Bryan and Trevor take a deep dive into the talented Texas A&M defense, including a dive into what makes Mike Elko’s defenses so good.
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That's bluenile.com to find the perfect jewelry gift for any occasion, bluenile.com. Next final section of today's show, Trevor, is going to talk about the Notre Dame or the Texas A&M defense and what it presents to Notre Dame because Notre Dame's defense is going to be key to victory for them and then Texas A&M defense is going to be key to them. If one of these two defenses doesn't play well, that team is in trouble, is absolutely in trouble. Of course, you look at the A&M defense and that's Mike Elko's baby. That's his bread and butter. You talked earlier about how he's improved places everywhere he's been, and so you look at some numbers and you look at scoring defense, for example, and prior to Mike Elko taking over, well, let's look at Notre Dame first. In 2016, Notre Dame ranked 61st in the country in scoring defense and in year one of Mike Elko's tenure, they jump all the way up to 31. That's a 30-spot improvement. During that 2017 season, Texas A&M had the number 87 scoring defense in the country. They get about 30.7 points per game. In year one of Mike Elko's tenure, they jump all the way up to 47, drop five points off that per game average, and then the next year they jump up to 36, all the way up to 22.5 points per game. In 2020, they jump up to 29th and 2021, they jump up to three. So there was just steady improvement year after year after year from Mike Elko being there. The year after he leaves, they drop down to 25, and then last year they were 36th. There's a little bit of a trend, pretty steady trend that looks just like this pre-imposed Mike Elko when it comes to scoring defense. It's not like they replaced him with a bum. They hired DJ Durkin. It was a solid defensive coordinator, in my opinion. He certainly has done that. You look at what they did at Duke during his tenure as well, Trevor, it's the same story. In 2021, the year before Mike Elko arrived at Duke, they ranked 127th in scoring defense. They give up 39.8 points per game. In his first season at Duke, they jumped all the way up to 31st and only gave up 22.1 points per game that season. Last year, Duke ranked 16th in college football. In scoring defense, they ranked ahead of Texas A&M and scoring defense by 20 spots with no five-star defensive lineman. Now, they got some transfers came in, including a guy that came in from a couple of guys I think from A&M. But the point is, this guy knows how to build really good defenses. You know what? He's going to build really good defenses at Texas A&M. Unless for some reason, in this past offseason, Mike Elko forgot how to recruit and develop defensive teams, they're going to be really good on defense in Mike Elko's tenure. The question that I have is how much responsibility does he give Jay Bateman to run the defense? That's going to be my big question because Jay Bateman is one of the most polarizing defensive coordinators in the business, in my opinion, because there's some people that absolutely think he's a really good defensive coordinator and they'll look at the success he had at ARMY and then there's other people like me who don't think much of Jay Bateman as a defensive coordinator and they're going to look at his tenure at North Carolina and his last couple years at Florida and question that. So who is Jay Bateman? Is he the guy that had the great, the really good defenses at ARMY, the guy that had the awful defenses at North Carolina? I have a bit of a biased opinion of this that don't really need to share again because everybody already knows it. So that's going to be the interesting piece. Is Jay Bateman running Mike Elko's defense? If he is, then I think he'll be fine. If Mike Elko is kind of turning the reins over to Jay Bateman, then I think that's problematic. But knowing Mike Elko like I do, I think he hired Jay Bateman to run his defense and the things that they believe in just like he had Tyler Santucci run his defense. Those principles are going to stay the same. The foundation of that defense is going to stay the same, which is why I think ultimately they're still going to be really good on defense and why I don't say like if you're to tell me you knew that Mike Elko took a completely hands-off approach from the defense, I'd be like, no, he's going to win this game easily. But he's not. That's not who Mike Elko is. So he's going to still have his fingerprints and his DNA all over this defense for the Aggies. Prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over five million active members. Prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Unlike other apps on prize picks, it's just you against the numbers. 