2024-09-02 02:30:03
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 20 Texas A&M football team fell to No. 7 Notre Dame, 23-13, in its 2024 season opener Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd of 107,315 at Kyle Field.
Le’Veon Moss compiled 72 yards on a career-best 20 carries to lead the ground attack for the Aggies. Quarterback Conner Weigman finished 12-of-30 passing for 100 yards and two interceptions.
On the defensive end, Taurean York and Will Lee III led the Maroon & White with nine tackles each. Transfer Nic Scourton topped Texas A&M with 1.5 tackles for loss in his Aggie debut.
After Texas A&M won the toss and elected to receive the opening kick, the Maroon & White struck first with a 34-yard field goal courtesy of Randy Bond. The graduate student’s 40th career make capped off a 10 play 58-yard drive. The Fighting Irish responded on the ensuing drive with a 46-yard field goal to even the score at 3-3. Following a pair of punts from both sides, the score remained locked at the end of the first quarter.
In the same fashion as the first, a pair of field goals accounted for all the scoring in the second quarter as the two sides headed into the break tied at 6-6. In the opening minute of the second quarter, Bond knocked in a 49-yard field goal. Notre Dame later responded with a 26-yarder with 8:32 remaining in the half.
The Fighting Irish took their first lead of the night, 13-6, at the 6:50 mark of the third quarter behind a 47-yard rushing touchdown from Jadarian Price.
After a scoreless third, the Aggies found paydirt as Moss punched it in from a yard out to cap off a 10 play 65-yard drive. Bond’s extra point tied the game at 13-13 with 11:49 showing on the clock. Following a pair of punts from both teams, Notre Dame pieced together an eight play 85-yard drive to jump back in front for good, 20-13, on a 21-yard Jeremiyah Love touchdown run.
The Maroon & White were unable to respond on the ensuing drive as they turned it over on downs at their own 33-yard line. Despite holding the Fighting Irish from a first down, Notre Dame was able to tack on a 46-yard field goal to make the final 23-13.
transcript courtesy Caption Pros
COACH ELKO: First off, hats off to Notre Dame. They came in here and they beat us. There was really no two ways around it.
To the Aggie fans, I thank you. Thank you for showing up tonight. Thank you for making this a really special day. You deserved better, and we didn’t give it to you. So we’ll go back to work, and we’ll continue to drive this thing to become the product that you guys want this and deserve for this program to be.
In terms of the game, we lost the turnover battle 2-0. That’s not going to lead to a lot of successful games. We had some really critical penalties in the first half that I thought ended some drives when we had some things going in the second half. In the third quarter, we really struggled to get into rhythm on offense. We put the one drive together to tie it and really just could never go out there and get things going consistently. And then defensively, I thought the way we defended the run was really poor. We gave up almost 200 yards rushing. You’re not going to win football games in this conference doing that. So we’ll figure out how to fix it and get better.
So from there, questions.
Q. I heard you say during the game that Conner [Weigman] needed to relax. What does he need do moving forward after tonight?
COACH ELKO: Yeah. I just think we’ve got to go back to the tape, and we’ve got to figure out how to put him in better situations to get him comfortable.
You know, the challenge tonight was they were going to play us in man all night. So there’s not a lot of easy access throws to get him comfortable and get him in rhythm. People are going to have to win to do that, and we just weren’t able to get it going.
It seemed like whether it was him missing — you know, we had a chance to hit Noah [Thomas] on the big over route and kind of overshot him by a little bit and got the pick or guys not getting the separation that we needed to get.
One way or another, we just weren’t able to get it done. We tried to do some different things to create some rubs and picks, and that didn’t get it going.
Yeah, it was really, really hard because he was not in rhythm, and there was nothing easy to get. And so we kept trying, we kept trying, we just couldn’t get there.
Q. Yeah, Mike [Elko], you spoke about the run defense. Off the top of your head, just right off the field, do you have any thoughts, any theories what the problem was and especially on that next-to-last scoring drive from Notre Dame went 85 yards?
COACH ELKO: Yeah, it was a litany of things. I thought we could have done a better job up front controlling the line of scrimmage for sure. We missed-fit some things. I think that created some of the large runs. There was some crack-replace situations where we didn’t show up the way we needed to. And then on the two long runs, we just missed tackles and missed tackles.
On the first touchdown, they got him to 13. I think we missed three tackles with guys that were right there and could have downed the football. We didn’t get it done.
And then on the last one, we missed the tackle in the hole, and the kid scored it through because we were in zero, trying to sell out to stop the run there. So there wasn’t much defense behind the first line.
Q. Mike, what did you think of your offensive line and how it held up against Notre Dame’s defensive front?
COACH ELKO: It didn’t feel like the pocket was dirty. It felt like we had time to throw. It felt like we were able to get a little bit going in the run game, not a ton, but we were able to get a little bit going in the run game. It certainly felt like that was a little bit more neutral than it was them having the complete upper hand.
Q. Knowing you needed to score a touchdown at the end of the game, did you feel like you needed to be in passing situations even though you had all three timeouts?
