Expectations for Notre Dame’s season changed after win over Texas A&M

Who knew?

The expectations for Notre Dame football during the preseason were kind of all over the place nationally. While it isn’t abnormal that Irish fans and media members thought much more of Notre Dame’s prospects this season than the rest of the country, it became more and more noticeable as the game against the Texas A&M Aggies approached.

In this new era of a 12 team playoff, the preseason projections flooded every outlet, online and on television. Even with a more than manageable schedule, most of the projections for the Irish had them somewhere in the 9-11 range (with a few outliers as high as 7 and as low as 12). Basically, it suggested that Notre Dame would likely be 11-1 (maybe 10-2) and will be in the playoff. Where can we find the projected loss? Well — it was probably the first game in College Station against the Aggies.

It wasn’t just that Texas A&M was the favorite in this game, it’s that 95% (rough guess) of those picking games throughout the college football world were taking the Aggies to beat Notre Dame in week one. For weeks, Irish fans were gaslit in every conversation about this game as the reasoning given by those who picked Texas A&M just didn’t match up with what we knew about this Notre Dame football team.

One of the main talking points about this game was that it was going to be a defensive battle. In that — everyone was right. The game was brutal if you are a fan of offensive football. The front seven for both teams looked as good as any team in the country, but the Notre Dame secondary led by Benjamin Morrison, Xavier Watts, Adon Shuler, and Christian Gray showed themselves to be better than good — they looked elite.

Another huge talking point centered around Notre Dame’s offensive line, which had a combined six starts going into the game. They definitely struggled a bit in the first half, but as the second half wore on, they got better and better as Notre Dame got more and more productive running the football. Notre Dame rushed for 198 yards on the night, but the best stat for the offensive line was that they didn’t give up a single sack all night.

The way Notre Dame was able to overcome all the naysayers, a hostile Kyle Field, and a young offensive line protecting Irish newcomer Riley Leonard was eye-opening for many across the country. The Irish came out in the second half and kept their poise to execute the game plan — and players made plays.

After the game it was noted that for the first time in a long time, Notre Dame “out-athleted” a southern SEC school. They looked fast, tough, and highly motivated. So it wasn’t just that the Irish won the game, it’s that the Irish won the game by being better than Texas A&M in the talent department — and it surprised people.

The conversation coming out of the game is as different as it can get for Notre Dame. Again — many had the Irish IN the 12 team playoff, but now the conversation has pivoted towards the Irish having a real shot to finish the regular season 12-0 and being the #5 seed. Podcast after podcast and one talking head after another are now moving in the direction of, “hey — Notre Dame might just go 12-0 now.” They didn’t try to bring up the Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes, or anyone else as a comparison — they just pulled out their erasers and changed the expectation.

One big win against the Texas A&M Aggies in prime time with over 8 million people watching, finally gave the Irish enough respect to match the fans’ expectations. It also set Notre Dame up to be the team that everyone is waiting on to fall on flat their face in a handful of the next eleven games.

The expectations have changed after week one. How Notre Dame feeds those expectations or not is what we will all be watching for as the season continues.