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Get in before game one hits and you can predict how many passing yards your favorite college quarterback will hit. For me, I think Riley Leonard's going to go above 2550 and a half yards. So I'm going to take that one and I'm going to combine it with Quinn yours to throw 2999 and a half yards. Put those together and bang bang boom baby. I'm going to be a winner. You just wait and see. I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary of depositing my first ten dollars and I received an instant ten dollar bonus. If you have the skills you can play for a shot at turning your ten dollars into a thousand dollars. Download the prize picks app today and use code Irish for a first deposit match up to a hundred dollars. That's code Irish on prize picks for a deposit match up to a hundred dollars. Prize picks run your game. You've had Wendy's nugs dipped in sauce but have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy's new saucy nugs takes the crispy and spicy nugs that you love and turn them up to eleven. 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Yeah that that is that that's how I look at Bateman right and and I think that to your point Bateman has a good foundation back when he was at army but then he gets up to that more power five level of what he did at Florida and what he did in North Carolina and you got more of a bigger sample size of what he's able to do when he gets fully handed over the reins and I think with some tailoring to what he does I think he could be a pretty decent defensive coordinator enter Mike Elko right like that's that's where he comes into play and now you're getting the star power of what Texas A&M has to offer on defense especially in their front seven but I think that especially for the first year this is very much going to be a Mike Elko defense just under defensive coordinator it will say Bateman on their roster and that's who will be on the sideline and or up in the press box I think that's that's how their system is going to be catered out. I also have to think that Mike Elko clearly knows something about Jay Bateman because they've worked together before they've known each other for 20 years I believe they were on the same staff at Richmond back in the day. So there's obviously so any can recruit and and so I expect this to be a very good defense and let's talk about what makes Mike Elko's defense is effective. The biggest thing there's there's two things that Mike Elko really emphasized at Notre Dame that I thought were really impactful. One is he is big time into being assignment correct at full force. He's not someone who is has done a lot of exotic stuff in his tenure. You know him and Al Golden don't really come from the same type of philosophy defensively from a external standpoint. I think they're very similar in philosophy from a what's the principle we're trying to get here which is we're going to try to occupy every gap with full force and basically take you know and just create disruptions on your team. Now Mike Elko is not a guy that I felt has ever been someone who necessarily obsesses over. We've got to have 120 tackles for loss and we've got a 50 sacks and that type of thing. There's a different type of disruptions that I think Mike Elko focuses on and it's more so about just disrupting the ball and you can do that a lot of different ways. You can do that with tackles for loss. You can do that with sacks. Obviously you can do that with interception but there's a lot of other things. You know just forcing the ball to get put on the ground. You know forcing the ball to get you know tipped passes. They would do a thing at Notre Dame when he was here forever which I really liked which was they would have full turnover circuits and they would have the whole defense focus on turnover circuits. I'm actually going through the numbers I think the 18 they ranked in the top 15 and tackles for loss and outside of that they were like never a top 25 team. It was about you know you look everyone get to the ball impact the ball break breakups tip passes from D linemen they would practice that stuff every day. You know coming up from behind it's not enough to just sack the quarterback from behind. If you're coming up from behind get the football get your hand on the football very into disruptions pass breakups tips force fumbles interceptions it's about getting the offense out of rhythm that way but not doing it where I'm trying to outsmart you because if you outsmart the other coach there's a chance you're going to outsmart your own players and that's where you can get into trouble. So it's about do your job with full force they're going to be physical they're going to fly downhill they're going to be disciplined. Now they will do some creative stuff on the back end with their safeties and corners you know who's going to trigger who's in the box who's dropping you know bringing corner fires bringing nickel fires they'll get creative with some of that stuff but in the front seven it's about do your job and do it hard and do it fast and you're not going to see them run a million stunts they don't run a lot of exotic blitzes they will on third down a lot of teams do that on third down but on down one downs one and two it's do your job and do it with force to do that though you need a specific type of player I actually think he inherits a Texas A&M roster that up front has what he wants on the D line which is he wants big long tough physical kids. Now the physical part they've got to learn because they weren't