Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko speaks at SEC Media Days in July in Dallas. (Michel Alfaro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday. TV: ABC

Where: Kyle Field, College Station

BetMGM College Football Odds: Texas A&M by 3.

Series record: Notre Dame 3-2.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish look to build on last year’s 10-3 campaign and establish themselves as national title contenders when they meet Texas A&M for the first time since 2001. The Aggies look to make a statement in the first game under new coach Mike Elko. The former Texas A&M defensive coordinator, who was hired after a successful run at Duke, replaces Jimbo Fisher, who was fired near the end of a sixth disappointing season at the school where the team finished 7-6.

KEY MATCHUP

Texas A&M QB Conner Weigman vs. Notre Dame’s secondary. Weigman returns after sustaining a season-ending foot injury in the fourth game last season. He was playing well before the injury and threw for more than 300 yards in two of his three full games and had eight touchdown passes combined in his first three games. Saturday he’ll face a secondary that boasts two of the top defensive backs in the country in CB Benjamin Morrison and S Xavier Watts. Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s best defensive player last season after tying for first in the country with seven interceptions and Morrison is projected to be an NFL first-round pick for his shutdown corner skills.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Notre Dame: QB Riley Leonard. The dual-threat QB transferred to Notre Dame after spending three seasons at Duke, including the last two under Elko. Leonard played just seven games last season due to injuries. But he threw for 2,794 yards and 20 touchdowns while running for 636 yards and 11 more scores in leading Duke to nine wins in 2022.

Texas A&M: DE Nic Scourton. The 6-foot-4, 285-pound Scourton, who spent the last two seasons at Purdue, was named a second team preseason AP All American. He led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the nation with 10 sacks in 2023.

FACTS & FIGURES

The first three meetings between these teams were in the Cotton Bowl. … This will be the second time Notre Dame has visited Kyle Field. … Notre Dame has won six of its last seven season openers. … WR Kris Mitchell joined the Fighting Irish after spending four seasons at Florida International, where he had a career-high 1,118 yards receiving last year. … The Aggies led the SEC with 42 sacks last season and were second with 99 tackles for losses. … Texas A&M LB Taurean York started 13 games as a freshman last year, piling up 74 tackles, including 7 ½ for losses.

Colorado State at No. 4 Texas

When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday. TV: ESPN.

Where: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin

BetMGM College Football Odds: Texas by 33 1/2.

Series record: Texas 1-0.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Texas opens the season as one of the teams expected to make the newly-expanded College Football Playoff behind quarterback Quinn Ewers. Anything less in the program’s first season in the Southeastern Conference would be a disappointment. Texas has its highest preseason ranking since 2010 when the Longhorns were No. 5 and finished 5-7. Colorado State coach Jay Norvell is trying to avoid a third consecutive losing season in his tenure.

KEY MATCHUP

Colorado State’s mature offensive line against Texas’ rebuilt interior DL. The Rams start two seniors, a graduate student and a fourth-year junior up front. Texas lost last season’s dominant playmakers Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat to the NFL, but return seniors Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton in new starting roles.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Colorado State: WR Tory Horton had 96 catches for 1,136 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023.

Texas: WR Isaiah Bond transferred from Alabama and should be the playmaker Ewers needs after the Longhorns lost their top five receivers from last season. Bond led the Crimson Tide with 48 catches for 668 yards and four touchdowns in 2023.

FACTS & FIGURES

Texas has its highest preseason ranking since 2010 when it started No. 5. The Longhorns finished 5-7 that season …. This season marks the 100th anniversary of Texas’ Royal-Memorial Stadium, which held 27,000 when it opened and now seats 100,119 … The Rams are without two key injured players, TE Jaxxon Warren and DE Nuer Gatkuoth … The Mountain West has no teams from Texas, but the Rams have 19 players from the Lone Star State.

Tarleton State (1-0) at Baylor (0-0)

When: 6 p.m. Saturday. TV: ESPN+.

Where: McLane Stadium, Waco.

BetMGM College Football Odds: Baylor by 26 1/2.

Series record: First meeting.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Baylor coach Dave Aranda is going into his fifth season with a 23-25 record and is taking over play-calling duties on defense. The Bears also have a new offensive coordinator in Jake Spavital. They finished last season with a five-game losing streak, long after losing their season opener at home to Texas State. Tarleton State is an FCS team in its first season as a full-fledged NCAA Division I program after transitioning from Division II since 2020. The Texans have a five-game winning streak, including 26-23 over McNeese in their early season opener.

