Discussing Texas A&M's 2025 opponents with CFB analyst Josh Pate

College football analyst Josh Pate joined us on Tuesday's edition of TexAgs Live to dive into Texas A&M football's fall slate. Pate explained the progress and shortcomings he expects to see from the Maroon & White's 2025 opponents and other programs around the country.

Key notes from Josh Pate interview

• Auburn can't get worse in one-score games and turnovers.
   
• Notre Dame, I don't know if there is a thought they would get better. They just played in the national championship game.
   
• LSU, any time you return a quarterback, the world assumes you get 25 percent better. I am high on LSU this year. But it's not simply because Garrett Nussmeier is back. They got after it in the transfer portal pretty well. I don't think it’s like Florida State’s last cycle, and they got guys who could be good. I think they have proven talent.
   
• Missouri has the tailback from ULM Ahmad Hardy to pair with Beau Pribula. They are banking on the transfer portal and being Missouri. Nobody pays attention to them at this point of the year. They hope nobody pays attention. They hope for a favorable schedule, which they have, and six weeks in, we mention Missouri as a sleeper.
   
• For LSU, I would say that I am fairly confident that they backfilled lost positions. It's not something where they are in spring practices and mixing and matching, they know. In a weird way, something that would normally terrify me does not with LSU.
   
• With LSU's offensive tackle position, there is nothing until August that can change my mind because I won’t watch a game. You go five months with saying something in your mind, and you convince yourself despite not having more evidence. If they go to Clemson in Week 1 and Nussmeier is on his back three times on the first two series, five months of expectations go up in smoke. It's like what Florida State was as a team last year.
   
• Georgia lost a bunch of production on an already not-great offensive line last year. They were asking how we can have any confidence that Gunner Stockton will be protected. Just because we say it's a weakness doesn't mean it's a weakness. Last summer, every week, we talked about Notre Dame's offensive line heading into Kyle Field against that defensive front as the mismatch of Week 1. Not only did the game play out the way it did, but Notre Dame had more injuries, and it still ended up being a strength. There was an identity in that position group.
   
• Looking at Miami. I need to know if Carson Beck is healthy. He is not going through spring ball, and it was pointed out to me that Cam Ward didn't either. If you think you have another Ward, I'm fine with you not going through spring ball. I would say Ward is an exception to the rule. Beck had the shoulder surgery and can still go stand next to the offensive coordinator and ingratiate himself with his teammates.
   
• Two things I wonder about with Beck: No. 1 is commitment level. I don’t know his commitment level, his love for football or if he has what it takes to pick up a schedule immediately. By Week 4 or Week 5, they will have already played multiple allowable games. I stop short of saying it's doubt, but it is a big question mark. Last year, it wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was erratic. I was at the Georgia vs. Tennessee game, and he torched them. Then, there were other games where he made egregious mistakes. In Georgia, the team can pick up the slack for you. In Miami last year, they were QB-centric, and if they are relying on Beck to be that, I have big questions about that.
   
• Offensive consistency would be my top question entering 2025. The lasting image in our minds is Mike Elko constructively torching the defensive effort last year. I would take the words consistency and performance. I would say both sides of the ball. I don't doubt that the minimum level of personnel is there to win 10-plus games if the bounce goes your way, but consistency and performance are the difference.