really part of a team that emphasized physicality before but they have the talent to be physical. Shamar Turner can be a disruptive player with proper coaching. Well Mike Elko went hired Sean Spencer who built a lot of those great Penn State D lines before he went to the NFL you know so he's got those big long powerful athletic kids it's just about getting them on the right page and I think at linebacker I think Torin York is going to put up ridiculous numbers tackle numbers under Mike Elko I really do I think he's a great fit for what Mike Elko likes to do so I think in the front seven he inherits a roster that had a lot of what he looks for I think there's a reason most of his portal emphasis was on the secondary there was I mean that Solomon the shields at linebacker was a portal pick up and I know they got Scooby Williams but like defensive line they got a couple depth guys but like they really needed to find starters in the secondary because the secondary did not fit what he's looking for which is they went long they went a bunch of cam hearts is what they're looking for in their secondary and that's what they went out and got will Lee six three bj mazes six one des ricks I think a six one he wants length which is what he had in blades last year and then the the other corner whose name escaped but I think they got from A&M he wants length outside they didn't have that but in the front seven I think A&M he inherits a roster that has a lot of what Mike Elko wants in your D line which is I don't need to create a lot of pressures with my exotic pressures it's you're gonna do your job and it's up to you to do it right do it hard and to beat the man in front of you and he's got players who can do that his defenses are very intentional it's done at a hundred and ten percent with discipline which is what makes them so dangerous because there's some players that when they run at a hundred miles an hour things get a little chaotic and he's done a really good job at having his players play with a controlled aggression and I think that's what makes them so dangerous there's been Notre Dame players before in the past where they have the ability in all the skill in the world and they go a hundred miles an hour and they're missing tackles here you know they have guys come on a nickel fire a free screamer screaming blitz are off the edge and all it takes is for the quarterback to step up and he's five yards in the opposite direction right what what Mike Elko does a really good job on on defense is that controlled aggression and that's going to be so dangerous especially with the front seven that they have coming back but I agree very assignment based they are very intentional with everything that they do and not from a standpoint of they try to trick in they're not dropping ends into coverages and they're not nothing like that but intentional in the goal is to try to get the football at every available opportunity that they have you know looking for the strip sack looking to and pick off any tip ball everybody swarms to the football it's it's a very active defense it's partly why I think Tae Von Kony was so good at Notre Dame yeah under Mike Elko and then of course Clark Lee who ran essentially a version of Mike Elko's defense because you know Tae Von was a guy that was very instinctive but Tae Von was a guy that needed direction yeah and he was a guy that needed to be kind of told this is what you're doing you're going to do this and you're going to do this and Tae Von was not a guy that was a self-motivated player when it came to doing things a certain way and under Mike Elko I mean his his game exploded I'll give you an example just looking at numbers look at some some PFF numbers in 2016 the year before Mike Elko arrived Tae Von Kony played 251 snaps on the on against the run he had three he had 30 total run stops and five missed tackles the next year he had 295 run snaps there's only 44 more snaps but he had 57 run stops just 27 more run stops and he only had one more missed tackle his overall missed tackle rate went way down from what it was and then it went down again the next year so he was able to take a kid that had instincts and had physicality and force but needed direction and he could point him in that you know say this is how we play and I think that's why Tae Von thrived it is a defense that that needs linebackers to make a lot of plays and that's what I don't think he always had a duke to be honest with I don't I he didn't have the talent linebacker that was the missing piece in my opinion in his defenses of Duke was having those impact linebackers I don't know that he has it now outside of Tory New York who's a good football player that's going to be a big key for him in the future is he's going to have to go recruit some some linebackers that are just really fit that impact production inside I mean you look at his 27 2017 defense at Notre Dame man it's like they're they're top this is a crazy stat by the way I've always found this really fascinating they're top four tacklers on their 2017 defense were all linebackers Drew Trank will the Rover and then Tae Von Coney had 116 tackles now as Morgan had 92 tackles Drew Trank