KEY MATCHUP

The Aranda-called defense against Tarleton State running back Kayvon Britten. The Texans’ senior ran for 1,150 yards with 16 touchdowns last year and opened this season with 164 yards on 25 carries against McNeese. He also had a 1,000-yard season with 16 TDs for Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2022. Baylor was 13th in what was then a 14-team Big 12 last year, allowing 185 yards rushing per game and a league-high 27 TDs on the ground.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tarleton State: Defensive back Kasyus Kurns had two fumble recoveries in the season opener and returned one of them for a touchdown. He also had six tackles, one of those for a loss.

Baylor: Toledo transfer Dequan Finn takes over as Baylor’s starting quarterback after leading the Rockets to an 11-2 record last year. He passed for 7,083 yards and 63 touchdowns, while running for 1,841 yards and 25 TDs in 45 games the past five seasons.

FACTS & FIGURES

Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of Baylor’s first game at McLane Stadium, the campus facility on the banks of the Brazos River. The Bears beat SMU 45-0 in their inaugural game in that stadium on Aug. 31, 2014. They were 1-7 there last season, and are 37-25 since it opened. … Baylor added 22 players through the transfer portal among 39 newcomers this season. … Tarleton State’s campus is in Stephenville, just under 100 miles from Waco.

Abilene Christian at Texas Tech

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday. TV: ESPN+.

Where: Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock.

BetMGM College Football Odds: No line.

Series record: Abilene Christian leads 6-3.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Texas Tech opens coach Joey McGuire’s third season with its first game against Abilene Christian since 1949. That is an FCS program only about 170 miles from Lubbock. The Red Raiders lost in double overtime at Wyoming to start last season, and will try to avoid dropping consecutive season openers for the first time in 25 years. Former Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson is going into his third season as ACU’s head coach with a 12-10 record.

KEY MATCHUP

Red Raiders running back Tahj Brooks ran for 1,538 yards last season, with eight 100-yard games. He also had at least 95 yards in three other games. Abilene Christian gave up 210 yards rushing per game last season. Brooks is 1,167 yards shy of Byron Hanspard’s career school record of 4,219 yards rushing from 1994-96.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Abilene Christian: Maverick McIvor is going into his third season as the Wildcats starting quarterback. He spent three seasons at Texas Tech before that, but never played in a game for the Red Raiders. McIvor threw for 1,972 yards last year with 17 TDs and five interceptions.

Texas Tech: Junior quarterback Behren Morton started eight games for the Red Raiders last season, and of those seven games that he finished they won six of them. Morton took over for injured Tyler Shough, then played through his own shoulder issues. Morton was a full-go in preseason practice after T ech held him out of the last part of spring drills after he was declared the starter.

FACTS & FIGURES

The Red Raiders added three offensive linemen through the transfer portal that arrived with a combined 81 career starts. … Texas Tech is entering its 100th season of football. The seventh game in its program history was a 10-7 win at Abilene Christian on Nov. 11, 1925. … Texas Tech’s Drae McCray led the Big 12 last season averaging 27.6 yards on kickoff returns. He had three returns of at least 50 yards, including a 100-yard touchdown.

Houston Christian (0-0) at SMU (1-0)

When: 7 p.m. Saturday. TV: ACC Network Extra.

Where: Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas.

BetMGM College Football Odds: No line.

Series record: SMU leads 1-0.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The Mustangs figure to have an easier time in their first home game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They had to rally from nine points down in the fourth quarter as a three-touchdown favorite in a 29-24 win at Nevada last week. Houston Christian of the FCS is playing its first game under coach Jason Bachtel, who was the offensive coordinator last year. He had a 14-6 record the previous two years at Division III Howard Payne.

KEY MATCHUP

SMU quarterback Preston Stone faces an experienced Houston Christian secondary led by senior Semaj Brown and a pair of juniors in Devion Hargrove and Xavier Toliver. Hargrove started 17 games the past two seasons while Toliver has 25 games despite missing most of last year. Stone started slowly but was 5 of 8 for 124 yards in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead TD pass with 1:18 remaining.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Houston Christian: QB CJ Rogers is set for his Huskies debut after spending his first year at Baylor and the past two seasons at Texas State. Rogers led Argyle High School to a 16-0 record and a state championship in 2020 with Bachtel as his offensive coordinator.

SMU: Tight end RJ Maryland had career highs with eight catches for 162 yards against Nevada. The 34-yard TD catch from Stone for the late lead was one of four catches for 114 yards in the fourth quarter.

FACTS & FIGURES

Houston Christian was 6-5 last season, the first winning record for a program that played its first official season in 2014. … SMU has an eight-game home winning streak and was 6-0 at Ford Stadium in 2023. … The Huskies led the Southland Conference in rushing last season at 158 yards per game. Texas State transfer Calvin Hill joins a balanced group of backs that includes Champ Dozier, Jesse Valenzuela and Darryle Evans. … The Mustangs have had at least seven receivers catch a pass in 18 consecutive games. … SMU won the other meeting 62-27 at home in 2018.