#16 Texas A&M vs #8 Notre Dame Predictions

[SBR Andy]

The Saturday NBC primetime game features a rare matchup between Texas A&M and Notre Dame in South Bend at 7:30 PM ET.

The Irish dropped their opening game to Miami but are a touchdown favorite over the 2-0 Aggies.

Can Notre Dame bounce back or will A&M give them all they can handle?

[SBR Andy]

SBR's Mike Spector breaks down the action in his early Texas A&M vs Notre Dame prediction:

Texas A&M +6.5 (-110)

"The biggest question when it comes to an early Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame best bet is if one walked away encouraged by how Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr fared in his first collegiate start or worried about how Miami pushed Notre Dame around in the trenches. I steer more toward the latter, which is why I am backing the Aggies at the near touchdown spread.

There are plenty of factors supporting Notre Dame in this matchup. It has a rest advantage with a week off to correct what went wrong in its 27-24 loss to Miami, and Carr should be much more comfortable in front of his home fans than in a raucous road environment. Notre Dame also won 23-13 in College Station last year to jumpstart its path to the College Football Playoff.

However, last year’s Aggies team that faced the Fighting Irish was a much more vanilla offensive squad that did not utilize Marcel Reed’s unique skill set until later in the year. Reed already has accounted for eight touchdowns this season with a 7-0 TD-INT ratio.

The sophomore quarterback is in line for a big game against a Fighting Irish defense that did not force a turnover in Week 1 and only got home for one sack on Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck, who had plenty of time in the pocket on most throws."