COACH ELKO: Well, we ran it on the second and ten to get it to fourth and two. And then on fourth and two, we called the play that we thought was the best play to get us the first down.
We certainly felt like coming out in the drive, we wanted to get going with the throw game. Again, on the third and ten, we did run it. We got it to eight, got it down to fourth and two. We felt like the fourth and two was the best way to get us the two yards, and we just didn’t get it done.
Q. In the second half, the little heavier rotation of wide receivers, how much of that was your plan? How much of it was trying to find a guy who might could get the separation?
COACH ELKO: Probably a little bit of both. As it started to go on and the heat and mugginess out there, and you want to just keep guys fresh. Again, you are trying to find the rhythm of who could get out there the separation that we need to get the thing gone.
Q. The ESPN cameras caught Conner [Weigman] getting sick. Was that just a matter of the conditions outside, or something you brought in —
COACH ELKO: Yeah, that was him. In the heat of the moment, he got a little bit sick and puking rally.
Q. Coach, how was facing Riley [Leonard] again? And how did his rushing potential affect you on the defense?
COACH ELKO: Yeah. It wasn’t fun. I knew it wouldn’t be. He made a bunch of big-time plays. He made a play on the third and five. He made some runs on the last drive. He did what he did and made enough plays to win the football game. I told him I loved him after the game. I will be rooting for that kid for the rest of his life.
Q. What did you see from Le’Veon Moss tonight? And what are your exceptions of him moving forward?
COACH ELKO: Again, it was going to be a challenging night running the football. There was going to be seven people in the box pretty much every single snap.
So, I thought, for the most part, he pushed the pile forward. I thought he ran hard. We’ll have to figure out how to get him a little bit more space to get him going a little bit better.
I thought, for the most part, he did what we asked him to do.
Q. Coach [Mike Elko], defensively, y’all were really good on third down for most of the night — for all of the night, two for 12. But they did have a couple of drives. They weren’t necessarily third downs, especially the first and 25 coming out of the hole. What did you see they were able to do in the fine moments to make those plays when they hadn’t necessarily been having that success throughout the night?
COACH ELKO: We were really, really bad off schedule tonight on defense. Second and eight to second and ten. When we go back and watch the film, I think it’s going to be one of the worst down-and-distances of the night.
I think we’ve got to look at what we’re doing. We have to look at how we’re challenging throws. I think we got really soft in our coverage in those down-and-distance.
You know, almost like we kind of got on our heels a little bit because we won first down, and that’s the exact opposite of what you should do. Again, we were aware of it. We were trying to get it fixed and corrected. We just couldn’t get it done.
But ultimately at the end of the day, we had the third and five backed up and had a chance to make a play to get off the field and didn’t do it. At the end of the day, that’s the turning point in the game.
We’ve got them third and five on the 20-yard line, and we don’t get them off the field. I think if we get them off the field there, they’re punting to us, and we’ve got the ball with a chance to go down and win it. We don’t make the play. And then all of a sudden, they get some runs going, they get some rhythm, the kid makes a great catch on their sideline. The next thing you know, they’re lining up in field-goal range and so they hit the run.
Q. Mike [Elko], going back to Conner [Weigman] getting comfortable, how much of that do you attribute to, like you said, receivers not getting the win? But, also, is there some of that attributing to first live game in a new system and getting acclimated to it?
COACH ELKO: I’m sure it’s all of it. When you go look at it, it’s going to be the plays that we called and making sure we’re doing the right things to get kids in the right spots to be successful. It’s going to be Conner delivering the ball in the right spots on time. It’s going to be receivers creating separation. It’s going on the O-line protecting. There’s going to be a breakdown on every play that ultimately leads to the success that you’re not having.
What I told the guys in the locker room is for us to get this program over the hump, we’re going to have to learn how to put ourselves in position to play the game the way we need to in those moments, and we just didn’t do that.
Q. Trey, it looked like you guys were able to get some push and a little momentum at times. What were they doing that prevented you guys from consistently getting the ball down the field?
TREY ZUHN, III: I don’t think it was anything they did. I think it was ourselves. We beat ourselves. We weren’t consistent mentally and physically. So we’ve just got stuff to clean up to make sure we’re the same team every single down.
Q. You guys really committed to the run on that touchdown drive. What was really working for you guys? And how did you feel the run game was going?
TREY ZUHN, III: I just think we were focused, and we were straining as hard as we could. And we bought into, hey, we’re going to get this in the end zone. And we just need to do that every single drive. Didn’t execute it on the other drives.
Q. Trey, what do you feel like the biggest takeaway was from an opener like this that you guys are going to learn from moving forward?
TREY ZUHN, III: You know, I think that was a good team. Scoreboard showed they were the better team. But I don’t think they were the better team. I think we beat ourselves.
We learned that we have glimpses where we’re a really good football team. But we need to learn how to focus and strain every single play, every single down, every single drive to be successful.
Q. Coach (Mike Elko) mentioned he felt like the fans deserved a little bit more from tonight. Does that add a little bit more sting to the locker room? Is that kind of how you felt?
