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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid.
00:06I've known my next guest for decades.
00:09It's a really, really long time of media, which is why I'm so excited every year to
00:15bring on Mike Berardino, who has done it all over the course of his career, and he's still
00:18doing it, covering the Notre Dame Fighting Irish right now for the South Bend Tribune
00:25and TheInsider.com, hosts a podcast as well, and always fun to catch up with Mike Berardino
00:31here on the show.
00:32Mike, great to see you.
00:34Always fun conversations as we enter another college football season.
00:37Thanks for coming on.
00:39Anytime, Craig.
00:40I'm always available, but it seems I only make it to the top of your very deep Rolodex,
00:45if there still is a Rolodex.
00:47I don't think there is around this time.
00:50That's when Notre Dame's starting its season, expectations, number 17, here we go.
00:55Yeah, don't say that.
00:56We're going to call you, like, every week if you put that opening out there, man.
00:59I try to take it easy on you.
01:02I retract that.
01:03My time is valuable, as is yours.
01:07Mike's very good.
01:08He should be in stand-up comedy, if I don't say so myself.
01:12All right, so Notre Dame plays Texas A&M to open up the season in this wild, wacky world
01:18of college football.
01:20I mean, Notre Dame never scared to play anybody.
01:23Riley Leonard's going to take the helmet quarterback this year.
01:27Let's get a quick breakdown of the Fighting Irish before we begin with the matchup.
01:31Well, you know, they fully expect to be one of those 12 teams in this expanded playoff
01:37at the end of the year, and the schedule sets up beautifully, not to do any more schedule
01:42analysis than you would want, because all of it's dreadful, but if they can get by this
01:48it does open up.
01:49The road opens up, because Florida State at home in November was supposed to be a big
01:53hurdle, and what we saw in Dublin on TV looked like that wouldn't be quite the difficulty.
02:01But this is a team that's very experienced on defense.
02:04This was a top-10 defense last year, and they brought back a handful of guys who got an
02:09All-America consideration.
02:10Ben Morrison's cornerback, likely a top-10 overall pick at this stage in next year's
02:16draft.
02:17The safety Xavier Watts won the Bronco Nagurski Award last year, which is a very extreme mathematical
02:24formula for that.
02:25He had seven interceptions, so he was the best defensive player in the country.
02:30Howard Cross III, we're old enough to remember Howard Cross II, the dad, the tight end.
02:36This is the defensive tackle who's unblockable at times.
02:39In fact, in a strange turn of events, it was Howard Cross III who landed on Riley Leonard
02:45last year at Duke and messed up his ankle, and now they're teammates.
02:52I would ask, Mike, before we get into the specific matchup against A&M, this is what
02:57I've heard.
02:58You tell me if I'm right or wrong, that the strength of the fighting Irish is the defensive
03:03backfield, as you mentioned.
03:04The potential weakness is the offensive line.
03:07Is that fair going into the season?
03:09Is that the view?
03:10Oh, absolutely.
03:11You've nailed it, Greg.
03:13You've gotten right to the heart of it.
03:14That is true.
03:16This is a little goofy and very unlike Notre Dame, which traditionally, Marcus Freeman
03:22will tell you at the drop of a hat, this is an offensive and defensive line-driven program.
03:28Defensive line loaded with experience.
03:30Offensive line, as it sits today on the season opening depth chart, and I'll believe it
03:35when I see it on Saturday night at Kyle Field, where I've never been, so I'm looking forward
03:41to that.
03:42But six career starts on this offensive line, three at center, three at right guard, everybody
03:49else making the first career start.
03:51So you're kind of asking for trouble against the Mike Elko coach team that's known everywhere
03:58Elko goes, and one of his stops was Notre Dame in 2017 as a defensive coordinator.
04:03They blitz the heck out of you.
04:05Very exotic, Marcus Freeman saying yesterday in the media session, the key is to stay out
04:10of third and long so they don't get super exotic.
04:13So anytime you're going into a situation with offensive line with six career starts, a true
04:18freshman at left tackle, a redshirt freshman at left guard, and you're just trying to stay
04:27out of the super exotic looks, well, there's a reason perhaps that Notre Dame is the underdog
04:33in this game.
04:34Yeah.
04:35And what's interesting is this line kind of opened up as a pick-em.
04:39It moved up to like three, I saw, and now it's like back down a little bit to two and
04:42a half.
04:43I think maybe that, Mike, isn't so much about Notre Dame, but flipping over to maybe what
04:48is about Texas A&M, a very tough place to play on Saturday night.
04:53And potentially, if the Aggies were supposed to be better, they may even be a bigger favorite,
04:58but I mean, who would have thought Jimbo Fisher wouldn't succeed at A&M, Elko is in there.
05:02I mean, the home field is probably the key for A&M, but the line is telling me that Notre
05:07Dame is the better team talent-wise going in.
05:10Yeah, I think Notre Dame will win this game if they can protect Riley Leonard.
05:18His mobility is going to be a huge factor.
05:20You know, you have two quarterbacks, Connor Wigman of Texas A&M also had his season shortened
05:24by a foot injury, so, you know, it's which quarterback standing at the end of the game
05:29will almost be the telltale.
05:31We hope both of them make it to the finish.
05:33It could be very entertaining, but protecting the quarterback, getting him outside the
05:37pocket in Leonard's case, and he can beat you with his legs probably equally as much
05:43as he can do so with his arm.
05:44He's not the most accurate, but he can throw a nice deep ball, and he's still learning
05:48a receiving core that has three transfers among it.
05:51Three of the top six are transfers, one from Florida International, Chris Mitchell, who
05:55I'm sure you had on the show before because the FIU program gets so much attention.
06:01But the fact that A&M has 28 transfers, I don't know that all of them are on the two
06:07deep, but 28, and maybe the best player they'll put out there on the field that the X factor
06:12is this the fastest guy in the field is a freshman named Terry Bussey, no relation to
06:17Barney Bussey.
06:18I'd look that up, but he's very fast, and he's going to play in all three phases perhaps.
06:23He goes both ways.
06:24So it's a typical opener, grab bag, who knows, but if Notre Dame does what it should, I think
06:30he'll get out of there.
06:31Yeah.
06:32I mean, based on what we saw Saturday with just some wild endings, close games, I can
06:38imagine what Saturday night is going to look like at Texas A&M.
06:42Enjoy the trip, Mike.
06:43I know this is going to be a fun one for you going to SEC country, and certainly great
06:48to catch up with you as always, and now you're obligated to make another appearance later
06:52in the year.
06:53Thanks again for coming on.
06:54All right.
06:55I did it to myself.
06:56Thanks, Craig.
06:57There it is.
06:58There it is.
06:59Fantastic job covering Notre Dame football.
07:02We'll take a quick timeout.
07:03Be back with more after this.