went 85 tackles but then Greer Martini had 75 tackles so tackling machines and Mike Elko as I think and if you remember the Wake Forest defense me had Brandon was a Brandon Lee the linebacker he had at Wake Forest who had a bunch of tackles in 2016 before he came to Notre Dame and so that's that's something that I do think personnel wise is missing to the level that I think ideally he wants to have it is is that linebacker Mark Kelly is who it was so he was very good and his Rover is very good also had Jesse Bates speaking of Mike Elko's ability to identify talented players he went out to Indiana got Jesse Bates who turned out to be a heck of a player you look at Markel Lee you look at Duke what was Duke's a Jofer it's my best guess at producing his last name really good football player he recruited NFL players to Wake Forest think about that right I mean that not exactly a program known for producing a lot of NFL town on defense sure and and he did a very good job there and he'll do the same thing here but that's the one thing that this that the roster still needs more addressing is is is linebacker say I think they'll be fine recruiting secondary at A&M that that won't be a problem but linebacker is going to be a spot where he's going to have to put in some work to get some of those top linebackers that right now we're going to Texas you know Anthony Hicks who's the kid they got the other day was at James Williams the guys like that that they're just not getting that right now Texas is getting or Oklahoma's getting or they're leaving to go to other SEC teams those are some of the wins he's going to have start getting on the trails at that position yeah I agree he's that's that's where he's going to have to continue to build on but for this year I love where his foundation is at and I think that's what's going to make him such a scary head coach this year is you can look at yours past and arguably outside of when he came in at Notre Dame in 2017 he's done significantly more with significantly less than what he's getting on that at least on the defensive line and on the defensive front at at Texas A&M and I think that's what makes this so interesting and what's going to be fun to track even after this Saturday because I really like Mike Elko and I you know I he had a quote in his press conference about Riley Leonard where he's like yeah this week we got a game prep for him but you know weeks two through 13 I'm going to be rooting for him and that's kind of how I feel about Mike Elko I really like him and and so I think it's going to be interesting to see what their progression is going to be when they do play Texas later this year and what that's going to look like for him so there's a reason Trevor I predicted him to beat Texas this year like I did I went on record as saying that because I I think this is going to be a much more dangerous team in late October November than they are in September doesn't mean that that they're not going to be damning look they can beat Notre Dame I think I'm going to predict their name to win tomorrow we'll give you the score or why or all that but I've never hidden the fact that I think they're going to win this game but I've also said Trevor this is not a game I would want to play in week nine you know and I because I think that's when they're going to really kind of be getting into this flow of what they're going to ask these guys to do especially on defense but even so even on offense in my opinion. Hey Irish Breakdown listeners it's Urban Meyer this fall the game changes join me Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and broadcaster Rob Stone as we bring you a new perspective on football and culture every week we will be joined by the biggest name in sports and talk about everything inside and outside of the lines let us guide you through a new era of college football watch triple option on YouTube or listen on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you get podcasts jewelry isn't a gift you give just once it's a way to remind your loved one of a beautiful moment every time they see it blue Nile can help you find the gift that says how you feel and says it beautifully with expert guidance and a wide assortment of jewelry of the highest quality at the best price go to blue Nile dot com and experience the convenience of shopping blue Nile the original online jeweler since 1999 that's blue Nile dot com to find the perfect jewelry gift for any occasion blue Nile dot com yeah you know what scares me about this matchup Trevor you know the biggest concern I have if I had more faith in Joe Rudolph I would really not be worried about this game I really would because I keep going back to I think no name's gonna win I like the match up but I keep thinking back to how the Duke D line just physically kicked Notre Dame's butt last year and to your point this is a bigger more athletic and more dynamic group of defensive linemen if they can get them to play as hard as last year's D line did and Notre Dame's D offensive line doesn't answer the bell what they didn't last year that's how you get beat honestly that's how you get beat and and that's that's my one big concern about