College Football: Best Bets for Notre Dame at Texas A&M

There are a handful of teams that didn't waste any time testing themselves to begin the college football season as there are a few marquee matchups scheduled across Week 1. One of those matchups includes the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish hitting the road to take on the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field.

Expectations are high for the Fighting Irish entering Marcus Freeman's third year as the full-time head coach with Notre Dame landing Duke Blue Devils transfer quarterback Riley Leonard in the offseason. Leonard will see a familiar face on the sideline for Texas A&M as the Aggies replaced Jimbo Fisher with former Duke head coach Mike Elko.

In what should be a physical contest between two ranked teams, let's look through the college football odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to find the best bets in Saturday's Notre Dame-Texas A&M showdown that kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

All college football odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

Notre Dame at Texas A&M Betting Picks

Jeremiyah Love Under 50.5 Rushing Yards (-114)

Replacing the production of Audric Estime is going to be easier said than done for Notre Dame this season. Estime led the Fighting Irish in rushing a season ago, scampering for 1,341 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns on 210 attempts.

With Estime commanding a fairly large workload, he had nearly 1,000 more rushing yards than the second-leading rusher on the team, and he produced 9 more rushing touchdowns than the rest of the roster combined. Upon Estime's departure to the NFL, Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price are expected to share touches in Notre Dame's backfield.

The last time we saw Love and Price, they were splitting the workload in the Sun Bowl with Estime sitting out, and it was Price who exploded for 106 yards and a score while Love was limited to 39 yards on 15 carries against the Oregon State Beavers. The stiff matchup versus the Aggies and a perceived timeshare with Price is enough for me to side with the under on Love's rushing yards prop on Saturday.

Texas A&M had one of the nation's best run defenses in 2023, allowing the 13th-fewest rushing yards per game (108.8) and only 3.36 yards per attempt. The Aggies are expected to have a stout front seven again in 2024 -- especially with Purdue Boilermakers transfer Nic Scourton joining the defense -- and even Leonard could steal rushing attempts from Love as he's a capable runner from the quarterback position.

Notre Dame +2.5 (-102)

While I'm not expecting Love to gash Texas A&M's defense, Notre Dame does have a chance to keep things close in College Station. Winning at Kyle Field is no easy task, but the Fighting Irish have experienced players across the board, while the Aggies could need time to get acclimated with Elko in the driver's seat.

Despite losing quarterback Sam Hartman, Joe Alt, and Estime, Notre Dame added two mature ACC transfers with Leonard taking over at quarterback and Beaux Collins coming from Clemson to improve the receiver room. And while the Aggies' defense is a formidable unit, the Fighting Irish also expect to have a dominant defense in 2024.

After allowing the seventh-fewest points per game (15.92) and fifth-fewest total yards per game (276.3) in 2023, Notre Dame has six returning starters on defense this year. Most notably, cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts should make things difficult for Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman -- who is making his first start since September 23rd of last season when he suffered a season-ending foot injury.

It is certainly going to be loud and plenty of Aggies faithful will be anxious to see how the team looks under Elko. Our own Riley Thomas took Notre Dame's moneyline as one of his favorite college football bets in Week 1, and while I don't hate the idea of taking them to win outright, they'll at least keep Saturday's game close.

All customers get a 50% Profit Boost Token for any wager on the Notre Dame @ Texas A&M game taking place August 31st! See here for full terms and conditions. Learn about today’s other offers at FanDuel Sportsbook Promos.

Looking for the latest college football odds? Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook and check out all of the college football betting options.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.