Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame Week 1 Preview: Keys to the Game

The Texas A&M Aggies have a major opportunity ahead of them on Saturday against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Oct 29, 2022; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman (15) throws a pass against the Mississippi Rebels in the second half at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas A&M Aggies open the 2024 regular season on Saturday with an enormous opportunity at their fingertips.

Not only do the Aggies have a chance to host a top-10 team in the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but they get to do it at prime time on ABC, in what will be the most talked about game of Week 1 of the college football season.

In other words, the atmosphere at Kyle Field should be electric.

Still, games are decided on the field, and though the Aggies will certainly have a home-field advantage, Texas A&M and Notre Dame will both have to take care of business when they take the field this August.

With that in mind, here's what both the Aggies and Fighting Irish will have to do if either wants to emerge victorious in Week 1.

Sep 16, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman (15) attempts a pass during the second quarter against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Texas A&M wins if...

... Conner Weigman is Conner Weigman, and the pass defense is actually improved.

The Aggies have two big things at work that are going to make the difference between them having a successful season or not. The first of which, is Conner Weigman returning to form.

Weigman was lost for the season last year with an ankle injury. That said, Weigman is now 100 percent healthy and seems to be very comfortable with Colin Klein's offense. If he plays as well as we expect him to and the offensive line keeps his jersey clean, the Aggies should have the first half of the formula.

The other half of that formula is the Aggies defense, which has undergone some construction since Mike Elko took the reigns of the program. If Texas A&M can get after Riley Leonard, and cause a couple of turnovers, we like where its chances.

Oct 15, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Brendan Barrow (8) is tackled by Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jordan Botelho (12) on a kickoff in the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame wins if...

... It makes things difficult for Conner Weigman.

Sensing a trend here? If the Irish want to beat Texas A&M in front of what promises to be a wild crowd at Kyle Field, they are going to have to take away the Aggies' best weapon - Weigman. Even if they don't completely take him away, it is hard to be confident about an Aggies win without their leader under center having one of his best games.

That said, the Irish are a talented football team with College Football Playoff aspirations, and they have one of the best defensive fronts in the nation, so they should be perfectly capable of at least throwing him off balance and disrupting him from time to time. If they can do that, the Irish will have a solid chance of escaping College Station with a win.