this game is can Joe Rudolph get this line prepared to physically play the way it needs to toughness assignment correctness for 60 minutes that's because I know that Sean Spencer and Mike Elko are going to have this defensive line at A&M playing at their best on Saturday I have no doubt about that none it's one of the biggest mismatches I think going into this Saturday is you know a lot of people will talk about the the experience gap which yeah I do think that there's some truth to that but I think one of the bigger gaps is going to be Joe Rudolph prepping an already young Notre Dame offensive line versus a very experienced defensive minded head coach and an experienced defensive line at Texas A&M I think that last year at Duke was uh that was tough I think that there's too many factors that went into that game because there's some people to talk about well it was the hangover loss from Ohio State and which to some degree I I it's fair to at least acknowledge it right sure but regardless of whether you won or lost that game you have another one in seven days which still speaks to the preparation of what went into that week of practice and how much of it was you know hanging your heads and how much of it was you know really gearing up because and that's just that's the life of a college football player whether you win or lose you have another one given outside of a bi-week in seven days and it's time to go so which is another reason why I am happy that we do get this Texas A&M matchup week one but it's I'm with you I'm going back and forth on it because I I want to believe that Mike Denmark is kind of coming over the top and and doing the things that he needs to I mean he's a smart coach he knows he has to get the ball out I don't really see Riley Leonard doing many five seven step dropbacks and just camping out in the backfield so we'll see and it's not even so much that I'm worried about Notre Dame being incapable of playing well up front it's like like I watched this line go toe to toe with Ohio State last year and then I watched him just get physically whipped by Duke for an entire game and Louisville for entire game it's just about what version of this line is going to show up that's my big concern which are Rudolph is is it the line that that that that we saw against Ohio State or is that the line saw the week later against Duke and it's going to be key because when you look at this game in the matchup aspects the one area where Duke can be vulnerable or Mike Elko's defenses can be vulnerable is if you have productive players in the slot and that means tight ends as well and then if you have some speed on the perimeter and the other thing that has given Mike Elko and and gives a lot of teams this problem but you know look a mobile a dual threat quarterback remember remember how many years we talked at Notre Dame about how pardon me frustrating it was that Notre Dame just always seemed to have a tough time with mobile quarterbacks yep well that began you know what I mean with Brian Van Gorder but continued into the Mike Elko tenure and continued in through the Clark Lee tenure because of the the way that they play I do think there are some vulnerabilities to you know a mobile quarterback and give you some problems not even just in the reads the the design to run stuff but also from the standpoint of of just opening up some contain opportunities in the past game the way that they play and and so you know so I think little things like they'll take a a roll down safety just fly into the middle of the field well if that linebacker loses his gap then there's nobody there if that quarterback if they don't get to that quarterback I mean there's just things like that that can create some problems and Notre Dame is going to have to do a good job even exploit that but that's what Notre Dame gave note that's what Notre Dame did to give them problems last year is Notre Dame had some opportunities thrown the ball down the field and up the seams they could not cover Mitchell Evans over the middle field now that's partly personnel that's also partly the scheme sure in that game they had a big time problem that last season they had guys open you know I mean to buy some air weathers got to come down with a couple of those balls Sam Hartman over throws I mean the post rot was there yep there were opportunities that they didn't hit last year that they're going to need to hit this year if they're going to if they're going to have that success the good news is I think Notre Dame has the personnel to to be effective in those opportunities and and to thrive in those opportunities and we're going to see if they can take advantage of it but you know like for example one thing that hurt them last year they didn't have Jaden Gray House against Duke last year I think that mattered I think that factored into that because you had that complimentary slot piece that can work the middle of the field in the ways that I you know that Chris Tyree but it's a different type of work to mill the field where I think they're vulnerable it's being able to get ISOs on their backers and their nickel and their safeties and that's where you can have some success and then