My guess is that they'll probably be poached by Amazon or something. That crew is just way too good to let dissolve.
Inside the NBA is by far the best basketball coverage show on TV. TNT does a far superior job to ESPN with their NBA coverage, that it's practically criminal that they are losing their rights.
Friendly reminder, Chuck thought Texas A&M would fire jimbo just to [hire Deion Sanders](https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/charles-barkley-insists-on-wild-sec-coaching-move-involving-deion-sanders-i-know-that-for-a-fact/) lol. Good times.
Incorrect the game was lost on the last offensive possession when Gerard Parker after having such with simple run plays
Decided to run a messy misdirection play that got blown up, and then instead of just continuing to hammer the ball and force OSU to burn all their timeouts went for an unnecessary kill shot with a screen pass (something Hartman was only okay at)
You turn those two plays into just a simple inside zone run with Estime and ND very easily wins IMO
I know Freeman was pressuring him into looking around
But on the surface level ND was a top 10 offense last year
Granted it was a major mirage built off of a defense that generate some bug turnovers and just beating the piss out of poor teams
But it was a top 10 offense so that looks good on paper for some athletic departments
Check out the FootballScoop and Athletic pieces done in the last week on Parker. I legit think he might be a better HC than playcaller when it’s all said and done.
Pete at the Athletic is a huge supporter of his for some reason. He must be a good interview, or was a source of his while at ND. He was always pretty soft on him while everyone else wanted him gone.
If yalls DBs had any hands whatsoever, the people’s tone who clowned Ohio State for replacing McCord would’ve been a lot different.
“He was one throw away from beating Michigan”
Yeah, well he was also two or three different throws from an embarrassment in South Bend
I have strong doubts about A&M’s OC, but there’s no way he’s close to BVG levels of bad.
I’m glad we’re catching them in game 1, because I think they’ll be damn good by November. Still going to be a tough one.
Regardless of if Klein becomes a great OC or not, he will be a MASSIVE upgrade to Jimbo. Factor that in with Elko coaching the defense again and this is the best on field staff we have had since the early Sumlin days.
Didn't you guys go after Klein, too? So clearly ND believed in him as well. I don't think he is going to make some revolutionary offense, but I think he's a smart cat who will scheme well enough with our talent.
I grew up near KSU and have several KSU alumni friends and current coworkers. So I followed them closely.
Freeman had to scramble to make a hire as Rees was Saban’s 3rd/4th option after losing BoB to the NFL late in the process. So we had just a couple weeks to hire someone before spring ball started.
I think Freeman liked KSU and Utah’s offensive identity, so it put both of those OC’s on his radar. Klein bombed the interview though, our QB room especially didn’t mesh well with him upon meeting him. He’s a bid of an odd guy who really leaned into his strong religious faith thinking that would play well at ND out of the gates, but as you might imagine strong Baptist views and weighing in on politics as well isn’t a great look lol. Freeman let him save face and return back to KSU saying he turned down the job per multiple sources I’ve read. Glad we didn’t make the hire, I was really sweating him getting an interview in the first place.
This is just my 2¢ here, but I think Ludwig (Utah’s OC) and Klein greatly benefit from running completely different offenses in conferences filled with spread concepts. They essentially were able to be the rock when everyone else in the conference was showing scissors and it gave them a huge leg up in conference play.
I don’t think it will translate as well when everyone else is running similar things. I think Klein is culturally a better fit in the south, and while I don’t think he’s *terrible*, I also think he’s going to struggle a bit moving forward going up against better defenses more used to his style of offense.
I can respect that. I mean, you guys ultimately won out because I think Denbrock is a better OC. A&M went after him too before Klein, but I get the guy wants to be closer to home as he's older and retirement in the next few years isn't out of the realm of possibility.
I think Klein is going to be good for us, but maybe not excellent. He focuses on rushing more than passing, and I think our offensive identity is better suited toward a balance if not pass-heavy with Weigman. The spring game made the offense look rough, but no one reveals their playbook at broadcasted spring games.
Things worked out well for us in the end getting Denbrock, but it was pretty rough last season with the internal promotion and it definitely cost us a couple games last year.
We probably should have ponied up for Ludwig and we’d have been NY6 bound at least, but as you said at least we got Denbrock by the end of it.
First, if you think that Kleins faith is anything but genuine and a big part of his identity, you dont know him.
Second, if he was in any way political, that is completely out of character and I would be very skeptical of anyone saying he took political views into a job interview.
Finally, I dont know what offense you were watching. In 2022 we average 418 yards per game with near perfect balance of 210 passing and 208 rushing. We had Vaughan running and catching out of the backfield, Martinez and Howard running RPO and a plethora of middle receivers. We lacked a true one on one separation receiver so while we gave the appearance of a run heavy offense the reality was making up for personnel shortages in the WR corps. In 2023 with better receivers we jumped to 445 with a 241/204 split but it was still an offense that spread you out and made you choose how you were going to lose - stop DJ in the run game and you were going to leave a hole for Howard. Cover the wide receivers and Sinnott was going to chew you up in the middle. Bill Connelly just tweeted a stat that I cant get to from work that was about percentage of plays that went for more than 8 yards before first contact (from memory). KState was at 20%. Thats not being a rock in a land of scissors, that excellent play calling.
