Texas A&M Stuns Notre Dame: Instant Takeaways from Heartbreaking Irish Loss

Notre Dame was stunned Saturday night in the final seconds by Texas A&M, falling 41-40 against the Aggies. Notre Dame falls to 0-2 on the season and is hardly a shell of itself compared to the squad that played for a national championship last January.

What happens now for Notre Dame?

Here are the instant takeaways from Saturday night's stunning loss.

Forget the College Football Playoff

Notre Dame is 0-2, and sure, if it wins 10 straight to close the year, it can still play in the College Football Playoff. Here in reality, though, it's clear that Notre Dame has issues all over the field. Too many turnovers on offense, a giant special teams blunder late, and about that defense...

Notre Dame's Suddenly Leaky Defense

It's been nine years since Brian Van Gorder patrolled Notre Dame's sideline as defensive coordinator, but two games into the Chris Ash era as Notre Dame's defensive play caller - what does this unit do well?

What is its identity?

2024 was 2024 and doesn't apply anymore. This team, specifically the defense, is absolutely nothing like a year ago. This is a group that needs to figure it out fast, because its getting really late, really early in South Bend.

Tell me what this defense does well, besides lives off of 2024's accomplishments.

Notre Dame's Special Teams Save the Day - Until They Don't

Notre Dame needs to clean up a lot on offense and defense, but one place they remain elite is on special teams. Special teams coordinator Marty Biagi did a fantastic job in drawing up confusion on the blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown early on.

Later in the game, Notre Dame's special teams play pinning a punt deep to help flip field position in what wound up being a key moment from the victory.

And then after Notre Dame rallied to take a 40-34 lead with just over three minutes to play, holder Tyler Buchner dropped the snap on the extra point attempt, in what wound up being the difference in Saturday night's final score.

Notre Dame's Wildcat Obsession

We saw Notre Dame insert Jeremiyah Love in the Wildcat several times Saturday. I'm not sure what the purpose of it was, as it wasn't confusing Texas A&M whatsoever. If a pass was thrown off of it at some point then perhaps things would have gone differently.

When Jeremiyah Love was stopped on fourth down near midfield late in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame was outmanned in the box and decided to still run the play. Some truly head-scratching stuff from offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.

Denbrock stayed with that late, and it sprung Notre Dame to the go-ahead touchdown. It seemed clear this is going to be a significant part of Notre Dame's offense after Saturday's showing of it.

Turnover Margin a Wash - Which is a Loss

Notre Dame made a killing off of turnovers in 2024, but has forced just one through two games in 2025. Although not a perfect predictor of them, the more pressure a team has, then the more it tends to cause. Notre Dame isn't forcing pressure with any consistency early in 2025. It started a little better Saturday night, but disappeared before long.

If that doesn't change then the rest of the defensive struggles won't either.

Chunk Plays Allowed Galore

Remember a couple of short weeks ago when Notre Dame entered the year having what was supposed to be one of the nation's top secondaries? It's nowhere to be found through two games. Leonard Moore had an excellent interception early, but chunk plays allowed left and right, and some truly horrendous tackling on top of it.

What Now?

What happens now for Notre Dame as it sits at 0-2 and losers of three-straight dating back to the national championship? I don't care that perhaps the two toughest games of the year were the first two played: this team took all the good juju it built up last season and has set it ablaze before the halfway point of September.

Notre Dame needs to take the next step as a program, showing it wasn't a one-off that it made the title game. Which direction will the Fighting Irish arrow be pointing at the end of the year?

Early returns are clearly showing it in the way nobody expected to.