if you can then have success that gets their safeties down and that opens up some of those over the top opportunities and outside opportunities that are there and depending on how they're going to play because sometimes they'll play kind of straight up off on the outside and then other times they'll kind of they'll kind of take that take play that inside you know not going to let you have an okay well that's fine when you're doing that you're not getting safety help that's where you've got to be able to have the speed outside it's okay we're going to kind of run by you a little bit and and take some of those opportunities so there there are going to be as I've said before there's going to be at least four or five opportunities in this game where a deep shot is going to be there either because it's there or because there's an opportunity based on the coverage they show you've got to be savvy enough as an offense coordinator to get the calls made in those situations and then where they're there Riley Leonard's got to get the ball out they got to make the plays and he's going to need the time whether that's action stuff play action stuff getting the ball out of the pocket dropbacks slot fades one-on-ones outside whatever the case may be there will be opportunities and their name's going to have to hit those because if you can hit some of those opportunities especially early that then loosens them up a little bit they can't bring their safeties down and put eight nine guys in the box like they did against their name last year that's where you then start getting some of those gash opportunities and that's kind of what Miami did to Notre Dame in 2017 is they started hitting some of that stuff over the middle field they started getting those gash plays on Notre Dame and that's what helped them on top of some pick sixes and then poor offensive play to kind of help that game get a little out of hand yep in the second half and and that's that's going to be a big key in this game and that's where I think Notre Dame is built well to personnel wise to go at this Texas A&M defense I agree absolutely and one of the biggest differences where I think Notre Dame is set up really well is we have such a diverse offense that we are now capable of attacking a defense in multiple different ways it felt like in years past and for whatever reason especially last year it's everything had to be executed at a 110 percent level for this specific thing to work and I'm not saying that because we have a deeper skilled position or a more diverse running back room or a mobile quarterback now that we don't have to execute Notre Dame doesn't have to execute at a high level I'm just saying the room for error grows slightly because you are multifaceted enough to where you have I mean you have three different kinds of receivers in the same receiving room and you have multiple of them whereas last year you had like five of the same guy I love Audrey I love what he was able to do last year he was Mr. Consistent you know I mean the guy averaged over well over six and a half yards a carry and you knew he was going to get at least that every single time yeah but what lacked last year was our ability to push the ball down the field consistently because it almost felt like something had to be executed picture perfectly for us to take that shot and there was always something holding Notre Dame back from those opportunities either okay the route was there but the protection wasn't the protection was there but the ball and the route was there but the ball wasn't thrown well the ball was thrown well the protection was there receiver drops it there was always something and that's going to be something that is going to be a big part of this Notre Dame offense this year is you need to hit those plays now the difference is is they practice them a lot I mean that's just kind of I mean they're they're going to take their shots I want to see how competitive this Notre Dame receiver room is against this A&M secondary that's going to be a big part of this game for me is that right there because you know A&M is going to be tough you know they're going to be physical you know they're going to compete that that's just we know that's going to be the case with the XA&M can Notre Dame match that can they match the toughness can they match the competitiveness if they can I think Notre Dame has the better team to right now if they don't then that's how you get that's how you go on the road give me that's that that's the only reason Florida state lost to Georgia Tech Georgia Tech was the top for team and they were the more disciplined team that that's it it's not because they have oh wow they have a better roster than Florida state has no the NFL draft will show that over the next couple years it's not about that they were the better coach team they were the more physical team they were the team that responded to adversity floor state goes right down the field and scores on Georgia Tech no problem we got this we're fine let's punch back right that's why they won that game and Notre Dame is going to have to that's how Texas A&M can beat Notre Dame is that they punch and Notre Dame doesn't