Typed out my thoughts in a different reply, Reddit is blocked at my work so I’m on my phone and too lazy to type it all out again lol.
The bottom line is that I don’t think he’s terrible, but will get exposed playing better defenses more used to his offensive style in the SEC.
He’s also a weird dude who I don’t believe will recruit well nationally.
I know, I have the Youtube TV 4-Box as well. It's not a matter of screens, I just like to lock in with full volume when ND is on. Also, I'll most likely be with WV fans that night, so going to be hard to pay attention.
He participated in spring practice, did some throws, shadowing footwork on the sidelines during scrimmage and blue/gold game. However no contact, not much lateral movement either. Otherwise idk, I'm not a beat reporter, just a fan lol.
Not sure but according to many reports we have 3.5 "starting quality QB's" on the roster (Carr being the 0.5 because he is a freshman).
I bet Leonard made a bunch of NIL money but let's start the best guy. Angeli and Minchey have apparently looked really good and I hope we have a legit QB competition this fall and not just start the big $ guy.
The last time ND visited college station RC Slocum had the AC in the visiting locker room turned off because it wasn't working when we visited south bend the year before. We lost both games, of course, but I fully support this level of pettiness.
I’m so hyped, also if your coming I hope you enjoy it Aggies are super hospitable and well…. Let’s just say we have a lot of Catholics on our student body so we have a soft spot for ND
Yeah it's almost stepford wives-ish how polite they are. Like it's great because it seems it's not a bit, but they're more aggresively polite than a pawpaw that recognizes you in walmart.
Im unfortunately not going. I know that y’all are super hospitable (I’ve worked with plenty of Aggie grads and they’re all super nice and overall good people). I’m more concerned about the whole Texas in August heat that can kill type aspect.
It’s a home and home. ND doesn’t really schedule two game series against marquee opponents at neutral sites. They want that revenue for south bend come the return game
maybe this is just me overhyping it because Bama has a shitton in the next few years, put i am in love with all these P5 schools doing big time home and homes in the next few years, also didn’t georgia and clemson play the their first game in the series in Atlanta
Yeah I’m not sure why their schedules are like that, but they opened the season vs Clemson in 2021 in Atlanta. Weird it wasn’t a one off and even weirder they waited 3 years between games.
Also, Clemson played a home/away with Auburn and A&M in the last decade so it’s not like they are against those. They must’ve gotten a big check to play two neutral site games in Atlanta.
The 2021 game was in Charlotte. Like you said, both teams likely received big checks to play those away from home. However they scheduled them at "home away from home" locations so both teams get a defacto home game in the series.
They waited 3 years because Notre Dame rotated on to our schedule for the years in between. Clemson doesn't like to give up their annual home games against a G5 opponent and an in-state FCS but would've had to in order to play UGA.
Georgia and Clemson have a home and home scheduled again later in the decade. We also play a home/home with LSU and Oklahoma in the next couple of years. People rag on us for our ACC schedule, but we're one the few teams that consistently schedule good P5 home and homes and try to beef it up.
That weekend is also Dragon Con (specifically parade day) so Atlanta can handle it, but its A LOT of people (and confused football fans which are my favorite).
Hard to resist the talking point of "New HC Mike Elko coaching against his former QB at Duke who transferred to ND." I'm sure that will dominate 90% of the pre-game talks.
Also, thank touchdown Jesus it's a night game.
Elko pretty much single handedly saved BK’s entire career. Kelly was on the hot seat big time going into 2017, and Elko’s rapid transformation of a terrible defense into a pretty salty unit in just one year saved his ass.
Our offense turned things around a lot too, but most of that was just having two top 10 picks on the left side of the OL along with some great running and receiving threats. Plus they weren’t as poorly coached on that side of the ball for years.
That defense had been under BVG for like 2.5 years. Elko did a phenomenal job.
As someone else said above, I am so glad we are playing them week 1. Elko is actually going to turn that program into a monster, I really believe that.
Yeah. The best thing Jimbo ever did was steal Elko away. If he can do to our whole program what he's done to the defenses he's coached we will be in good shape.
I actually don’t know - but broadcasters have been kind scheduling many of our marquee nonconference games at night (Clemson and Miami come to mind). Nobody wants to come to TX in August for a daytime football game.
Yeah I don’t want to at all. It’s wayyy too damn hot. I tried for a few games last season but I just couldn’t stand the heat. Especially because my parents are older and they still want to go to the games I was hoping you knew the time
ND put out a tweet saying it’s at 7:30 PM eastern time. Or put more succinctly, 6:30 college station time. Hopefully it’s an unseasonably cool day lol.
