I have questions about both teams this season, and nearly all of them are on the offensive side of the ball. I expect both defenses to be strong and to have the upper hand in this battle.

The key to this matchup is going to come down to whether Notre Dame can block Texas A&M up front, and as it stands I give a major advantage to the Aggies. The Fighting Irish new starting 5 on the offensive line has 6 combined career starts, and that's not a strong resume going into Kyle Field at night with four stellar defensive linemen on the other side. Texas A&M DE Nic Scourton could prove to be one of the best portal pickups in the country, and we could see that on display in a win for Game No. 1 of the Mike Elko era.

I think both of these teams are prime playoff contenders: I'm higher than most on Texas A&M this year and Notre Dame's schedule is one of the easiest I've seen in comparison to other highly ranked teams. To me, this is the Fighting Irish's toughest game all season. Look for this one to be a defensive struggle but A&M holds off a late ND rally. Texas A&M 23, Notre Dame 17.

This game is going to stay under at Kyle Field just because of the coaches. We've got a new coach Mike Elko from Duke at Texas A&M and he's a defensive coach. We have a new squad with Marcus Freeman in his third year with success so far but he's going to slow the tempo down and not put too much pressure on his new guys. It's going to be running the clock the whole way. And Texas A&M is not going to want to force errors at home. Under.

Texas A&M has all the advantages such as a home field which is one of the best in college football, 12 starters returning including quarterback Connor Weigman, and former Duke coach Mike Elko. You could almost make them favored higher than three points. But why isn't it? Last year Jimbo Fisher was sent packing due to continuous failures. Notre Dame has only seven players returning, five of them come on defense, and only one returning offensive lineman. They have a lot to overcome and a lot to learn in a short time. But then they have an ace in the hole. Duke transfer Riley Leonard is at quarterback and he's going to show his worth right away at Kyle Field. Notre Dame wins.

I'm going to grab this before it moves to -3. Despite a slew of departures through the portal, the Aggies still have a talented roster. And now they have a grown-up running the show in coach Mike Elko. A&M also has NFL talent on the defensive line, which will face a Notre Dame offensive line needing to fill holes. Kyle Field is going to be wild for this one on Saturday night. I'll take the Aggies.

If you combine returning production and the transfer portal rankings, Texas A&M is 42nd while Notre Dame ranks 96th. The Fighting Irish have Riley Leonard at quarterback, who transferred from Duke. His last game was October 28th after suffering a season-ending injury. Leonard has a completion percentage of 67.8% in home games compared to 53.3% on the road in three seasons. College Station is a challenging venue, with a home-field advantage of 3.5 points. The Aggies welcome first-year head coach Mike Elko, who coached Leonard during his time with the Blue Devils. Texas A&M's defensive line is ranked as one of the best. The Fighting Irish lost standout tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher to the NFL and Charles Jagusah to a season-ending injury.

The Irish might be a bit overvalued here. The defense will be rock solid and Riley Leonard is an upgrade at quarterback. However, Notre Dame’s strength last year was a dominant offensive line and the Irish lost three key starters from that unit. That will be an issue early in the year facing Texas A&M’s front. The Aggies’ defensive line was already a strength before landing Purdue transfer Nic Scourton, who led the Big Ten in sacks. A&M quarterback Conner Weigman has battled injuries but when healthy is completing 70 percent of his passes. Look for Weigman to do enough and the Aggies’ defensive line to be the difference as Mike Elko kicks off his tenure in College Station with a win.