punch back that's how Duke almost beat Notre Dame Notre Dame is able to out talent Duke last year they played awful they just out town to Duke you're not going to be able to out talent Tech San M and play the way by playing the way you did against Duke if you play the way you did against Duke last year you're going to get beat if you play the way you did against Ohio State I think you're win the game if you play the way you did against NC State you win the game if you play the way you did against USC you win the game that's what you know Marcus Freeman still got to prove as a football coach is you know you're you and I talked about it there's too much of this if they can if they can match Texas A&M's intensity or surpass it max match Texas A&M's focus and in execution assignment ability or surpass it and I think Notre Dame wins this game because they have a better team if they get out hitting out fault and outcoach that's how they lose I mean it really is it's not that simple and how it gets carried out but it really is that simple to say you know it's gonna come down to that because you know that's what A&M's gonna bring Trevor yeah absolutely I think another facet that we have to look at too is I was Notre Dame handling this from a mental standpoint there's so much outside noise and distraction about its SEC country and it's the first week and college game day is going to be there and it's hot and I I'm so done hearing about the heat that in Texas I don't even I I'll get off my soapbox on the heat part for now but it felt like it sounds like a good predictions he's the victory prediction show rant I'm gonna have to find a way to get that out of you on Thursday yeah yeah well I forgot Texas is the only state in the entire United States that gets any sort of heat but anyways I think that in the games that Notre Dame underperformed in last year the Louisville game the Duke game the Clemson game it was viewed almost as like a text it's almost like sometimes I don't know whether it was the coaching or the preparation or the mindset of some of the players of oh another night game another away game another ranked opponent yeah you're Notre Dame that's gonna happen probably a lot and what set Georgia Tech apart from Florida State is they seized this opportunity they took advantage of hey listen nobody's thinking that highly of us we have a really talented offense coming back we have a hard-nosed defense coming back and we think we can compete with anybody in the country and you could just tell by the demeanor of some of the Florida State players and how that game was carried on it was we got to go to Ireland we got to play the Sun Rank team let's just take care of business and I think there's a difference between going into a football game and your mindset is you have a task or if you're on a mission and I think that is going to be the unsung thing that Notre Dame has to decide why they're going down to college station block out the noise and I think they should be on a mission where they have something to prove there's you're an underdog to the 20th ranked team in the country you're the number seven number seven yes like and the spreads growing yes like if you if you play with that chip on your shoulder of that like I don't want to call this a revenge tour by any means but if you play with that chip on your shoulder of like yo we're Notre Dame I don't know if we know what kind of team that we have I don't think Marcus Freeman is going to find out anything new about this team I think it's going to confirm some things for him absolutely but I don't think by any means he's going to learn something new about this team and I think this is what's going to put going back to our conversation about what's at stake it's going to put the rest of the country on notice and that's that's what's going to be so big but it starts with you got to be able to do the little things and you got to be able to have attention to detail and execute a game plan and there in a lot of football games that will probably be a close matchup just got to want it more you got to hit harder that's just what it's going to come down to and you can't be afraid to punch back when you get punched first absolutely that's going to be a big part of it and I think that's a great place to end it right there Trevor with this breakdown so that gives you guys a sense of who Texas A&M is now under Mike Elko what they do defensively what they want to accomplish what they're going to try to build and then we'll get into tomorrow's breakdown and then Thursday's breakdown we'll get into some of the things that Notre Dame can and should do to have success against those things and so the Tuesday show always sounds uh it's kind of like I was watching a show about the 1988 Notre Dame team and they were talking about I think it was uh I think it was the Catholics versus convicts but they were talking about like you know Tuesday was a really rough day and you didn't know if you could beat anybody and then Wednesday start feeling good by the time you got to Thursday and Saturday was a wrap you know and that's kind of how the shows are right Tuesday's land of foundation this is yeah this is a good