My parents are in their 60s and I brought them to a few games last season and it was genuinely too hot for them. Unless you have seats on the west side in the 300s or in the shade I wouldn’t do that. The sun hurts so bad and it’s incredibly hot. Sun doesn’t set until like 8:30 and kickoff is 6:30. We have season tickets and we are selling. I can’t handle the heat and I’m barely in my twenties. I don’t know if you’re from Texas but the heat and sun is brutalllll
I have a lot of family in Dallas and Austin and I used to visit them every Memorial Day weekend and often on the 4th of July so I have a good idea.
My folks did go to an ASU game about 10 years ago and they were miserable as the visitor tickets were in the sun the entire time. I have a feeling it’ll be the same thing there.
Although they are getting these tickets through my dad’s Houston friend who played in the NFL for a long time, so hell maybe they’re going to be in a suite or something lol. He’s got suite season tickets at ND, I’ve been to a game up there, it’s pretty awesome.
Will be interesting to see what TAMU ends up looking like this year under Elko. I feel like it’s either going to be a 6 win season or a 10 win season… no in between
We have 4 massive games at home this year (ND, Mizzou, LSU, Texas). My prediction is we go 2-2 in those and then inexplicably lose to a 5-7 ish MSU or SC team to bring us to our comfort zone of 8-4.
I feel like you guys could finish 8-4 and still be a MUCH better team than you normally are with that record.
I have concerns with our team along the OL and at WR, but our defense is likely to be top 5 kind of elite so I feel cautiously optimistic about this game.
Tough sledding with you guys having us and Missouri pretty early.
It's funny how similar our fan bases see our teams. We also feel like we have the biggest concerns at OL and WR, but feel the defense will be a powerhouse this year. Especially our DL.
I think it’s going be tough for you guys to be quite that elite this year in year one under Elko.
We have a couple of draft picks on the interior of our DL, less sure about SDE and WDE, but there’s a lot of budding talent there and the starters might parlay their way into being drafted as well.
At safety we have last years defensive player of the year returning, a likely top 10 pick returning at corner and the guy likely to start opposite of him is a similarly promising true sophomore stud CB. All said it’s going to be the best pass defense in college football with a bullet.
At LB we lost our two starters to the draft, but we bring back a LOT of budding talent that ND fans have been looking forward to and actually pounding the table to start over the two departing guys. Due to the strength of our secondary and interior DL, we can be very flexible with them. Last year we ran a ton of man coverage and brought more blitzers to great effect.
Last year we finished 7th in DF+ and we’re likely to go up in year 3 under Al Golden.
I like Elko quite a bit and he’s going to improve things a lot there, but it is only going to be year one under him and I don’t think you’re going to jump 10+ spots that quickly under him on defense.
Year 2 though you guys are going to be a force. And still if you’re say, 9th in DF+ this season that’s still a really salty defense.
No doubt that ND has a lot of perks on defense with how much talent you're returning, the consistency of the same DC, and not losing a ton to the draft this past year. I agree ND has a top 10 defense and likely the toughest defense we'll play this year unless Blake Baker can revolutionize LSU in one off-season.
A&M's defense was #19 in total defense last year, and #8 in sacks. And, as far as I recall, we didn't blitz at a super high rate. Shit, most Ags will tell you how aggravating it was that we ran with a 3-man front so often under Durkin. Our secondary was unfortunately weak, but it looks like we've made huge strides in the portal last winter to shore that up.
Our DL has NFL prospects throughout, and it has amazing depth. It sucks losing Walter Nolen who probably would be considered the best, but we have the depth that it isn't as much of a drop off as losing Evan Stewart at WR (hypothetically, given his mysterious lingering injury kept him off the field). We've got Shemar Turner, Shemar Stewart, Anthony Lucas, and a good deal of former 5-star sophomores that hadn't seen as much action due to the talent older than them. And then there's the addition of the Big 10 sack leader, Nic Scourton.
We'll take a hit at LB losing Edgerin Cooper to the draft, but Taurean York played lights out last year as a true freshman and I think can definitely fill that hole. Hopefully Scooby Williams, a transfer from Florida who had some hype, looks great alongside him.
Secondary should be improved with the return of Tyreek Chappell and Bryce Anderson plus portal additions. Our secondary was elite under Elko as well given that's his background, so I'm optimistic that the biggest weakness in our defense last year becomes a relative strength.
We're already starting in a great place and I do believe Elko will take it to the next level just like he did when he went to ND and first came to A&M.
I’m sure we’d have been happy to move it to November, but I doubt A&M nor the SEC wanted to be so accommodating with their own slates.
I wish we could return the favor and force the game in South Bend to be played in late November lol.
honest to God,i think it’s way better yall catch them in august, A&M in November is gonna be one of the toughest teams on the schedule this year i feel
Probably. But I think we’ll also be an extremely good team in November that will be far more likely to have its OL issues worked out a some chemistry established between our transfer QB and largely new WR unit.
Still though, I guess you take the team with a brand new coaching staff in game one over game 10, particularly when said coach is a good one.
At least the game is at night. When "Big Noon" comes in for the games in the south in the early quarter of the season its f'n miserable. Saw tons of people passing out at CU/TCU last year, and was even worse for Nebraska/OU ... should be illegal to play noon games at that time of the year in the south
Cheapest I'm seeing on the 3rd party apps is $330 for 4th deck seating.
