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No. 7 Notre Dame pulls away late to beat No. 20 Texas A&M 23-13
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) Jeremiyah Love broke a tie with a 21-yard touchdown run with 1:54 left and No. 7 Notre Dame beat No. 20 Texas A&M 23-13 on Saturday night in the opener for both teams.
Love burst through the line and shed two would-be tacklers before waltzing into the end zone to give the Fighting Irish the lead.
The Aggies had a chance to tie it, but Christian Gray jumped the route to knock down Conner Weigman’s pass on fourth down to give Notre Dame the ball back.
The Fighting Irish added Mitch Jeter's 46-yard field goal with 30 seconds left.
Riley Leonard had a strong performance in his Notre Dame debut after transferring from Duke. He threw for 158 yards and added 63 yards rushing.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “The defense played lights out, (forced) turnovers. And our offense didn’t turn the ball over. Yes, there’s a lot of things we need to work on but man they did a great job at least trying to move the chains and… they didn’t make a detrimental mistake.”
Saturday was the debut for Texas A&M coach Mike Elko after he was hired from Duke this offseason following Jimbo Fisher’s firing late last season. Elko was looking to take the Aggies to the next level after last season's disappointing 7-6 season, but instead finds his team in an early 0-1 hole.
“I told the locker room for us to get this program over the hump, we have to put ourselves in the position to play the game the way we need to, and we didn’t do that tonight,” he said.
Notre Dame had 198 yards rushing led by 91 from Love. The game was tied at 6-all with about seven minutes left in the third quarter when Jadarian Price escaped a tackle at the line, darted down the left side of the field and simply outran everyone for at 47-yard TD that put the Fighting Irish on top.
Texas A&M linebacker Taurean York said improving the run defense will be a priority for the Aggies.
“Them running for 198 yards, that’s no bueno,” he said. “It starts with me, so it will be fixed.”
Television cameras caught Weigman vomiting as he returned to the sideline after a drive in the second half. Elko said he wasn't ill and it wasn't a big deal.
“In the heat of the moment just got a little sick,” he said. "Puke and rally.”
Notre Dame: The defense - especially the secondary - was as good as advertised. Xavier Watts, whose seven interceptions tied for most in the nation last year, got another one against the Aggies and Adon Shuler added a second one. Notre Dame held Texas A&M to 246 yards.
Texas A&M: Weigman will have to get better before SEC play begins after the A&M offense struggled to move the ball for most of the night against Notre Dame’s staunch defense. Their only touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Le'Veon Moss with about 12 minutes left. Weigman managed just 100 yards passing with the two turnovers in his return after missing most of last season with a foot injury.
Notre Dame: Hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Texas A&M: Hosts McNeese State on Saturday.
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Team Stats | ||
---|---|---|
1st Downs | 17 | 17 |
Rushing | 7 | 9 |
Passing | 8 | 5 |
Penalty | 2 | 3 |
3rd Down Conv | 2-12 | 4-13 |
4th Down Conv | 1-2 | 0-2 |
Total Net Yards | 356 | 246 |
Total Plays | 64 | 68 |
Avg Gain | 5.6 | 3.6 |
Net Yards Rushing | 198 | 146 |
Rush Attempts | 34 | 38 |
Avg Rush Yards | 5.8 | 3.8 |
Yards Passing | 158 | 100 |
Comp. - Att. | 18-30 | 12-30 |
Yards Per Pass | 5.3 | 2.9 |
Penalties - Yards | 11-99 | 6-55 |
Touchdowns | 2 | 1 |
Rushing TDs | 2 | 1 |
Passing TDs | 0 | 0 |
Other | 0 | 0 |
Turnovers | 0 | 2 |
Fumbles - Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
Int. Thrown | 0 | 2 |
Punts - Avg | 5-42.8 | 4-54.0 |
Return Yards | 12 | 18 |
Punts - Returns | 0-0 | 2-18 |
Kickoffs - Returns | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Int. - Returns | 2-12 | 0-0 |
Safeties | 0 | 0 |
|
Passing | CP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
R. Leonard
13 QB
|
R. Leonard | 18/30 | 158 | 0 | 0 |
Rushing | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
J. Love
4 RB
|
J. Love | 14 | 91 | 1 | 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||
R. Leonard
13 QB
|
R. Leonard | 12 | 63 | 0 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Price
24 RB
|
J. Price | 8 | 44 | 1 | 47 |
Receiving | TAR | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
B. Collins
5 WR
|
B. Collins | 7 | 5 | 62 | 0 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Greathouse
1 WR
|
J. Greathouse | 3 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
C. Flanagan
87 TE
|
C. Flanagan | 2 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Thomas
83 WR
|
J. Thomas | 2 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Faison
6 WR
|
J. Faison | 3 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
K. Mitchell
10 WR
|
K. Mitchell | 3 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Harrison
2 WR
|
J. Harrison | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Love
4 RB
|
J. Love | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
E. Raridon
9 TE
|
E. Raridon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
D. Ford
22 RB
|
D. Ford | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Defense | T-A | SACK | INT |
J. Sneed
3 LB
|
J. Sneed | 4-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Kiser
24 LB
|
J. Kiser | 4-4 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
A. Shuler
8 S
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A. Shuler | 3-0 | 0.0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
D. Hinish
41 DL
|
D. Hinish | 3-2 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Botelho
12 DL
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J. Botelho | 3-3 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
D. Bowen
34 LB
|
D. Bowen | 3-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
C. Gray
29 CB
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C. Gray | 2-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Ausberry
4 LB
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J. Ausberry | 2-2 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
H. Cross III
56 DL
|
H. Cross III | 2-2 | 1.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
K. Viliamu-Asa
27 LB
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K. Viliamu-Asa | 2-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
X. Watts
0 S
|
X. Watts | 2-1 | 0.0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Mickey
7 CB
|
J. Mickey | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
R. Mills
99 DL
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R. Mills | 1-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B. Morrison
20 CB
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B. Morrison | 1-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
R. Heard II
2 S
|
R. Heard II | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Onye
47 DL
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J. Onye | 0-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
L. Moore
15 CB
|
L. Moore | 0-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B. Traore
5 DL
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B. Traore | 0-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
R. Oben
9 DL
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R. Oben | 0-1 | 0.0 | 0 |
Kicking | FG | LG | XP | PTS |
M. Jeter
98 K
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M. Jeter | 3/3 | 46 | 2/2 | 11 |
Punting | NO | AVG | IN20 | LG |
J. Rendell
16 P
|
J. Rendell | 5 | 42.8 | 3 | 49 |
Kickoff Returns | NO | AVG | LG | TD |
J. Harrison
2 WR
|
J. Harrison | 1 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
Punt Returns | NO | AVG | LG | TD |
Passing | CP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
C. Weigman
15 QB
|
C. Weigman | 12/30 | 100 | 0 | 2 |
Rushing | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
L. Moss
8 RB
|
L. Moss | 20 | 70 | 1 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||
C. Weigman
15 QB
|
C. Weigman | 7 | 26 | 0 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
E. Smith
22 RB
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