Texas A&M will kick off the 2024 season by hosting 7th-ranked Notre Dame in a Saturday night prime-time showdown. This has become the most widely covered Aggie opener in over a decade.
This offseason, new head coach Mike Elko utilized the transfer portal to fill several holes on the roster, adding one of the top 2023 defensive playmakers in former Purdue defensive end Nic Scourton. Scourton led the Big Ten in sacks (10) while amassing 50-plus tackles during his final year with the Boilermakers.
Every pre-game show agreed on Saturday morning that this would likely be a low-scoring game, as both program’s defenses should keep both offenses at bay for most of the night.
However, The Athletic writer Bruce Feldman appeared on Fox Sports to point out that Scourton has continued to be undervalued by the national media, as NFL scouts reportedly view him as the top defender in the 2025 draft cycle. Speaking with Fox Sports and Big Noon Kickoff analyst Chris Fallica, Feldman feels that Scourton will break out as soon as the Aggies hit the field.
“The breakout star tonight will be Nic Scourton. A&M coaches believe that he will be the breakout guy. He was the best-kept secret in college football last season. At 19 years old, he was a team captain. Standing at 6-4 and 285 pounds, NFL scouts have told me that he is an incredibly fluid athlete for being a really big dude.”
Against Notre Dame, I fully expect Elko and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman to move him around the line of scrimmage while taking advantage of matching up with freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp.
No. 20 Texas A&M will host No. 7 Notre Dame on Saturday, August 31, at 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will air on ABC.
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