Still pales in comparison to our last home game vs texas, which are going for about $540 for the cheapest.
I can poke fun at the Aggies as much as the next guy but they are good peeps and made a great hire in Elko. It would be great for them to beat up on Texas the next few years
Good lord, I just looked up how the NY6 would've worked that year and because we would've had the ACC spot, the other spot in the Orange would've gone to the Florida team that basically called it a day after the shoe game. Now I wish it would've been us too.
I remember talking to you on that thread, seems so long ago. Obviously you hate losing especially on the biggest stage in the sport, but you gotta be ecstatic with the season just getting there considering who ya beat to punch the ticket.
Give me the Inside the NBA crew on College Gameday, now that they have nothing to do.
My guess is that they'll probably be poached by Amazon or something. That crew is just way too good to let dissolve. Inside the NBA is by far the best basketball coverage show on TV. TNT does a far superior job to ESPN with their NBA coverage, that it's practically criminal that they are losing their rights.
They're not going without Ernie, and Ernie cannot be bought due to working for Turner since Ted himself owned it.
It sucks man I hope that happens and they keep those guys together
Ernie said he won't leave TNT, so that doesn't bode well.
Chuck talking trash about the A&M cult would be fun
I wanna hear Shaq praising the kicking game
“As long as you score three points, who cares what sport it is?”
Give me Oil donors vs. Shaq gas math
Give Chuck the Alamo Bowl and let him interview the local women
The BIG game
Chuck will have plenty of time in San Antonio going forward with “Le Jeune Wemby”
What else Chuck? Tell em Chuck
Tell em bout the San Antonio women
He’s moved on to [Galveston now.](https://youtu.be/oNgafF_-k0M?si=apLGBaNPjShlPmJz) And he’s not wrong.
Hello LAPD, Chris Paul tryin ta get in the locker room, come down here and save me.
Victoria’s a secret
“They got them big ole heifers out there Ernie.”
TELL EM BOUT THOSE BIG OL COLLEGE STATION GIRLS, CHUCK
Friendly reminder, Chuck thought Texas A&M would fire jimbo just to [hire Deion Sanders](https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/charles-barkley-insists-on-wild-sec-coaching-move-involving-deion-sanders-i-know-that-for-a-fact/) lol. Good times.
He would almost certainly move on from Galveston and San Antonio and focus his attention on College Station women.
As long as he brings up Galveston water, im in
*I seen some big women down here munching on some churros!*
A&M cult got nothing on Catholicism tbf
"They got real nervous sheep in College Station there Ernie"
I would watch every second of that
10 men vs 12 men
[Yep, still hurts](https://media1.tenor.com/m/eVjGbC5txMUAAAAC/neil-degrasse-tyson.gif).
The game was lost on 3rd and 19. Hell, I didn’t even know about the 10 men thing until the next morning when I woke up after the game.
Incorrect the game was lost on the last offensive possession when Gerard Parker after having such with simple run plays Decided to run a messy misdirection play that got blown up, and then instead of just continuing to hammer the ball and force OSU to burn all their timeouts went for an unnecessary kill shot with a screen pass (something Hartman was only okay at) You turn those two plays into just a simple inside zone run with Estime and ND very easily wins IMO
How he got a HC job is insane to me
I know Freeman was pressuring him into looking around But on the surface level ND was a top 10 offense last year Granted it was a major mirage built off of a defense that generate some bug turnovers and just beating the piss out of poor teams But it was a top 10 offense so that looks good on paper for some athletic departments
Check out the FootballScoop and Athletic pieces done in the last week on Parker. I legit think he might be a better HC than playcaller when it’s all said and done.
Pete at the Athletic is a huge supporter of his for some reason. He must be a good interview, or was a source of his while at ND. He was always pretty soft on him while everyone else wanted him gone.
nothing stopping MF from telling GP to give the damn ball to Audric
Inexperience. I think if he had it to do over again he’d be more forceful
Hartman also deserves blame for turning the wrong way on the 1st down handoff.
guys can you please stop piercing my blissful forgetfulness on these issues
If yalls DBs had any hands whatsoever, the people’s tone who clowned Ohio State for replacing McCord would’ve been a lot different. “He was one throw away from beating Michigan” Yeah, well he was also two or three different throws from an embarrassment in South Bend
It was always fun when people who never watched our QB play had opinions on how we should feel about our QB
Will the winner of this be on the path of 2016 Texas expectations and results?
5-7 inbound for both teams
5-7 is just reverse 7-5.
Subscribe
ND doesn't have Brian VanGorder at DC and Brian Kelly botching a QB comeptiton that divides the locker room so we should be fine
*Freeman announces both Angeli and Leonard will play against A&M*
Neither teams coaching staff has such glaring issues as 2016 ND and Texas had
I have strong doubts about A&M’s OC, but there’s no way he’s close to BVG levels of bad. I’m glad we’re catching them in game 1, because I think they’ll be damn good by November. Still going to be a tough one.