TREY ZUHN, III: Right. It stings. It stings bad. But we’re keeping our heads up. We have a lot of football this season. It’s time to get to work tomorrow.
Q. Trey, you talked about — I know you guys were not able to consistently perform at the level y’all want to. But it did seem like y’all were able to keep them from just completely having a heyday defensively.
Is that what sort of gives y’all insight into the fact that this was more us beating ourselves? It’s not like they were finishing eight, nine sacks and just manhandling us?
TREY ZUHN, III: Yeah, right. Definitely. It was all on us. We just beat ourselves. There’s really nothing else to it.
Q. Just from your perspective, what was Conner [Weigman]’s demeanor throughout the game? Had a tough night. What did you say to him as a team captain?
TREY ZUHN, III: You know, things weren’t going great the whole time. I just said, hey, keep your head up. Keep throwing the ball. Keep being confident.
He’s a great player, and he’s going to take us to great places this season. I think he did a great job staying composed throughout the whole game. I can’t wait to see what he does the rest of the season.
Q. Hey, Taurean. When you look at what happened in the run game, especially as the game went on, they started to get chunks of yardage. Where were the breakdowns, in your opinion?
TAUREAN YORK: I feel like the breakdown was me. I missed the tackle on the long touchdown. And of course, I know they ran for 200 yards. I would probably say three quarters of that was in the second half. So we got to lock in more. I feel like it’s on me at the end of the day. I have to get these guys right.
Q. As they were really marching down the field on the last touchdown drive, what were you just telling your guys out there to try to stop the bleeding?
TAUREAN YORK: We have to get a stop. They were trying to run the four-man drill. And we’re trying to bleed the clock down as much as we did. And we see that’s why they ran the clock all the way down to the two-minute warning. We have to get a stop, get off the field.
Q. Even though y’all were doing really well on third down. It seemed like every time a predictable passing situation and maybe the crowd anticipating a sack, revving up, even if y’all got off the field after a short gain, y’all were having trouble getting a big splash play and putting those together. It seemed like that was part of some frustration toward the second half as it built up. How did y’all try to deal with that?
TAUREAN YORK: We lost the turnover battle 2-0. And our number one key to victory is to win the turnover margin, and we lost that tonight. So the offense is its own separate deal. I have my faith in Conner Weigman, of course, but our defense, we got to get turnovers. We have to force it. The ball is the game, ultimately, we didn’t get the ball out tonight.
Q. Just kind of talking about getting pressure on the quarterback, not a lot of pressure on Riley Leonard tonight. How do you guys kind of go about fixing that and just getting more penetration, I guess, into the backfield like that?
TAUREAN YORK: Obviously, affecting the quarterback is a big key to affecting the game ultimately. You saw last year we lost our quarterback and the trajectory of how our season went. So if we can affect the quarterback, we felt we would be in good hands.
We had to take advantage of obviously — what was it — six career starts. We just didn’t do that tonight. We just got to get back to the chalkboard and get ready for McNeese [State].
Q. Taurean, what did you feel like you learned about your team in this season opener?
TAUREAN YORK: We got the fight. We got to fight. The key to victory is in the fourth quarter. We lost that ultimately.
I take pride in the defense as well. So for them running 198 yards, that’s no bueno. It starts with me, so it will be fixed.
Q. Taurean, as a leader of this locker room, what do you say to your guys to kind of compartmentalize this one, put it in the past and move on to McNeese [State]?
TAUREAN YORK: I mean, it’s already over. You’re going to kill yourself all week if you think about it, try to beat yourself up about it. So, of course, we’re going to be our biggest critics, of course. Sunday, we’ll watch the film, get ready for McNeese.
But, I mean, the game is over with, and we just got to get our focus right for Saturday.
Q. Taurean, can you talk a little bit about what communication was like not just between you and your teammates but also what it was like using the in-helmet communication, how you felt that worked tonight?
TAUREAN YORK: I like it. I like it a lot. It was loud on every play because we’re at Kyle Field and 12th Man showed up.
I mean, I’m sad that we couldn’t get them the victory tonight because they showed up and they showed out all week. Of course, you saw the ticket pool line. So I hate to let them down, but it’s part of the game. So just got to get back ready for next week.
Q. Just as a team, as a whole, did this feel like an opportunity lost?
TAUREAN YORK: Opportunity lost? I mean, yeah, you’re on a big stage. You have everybody in the world coming to watch this game. Everybody around the world is probably watching this game tonight. And you hate to lose it. But if our season goes how we think it will go, we’ll be back on the stage. And I have all the faith in the Texas A&M Aggies to be back on the stage.
Q. Taurean, y’all held Notre Dame to 65 yards rushing in the first half but then gave up 133 in the second. Do you think they made an adjustment, or was it something else that had that happen?
TAUREAN YORK: Lack of focus, and it starts with me. And I’m going to continue to harp on that, that it starts with me at the end of the day.
I mean — what was it — a 50-yard touchdown run because of a missed tackle on my end. So I’m ultimately going to take the blame. You swing big; you miss big. But it is what it is. You’ve got to move on.
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