioned team and the fitter team. One team broke down at the end. The other did not. This was a nod to Loren Landow’s offseason work with this roster.
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Reader reaction: 'This loss is 100% on Weigman'
Many Texas A&M fans on our discussion page directed their criticism towards the performance of their quarterback.
Aaron T.: This loss is 100% on Weigman. He was beyond atrocious. Gonna be a horribly long season down here if he stays the starter.
Anthony N.: I was honestly surprised to see him come out as the starter after halftime.
Michael M.: Y'all cant blame Jimbo for this s---. It looks the exact same
Reader reaction: 'Gutsy win'
As you might expect, Notre Dame fans on our discussion page were quite happy with this performance.
Janice D.: Wow. That was fun! Big learning experience for young guys. Just reduce penalties and keep building.
Joe R.: Extremely impressed with the poise of this team (QB most of all). I was thinking at 13-13 that I had not seen an ND team looking this confident and relaxed in a very long time. I’m going to enjoy this journey.
Futbol G.: Wasn’t comfortable at all, but gutsy win. A lot of mistakes, all teachable moments. Credit to A&M’s fans, certainly doesn’t look like an easy place to play.
Though not every Irish fan was positive.
Jacob F.: Hard to watch this and think Riley Leonard is the answer at QB.
Shuler: We want the hype
Adon Shuler, who had an interception tonight, spoke after the game about what the win means to Notre Dame: “A huge tone setter. The hype is kind of what we want.”
Notre Dame is going to have a ton of it moving forward.
Team stats
Notre Dame 23-13 Texas A&M
- Total yards: 356 - 246
- Passing yards: 158 - 100
- Rushing yards: 198 - 146
- First downs: 18 - 17
- Third downs: 2/12 - 4/13
- Fourth downs: 1/2 - 0/2
- Penalties: 11 for 99 yards - 6 for 55 yards
- Turnovers: 0 - 2
- Possession: 31:35 - 28:25
Key performers
Notre Dame
- Riley Leonard: 18/30 passing, 158 yards, 5.3 yards per attempt; 12 rushes, 63 yards
- Jeremiyah Love: 14 carries, 91 yards, touchdown
- Jadarian Price: 8 carries, 44 yards, touchdown
- Beaux Collins: 5 receptions, 62 yards
- Adon Shuler and Xavier Watts: One interception each
- Mitch Jeter: 3/3 on field goals, hitting two from 46 yards and one from 26 yards
Texas A&M
- Conner Weigman: 12/30 passing, 100 yards, 3.3 yards per attempt, 2 interceptions
- Le'Veon Moss: 20 carries, 70 yards, touchdown
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Instant reaction to Notre Dame's win
The Athletic's Pete Sampson, Sam Khan Jr., Joe Rexrode and Justin Williams have broken down the biggest talking points from this game, looking at:
- Notre Dame already in strong Playoff position
- Irish run game comes through
- Leonard’s uneven debut not unexpected
- Aggies need more from Conner Weigman
- Is Texas A&M still an SEC dark horse?
Follow the link below to check out their breakdown!
Notre Dame postgame celebrations
One of the sadder stats you’ll ever see: Texas A&M is now 1-9 when featured on College GameDay.
Notre Dame's road to 12-0
Notre Dame is 1-0 and could be favored in every game for the rest of the season. Here's their remaining schedule:
- vs Northern Illinois
- at Purdue
- vs Miami (Ohio)
- vs Louisville
- vs Stanford
- vs Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA
- vs Navy at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ
- vs No. 10 Florida State
- vs Virginia
- vs Army at Yankee Stadium in New York, NY
- at No. 23 USC
Praise for Irish RBs too
Terrific win for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame to go into Kyle Field tonight with such an inexperienced offensive line and handle the Aggies.
The Irish running backs, especially Jeremiyah Love, shined, running for almost 200 yards and six yards a carry. Gritty performance.
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Defense won this game for Notre Dame
A win three years in the making for Marcus Freeman as Notre Dame makes a national statement on opening night.
The Irish defense was outstanding with an offense that delivered in the clutch.
Statement win for Notre Dame
This win goes down as Notre Dame's first on the road against a ranked SEC team since they beat No. 9 Tennessee in 2004.
Final score: Notre 23-13 Texas A&M
The Aggies can't do anything with their final drive and this one ends 23-13.
After an incomplete pass on second down, Mike Elko was shown on TV yelling, presumably at his offensive coordinator, to run the ball. He just wants to get out of here.
A huge road win for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame hits field goal to seal huge road win!
Mitch Jeter hits from 46 yards to give Notre Dame a 23-13 lead with 30 seconds left!
The Irish keep the ball on the ground, as you would expect, on all three downs. The Aggies burn their final two timeouts before the clock runs down to 33 seconds remaining after third down.
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Weigman doesn't get it done
Miscommunication on first down. Miscommunication on second down. Connor Weigman was facing pressure from Notre Dame and not making the Irish pay for it.
Then, on a fourth-and-2 that Texas A&M had to have, he was late and telegraphed a slant pass that only had a chance to be caught by Notre Dame’s Christian Gray. Gray settled for a pass break-up and the Irish are on the doorstep of a huge win.
Irish stop Aggies on fourth down!
Texas A&M are passing on fourth-and-2, and Gray steps in front of the receiver to break up the play and get the turnover on downs!
Just over a minute-and-a-half left. Texas A&M have two timeouts left.
Moss rushes for eight yards on third-and-10, and the Aggies use their first timeout.