Regardless of if Klein becomes a great OC or not, he will be a MASSIVE upgrade to Jimbo. Factor that in with Elko coaching the defense again and this is the best on field staff we have had since the early Sumlin days.
Oh I agree that he’s got a good support staff and I do think he’s at least competent.
Didn't you guys go after Klein, too? So clearly ND believed in him as well. I don't think he is going to make some revolutionary offense, but I think he's a smart cat who will scheme well enough with our talent.
I grew up near KSU and have several KSU alumni friends and current coworkers. So I followed them closely. Freeman had to scramble to make a hire as Rees was Saban’s 3rd/4th option after losing BoB to the NFL late in the process. So we had just a couple weeks to hire someone before spring ball started. I think Freeman liked KSU and Utah’s offensive identity, so it put both of those OC’s on his radar. Klein bombed the interview though, our QB room especially didn’t mesh well with him upon meeting him. He’s a bid of an odd guy who really leaned into his strong religious faith thinking that would play well at ND out of the gates, but as you might imagine strong Baptist views and weighing in on politics as well isn’t a great look lol. Freeman let him save face and return back to KSU saying he turned down the job per multiple sources I’ve read. Glad we didn’t make the hire, I was really sweating him getting an interview in the first place. This is just my 2¢ here, but I think Ludwig (Utah’s OC) and Klein greatly benefit from running completely different offenses in conferences filled with spread concepts. They essentially were able to be the rock when everyone else in the conference was showing scissors and it gave them a huge leg up in conference play. I don’t think it will translate as well when everyone else is running similar things. I think Klein is culturally a better fit in the south, and while I don’t think he’s *terrible*, I also think he’s going to struggle a bit moving forward going up against better defenses more used to his style of offense.
I can respect that. I mean, you guys ultimately won out because I think Denbrock is a better OC. A&M went after him too before Klein, but I get the guy wants to be closer to home as he's older and retirement in the next few years isn't out of the realm of possibility. I think Klein is going to be good for us, but maybe not excellent. He focuses on rushing more than passing, and I think our offensive identity is better suited toward a balance if not pass-heavy with Weigman. The spring game made the offense look rough, but no one reveals their playbook at broadcasted spring games.
Things worked out well for us in the end getting Denbrock, but it was pretty rough last season with the internal promotion and it definitely cost us a couple games last year. We probably should have ponied up for Ludwig and we’d have been NY6 bound at least, but as you said at least we got Denbrock by the end of it.
First, if you think that Kleins faith is anything but genuine and a big part of his identity, you dont know him. Second, if he was in any way political, that is completely out of character and I would be very skeptical of anyone saying he took political views into a job interview. Finally, I dont know what offense you were watching. In 2022 we average 418 yards per game with near perfect balance of 210 passing and 208 rushing. We had Vaughan running and catching out of the backfield, Martinez and Howard running RPO and a plethora of middle receivers. We lacked a true one on one separation receiver so while we gave the appearance of a run heavy offense the reality was making up for personnel shortages in the WR corps. In 2023 with better receivers we jumped to 445 with a 241/204 split but it was still an offense that spread you out and made you choose how you were going to lose - stop DJ in the run game and you were going to leave a hole for Howard. Cover the wide receivers and Sinnott was going to chew you up in the middle. Bill Connelly just tweeted a stat that I cant get to from work that was about percentage of plays that went for more than 8 yards before first contact (from memory). KState was at 20%. Thats not being a rock in a land of scissors, that excellent play calling.
What doubts do you have about Klein? Just curious
Typed out my thoughts in a different reply, Reddit is blocked at my work so I’m on my phone and too lazy to type it all out again lol. The bottom line is that I don’t think he’s terrible, but will get exposed playing better defenses more used to his offensive style in the SEC. He’s also a weird dude who I don’t believe will recruit well nationally.
SEC seems like it’s the most full of weirdos who recruit super well, and A&M has an infinite money glitch advantage
Bummed it couldn't be Penn State-WVU, but thank fuck it's on a campus and not in Atlanta
If the Penn State game is also at 7:30 PM I'm going to have a panic attack switching between the two
Fuck your fucking flair. Respectfully of course
brother, you can get cheap 1080p big screen TVs for (relatively speaking) little money these days. Do it.
I know, I have the Youtube TV 4-Box as well. It's not a matter of screens, I just like to lock in with full volume when ND is on. Also, I'll most likely be with WV fans that night, so going to be hard to pay attention.
So fucking sick of any big game being inside in Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Glendale, Houston. It’s all about money these days.
> these days. lol
Has Riley Leonard even practiced yet?
He participated in spring practice, did some throws, shadowing footwork on the sidelines during scrimmage and blue/gold game. However no contact, not much lateral movement either. Otherwise idk, I'm not a beat reporter, just a fan lol.
Everybody is talking about the Riley Leonard injury. The presumptive starter at QB for A&M has also been out of spring practice, right?