team and this is what they do and the next couple days going to focus more on Notre Dame and what Notre Dame can do and how Notre Dame has advantages or where they need to thrive in those type of areas so it's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow one o'clock is when I'll be live and then we'll go do one o'clock is again on Thursday keys to victory and we'll also do our predictions so that's going to do it for this show we did have two super chats though before we get out of here Trevor we had a super chat from Quinn Kibler says welcome Trevor funny story I actually met Trevor outside of IB meaning like not the IB headquarters but outside of working for IB and had an OMG moment when I connected the dots he is the man also congrats yeah thanks Quinn it's that it's funny we connected through mutual friends and buddy that I used to work with introduced us and we're actually we're all doing the same like online dynasty for NCAA and and Chris put in like one of our chats and he's like hey like Trevor's gonna be on one of these shows he's doing stuff for Irish breakdown now instantly Quinn reached out and was like hey man that's awesome like let me know what what show you're gonna be on next so I appreciate the appreciate the shout out there man he's been he's been great also I'm a super chat from Alan Watson thank you Alan very very much welcome Trevor so excited for the season for both the Irish as well as the Chicago Bears finally see a light at the end of the tunnel and for once it's not a train coming to run over us time we are this time we are the train look I don't I don't know are you a Bears fan who's your you're the Colts fan did you aren't you who's your or do you have an uncle team it's NFL for me is tough because I grew up in Elkhart so we were you know two hours away from Chicago two and a half away from Indianapolis I guess the Lions but when I was growing up the Lions were not good so um so a little bit of a goulash and then Lauren is from Cincinnati and her and her entire family are die hard Bengals fans so I guess by association probably I'm sorry to hear that I'm sorry to hear that I grew up in the middle of uh Northwest Ohio so like Browns and Bengals fans just battling and then I was a Broncos fan in the middle of that crazy I you know it's funny I see the Bears fans are a lot like Notre Dame fans like there's some that are super excited for the season the some just that don't want to tell themselves hey you might actually be okay you know and and some of the moves they're making are okay and I know they went you know what four no during the regular season or during the preseason correct preseason doesn't mean a whole lot I mean Brett Ripon was their leading passer in the preseason but I do think that the Bears have made some moves that have bettered their football team I I mean not every move is going to be you know lights out but I really like some of them was I know a lot of people in their name fans don't like Caleb Williams it was the best prospect in the draft I mean it just he just was and he's that kind of potential pro you know franchise quarterback that that they need in my opinion and so and then some of the other moves they made getting and then being smart enough to give them a big time receiver to go with them and not a number nine so you know that they're they're not perfect by any stretch but I do think they've made strides the last couple years as as Bears fans so I can understand why some Bears fans are that way and it's not surprised that a lot of Bears fans are also Notre Dame fans because you know I think that that the the view of it is good but we'll see if the Bears can be good but I know for me it's been tough because last couple years you know the Broncos have been very good Notre Dame has and of course in the 90s when I was a kid late 90s the Broncos were great and the Notre Dame was taking a dive so it's like can I just get you guys to both be good at the same time you know and that's partly partly why I've I've decommitted from the Broncos as a as a fan haven't committed anywhere yet but yeah we'll see how it all plays out but anyway it's gonna be fun to watch this whole season go thank you Alan so much for that Super Chat really appreciate you Quinn for your Super Chat Trevor thank you for joining me again today and we'll see we'll see both of us together again on Thursday one o'clock again on the Irish Breakdown channel so on your way out folks hit that like but hit the subscribe button hit the notification bell share this podcast give us a five star review get ready for tonight's five o'clock uh Ivy Nation sports talk and join me again tomorrow one o'clock p.m. on the Irish Breakdown podcast [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] At King Super's pharmacy care is making it easy to get vaccinated care is helping you stay protected from flu COVID and RSV seasonal vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local King Super's pharmacy so come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you King Super's a world of care is in store visit king supers dot com slash vaccines for more restrictions and exclusions apply seasight for details