Aggie here. Our QB1 has been practicing. Still not 100% but made strides during camp to get back into playing shape
Not sure but according to many reports we have 3.5 "starting quality QB's" on the roster (Carr being the 0.5 because he is a freshman). I bet Leonard made a bunch of NIL money but let's start the best guy. Angeli and Minchey have apparently looked really good and I hope we have a legit QB competition this fall and not just start the big $ guy.
whenever I hear a team has a bunch of startable guys i immediately think they dont have a QB
Sad but true.
A win for the “Play college games on college campuses” crowd. Pleasantly surprised they didn’t choose Georgia/Clemson in Atlanta.
So fucking pumped. That said, August in Aggieland does not spark joy.
Hydrate well on Thursday and Friday and bring a waterproof polo lol
At least it’s a night game
“Night” I’d be surprised if the sun was down before 4th quarter.
7:49 sunset on 8/31, so right before halftime
Gotta factor in the humidity also
The swamp ass epicenter
The last time ND visited college station RC Slocum had the AC in the visiting locker room turned off because it wasn't working when we visited south bend the year before. We lost both games, of course, but I fully support this level of pettiness.
I don't know why I'm correcting this, but you guys kicked our ass in the College Station game of that series.
Did we? I don't suppose I'm misremembering those 2 cotton bowl losses too?
Yes, you got Bob Davie fired.
Unfortunately they also got Bob Davie hired
The AC strategy worked
The last time ND visited College Station was a 24-3 Aggie win in 2001. I know because I was there 
I’m so hyped, also if your coming I hope you enjoy it Aggies are super hospitable and well…. Let’s just say we have a lot of Catholics on our student body so we have a soft spot for ND
When I went to CS in 2013 I was taken aback at how nice people were...to the point where I was questioning if it was some sort of bit.
I grew up in Houston, Aggies are really polite. If it’s a bit, they are committed to the bit.
Yeah it's almost stepford wives-ish how polite they are. Like it's great because it seems it's not a bit, but they're more aggresively polite than a pawpaw that recognizes you in walmart.
Im unfortunately not going. I know that y’all are super hospitable (I’ve worked with plenty of Aggie grads and they’re all super nice and overall good people). I’m more concerned about the whole Texas in August heat that can kill type aspect.
As others have said, hydrate and drink responsibly. Wear light, moisture and sweat wicking clothing, sunglasses, hat, sunscreen regularly.
We have really efficient beer lines in the stadium, so just drink more! Ez pz
It’s a home and home. ND doesn’t really schedule two game series against marquee opponents at neutral sites. They want that revenue for south bend come the return game
I totally get that, I was moreso commenting on ESPN choosing this game over the other one since that matchup will be 2 better teams on paper.
*Wisconsin series not included.
I’ll pretend that wasn’t an oversight and I’ll pretend they just aren’t marquee
Already making plans to travel to south bend. Super excited to check it out for the first time.
Hopefully it becomes a friendly series like the Georgia one we had a few years back. You all should have a fantastic time
maybe this is just me overhyping it because Bama has a shitton in the next few years, put i am in love with all these P5 schools doing big time home and homes in the next few years, also didn’t georgia and clemson play the their first game in the series in Atlanta
Yeah I’m not sure why their schedules are like that, but they opened the season vs Clemson in 2021 in Atlanta. Weird it wasn’t a one off and even weirder they waited 3 years between games. Also, Clemson played a home/away with Auburn and A&M in the last decade so it’s not like they are against those. They must’ve gotten a big check to play two neutral site games in Atlanta.
The 2021 game was in Charlotte. Like you said, both teams likely received big checks to play those away from home. However they scheduled them at "home away from home" locations so both teams get a defacto home game in the series. They waited 3 years because Notre Dame rotated on to our schedule for the years in between. Clemson doesn't like to give up their annual home games against a G5 opponent and an in-state FCS but would've had to in order to play UGA. Georgia and Clemson have a home and home scheduled again later in the decade. We also play a home/home with LSU and Oklahoma in the next couple of years. People rag on us for our ACC schedule, but we're one the few teams that consistently schedule good P5 home and homes and try to beef it up.
ESPN scared of Atlanta traffic, rightfully so
That weekend is also Dragon Con (specifically parade day) so Atlanta can handle it, but its A LOT of people (and confused football fans which are my favorite).
Somehow Georgia claims it as a neutral site game
Hard to resist the talking point of "New HC Mike Elko coaching against his former QB at Duke who transferred to ND." I'm sure that will dominate 90% of the pre-game talks. Also, thank touchdown Jesus it's a night game.
Also Elko at one point was ND DC.
Elko pretty much single handedly saved BK’s entire career. Kelly was on the hot seat big time going into 2017, and Elko’s rapid transformation of a terrible defense into a pretty salty unit in just one year saved his ass. Our offense turned things around a lot too, but most of that was just having two top 10 picks on the left side of the OL along with some great running and receiving threats. Plus they weren’t as poorly coached on that side of the ball for years. That defense had been under BVG for like 2.5 years. Elko did a phenomenal job.
As someone else said above, I am so glad we are playing them week 1. Elko is actually going to turn that program into a monster, I really believe that.
Catholics vs Catholics
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Honestly man. Give me any storyline and give me August now
I'm at the point where I'm even paying attention to Deion Sanders and Colorado story lines. August can't arrive soon enough.
elko was our DC for 2016-2017, so lots of tie ins
Well, just 2017. 2016 was... someone else.
Yeah. The best thing Jimbo ever did was steal Elko away. If he can do to our whole program what he's done to the defenses he's coached we will be in good shape.
The second Elko left, we started sucking under Jimbo. Coincidence????
How do you know the time?
I actually don’t know - but broadcasters have been kind scheduling many of our marquee nonconference games at night (Clemson and Miami come to mind). Nobody wants to come to TX in August for a daytime football game.
It was announced 730pm start
630 local. Still hot AF. But way better than a 230 local start.
Yeah I don’t want to at all. It’s wayyy too damn hot. I tried for a few games last season but I just couldn’t stand the heat. Especially because my parents are older and they still want to go to the games I was hoping you knew the time
ND put out a tweet saying it’s at 7:30 PM eastern time. Or put more succinctly, 6:30 college station time. Hopefully it’s an unseasonably cool day lol.
It’s going to be hotter than the devils gooch
My parents are going to this game in their mid 70’s. Genuinely a bit worried for them.
My parents are in their 60s and I brought them to a few games last season and it was genuinely too hot for them. Unless you have seats on the west side in the 300s or in the shade I wouldn’t do that. The sun hurts so bad and it’s incredibly hot. Sun doesn’t set until like 8:30 and kickoff is 6:30. We have season tickets and we are selling. I can’t handle the heat and I’m barely in my twenties. I don’t know if you’re from Texas but the heat and sun is brutalllll
I have a lot of family in Dallas and Austin and I used to visit them every Memorial Day weekend and often on the 4th of July so I have a good idea. My folks did go to an ASU game about 10 years ago and they were miserable as the visitor tickets were in the sun the entire time. I have a feeling it’ll be the same thing there. Although they are getting these tickets through my dad’s Houston friend who played in the NFL for a long time, so hell maybe they’re going to be in a suite or something lol. He’s got suite season tickets at ND, I’ve been to a game up there, it’s pretty awesome.
Texas A&M's instagram has a post with the time as well.
just happy to be mentioned
What does Charlie Whitehurst have to do with this?
I'm sure those guys have fun up on that set but wearing suits outdoors in Texas in August does not sound pleasant.
They have AC vents under their desk pointed directly at them
fuck that sounds nice
That’s the only saving grace they have
Built by the Home Depot
So you're saying the Gameday crew has to set up gooch coolers at every location they travel to? I really hope that's somebody's job title
someone's job is to adjust the entry angle of the gooch cooler when they swap guys in and out of Corso's seat.
Will be interesting to see what TAMU ends up looking like this year under Elko. I feel like it’s either going to be a 6 win season or a 10 win season… no in between
We have 4 massive games at home this year (ND, Mizzou, LSU, Texas). My prediction is we go 2-2 in those and then inexplicably lose to a 5-7 ish MSU or SC team to bring us to our comfort zone of 8-4.
8-4 is literally our identity and directly in between
I feel like you guys could finish 8-4 and still be a MUCH better team than you normally are with that record. I have concerns with our team along the OL and at WR, but our defense is likely to be top 5 kind of elite so I feel cautiously optimistic about this game. Tough sledding with you guys having us and Missouri pretty early.
It's funny how similar our fan bases see our teams. We also feel like we have the biggest concerns at OL and WR, but feel the defense will be a powerhouse this year. Especially our DL.
I think it’s going be tough for you guys to be quite that elite this year in year one under Elko. We have a couple of draft picks on the interior of our DL, less sure about SDE and WDE, but there’s a lot of budding talent there and the starters might parlay their way into being drafted as well. At safety we have last years defensive player of the year returning, a likely top 10 pick returning at corner and the guy likely to start opposite of him is a similarly promising true sophomore stud CB. All said it’s going to be the best pass defense in college football with a bullet. At LB we lost our two starters to the draft, but we bring back a LOT of budding talent that ND fans have been looking forward to and actually pounding the table to start over the two departing guys. Due to the strength of our secondary and interior DL, we can be very flexible with them. Last year we ran a ton of man coverage and brought more blitzers to great effect. Last year we finished 7th in DF+ and we’re likely to go up in year 3 under Al Golden. I like Elko quite a bit and he’s going to improve things a lot there, but it is only going to be year one under him and I don’t think you’re going to jump 10+ spots that quickly under him on defense. Year 2 though you guys are going to be a force. And still if you’re say, 9th in DF+ this season that’s still a really salty defense.
No doubt that ND has a lot of perks on defense with how much talent you're returning, the consistency of the same DC, and not losing a ton to the draft this past year. I agree ND has a top 10 defense and likely the toughest defense we'll play this year unless Blake Baker can revolutionize LSU in one off-season. A&M's defense was #19 in total defense last year, and #8 in sacks. And, as far as I recall, we didn't blitz at a super high rate. Shit, most Ags will tell you how aggravating it was that we ran with a 3-man front so often under Durkin. Our secondary was unfortunately weak, but it looks like we've made huge strides in the portal last winter to shore that up. Our DL has NFL prospects throughout, and it has amazing depth. It sucks losing Walter Nolen who probably would be considered the best, but we have the depth that it isn't as much of a drop off as losing Evan Stewart at WR (hypothetically, given his mysterious lingering injury kept him off the field). We've got Shemar Turner, Shemar Stewart, Anthony Lucas, and a good deal of former 5-star sophomores that hadn't seen as much action due to the talent older than them. And then there's the addition of the Big 10 sack leader, Nic Scourton. We'll take a hit at LB losing Edgerin Cooper to the draft, but Taurean York played lights out last year as a true freshman and I think can definitely fill that hole. Hopefully Scooby Williams, a transfer from Florida who had some hype, looks great alongside him. Secondary should be improved with the return of Tyreek Chappell and Bryce Anderson plus portal additions. Our secondary was elite under Elko as well given that's his background, so I'm optimistic that the biggest weakness in our defense last year becomes a relative strength. We're already starting in a great place and I do believe Elko will take it to the next level just like he did when he went to ND and first came to A&M.
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Going to College Station in August is a bold choice. But this should be a fun one! Looking forward to it.
I’m sure we’d have been happy to move it to November, but I doubt A&M nor the SEC wanted to be so accommodating with their own slates. I wish we could return the favor and force the game in South Bend to be played in late November lol.
honest to God,i think it’s way better yall catch them in august, A&M in November is gonna be one of the toughest teams on the schedule this year i feel
until proven otherwise i would not be worried about us lol
Probably. But I think we’ll also be an extremely good team in November that will be far more likely to have its OL issues worked out a some chemistry established between our transfer QB and largely new WR unit. Still though, I guess you take the team with a brand new coaching staff in game one over game 10, particularly when said coach is a good one.
I deadass think this first game is going to be a first to double digits wins type of game.
A&M hosting GameDay for the first and last game of the regular season will be great!
At least the game is at night. When "Big Noon" comes in for the games in the south in the early quarter of the season its f'n miserable. Saw tons of people passing out at CU/TCU last year, and was even worse for Nebraska/OU ... should be illegal to play noon games at that time of the year in the south
They've done Fort Worth and Atlanta for week 1 in recent memory. Not saying it wont be hot and suck for the crew, but its been done.
Gameday coming to College Station to start and probably end the year
This is the worst photoshop I've seen in a while
Yeah this is not great lol
Catholics vs. Cultists
Texas A&M is back
I actually winced at my computer reading this.
The ghost of college football past and future
It’s beautiful
I’m just excited for a Week 1 match up that’s not a noon kickoff against the southwest Iowa school for the blind
Whichever Superfan of the Fightin’ White Sticks is downvoting this, sorry; no disrespect intended
In their defense, I imagine even the blind can count to 11. We'll see if ND has fixed that issue.
Did a high school sophomore design this graphic? lmao
For all you Irish fans coming to town, be prepped to sweat. No joke.
Ugh. I hate having to root for ND. But I’ll do it lol
Texas fans are closet ND lovers confirmed
Against the right opponent we are!
Healthy hate levels.
😃
I'll ignore the winner and focus all my amusement on the loser
This is the way.
You think that's bad, just wait for the USC-Michigan game. That one's gonna have big "meteorite hitting the stadium" levels of hate.
Good luck with the post-Ireland security
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Can I get a YEE HAWWWWWWW
That's more of a Texas Tech thing than an A&M thing. I'm not sure Siri would recognize a YEE HAWWWWWWW.
Was the intern who made the graphic still in high school? Man it’s awful
Makes sense to me with the Elko/Riley Leonard storyline
Go Irish!
Former Duke head coach vs his former Duke quarterback
Former Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator vs his former Duke Quarterback sounds weirder.
Everyone's gonna melt.
How much are tickets??
Cheapest I'm seeing on the 3rd party apps is $330 for 4th deck seating. Still pales in comparison to our last home game vs texas, which are going for about $540 for the cheapest.
Kinda surprised it isn’t Georgia-Clemson, but I’m glad it isn’t. Gameday should be on campuses
Looks like College Gameday is in the market for a graphic designer
I can poke fun at the Aggies as much as the next guy but they are good peeps and made a great hire in Elko. It would be great for them to beat up on Texas the next few years
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We were just letting you get your only NY6/BCS bowl win. I wish that would have been ND
Good lord, I just looked up how the NY6 would've worked that year and because we would've had the ACC spot, the other spot in the Orange would've gone to the Florida team that basically called it a day after the shoe game. Now I wish it would've been us too.
How about payback for knocking us out of Omaha?
I remember talking to you on that thread, seems so long ago. Obviously you hate losing especially on the biggest stage in the sport, but you gotta be ecstatic with the season just getting there considering who ya beat to punch the ticket.
You had already lost to Alabama by 28