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Notre Dame Game
- Thread starter Juan
- Start date
TeamMayhall
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Its seems like the coaches are balancing the 1's and 2's talent wise to minimize drop off
I might be wrong tho
I might be wrong tho
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primal defense
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Big 12 Countdown: Texas will lean on fresh ideas, new players
AUSTIN
In efforts to turn around last year’s disappointing 6-7 record, Texas football coach Charlie Strong has not been shy about test-driving fresh ideas and fresh faces.
The Longhorns head into the Sept. 5 season opener against No. 11 Notre Dame with a new offense (spread), lots of first-year starters (multiple freshmen, total TBD) and a more open line of communication between players and coaches than a year ago. Although Texas is unranked heading into the opener in South Bend, Ind. (6:30 p.m., KXAS/Ch. 5), such meager projections are not prevalent within the locker room.
“Expectations are high,†said running back Johnathan Gray, a senior from Aledo preparing for his second season under Strong. “We want this team to be a better team this year, to put Texas back on top. To win games and have more of a competitive edge.â€
Gray said Strong laid a foundation for off-season improvement by capping spring drills with a unique motivational twist. Strong invited several team leaders, including Gray, to his office for what players envisioned as one-on-one meetings. Instead, each player met face-to-face with all coaches, including graduate assistants, and engaged in frank discussions about ways to improve personal and team performance.
We need to go out and we need to go play well. They understand the magnitude of that game [against Notre Dame]. Coach Charlie Strong
“One player was in the hot seat,†Gray said. “You got the true answer out of all the coaches. And I think that’s what this team needs to understand … what we need to do to fix the bad things.â€
Gray said he welcomed the feedback, including personal criticisms, and looks forward to unveiling his off-season tweaks against an opponent to show “how I can help this team.†Strong is counting on the rest of his team leaders to do likewise after a disappointing debut campaign marked by more player dismissals (9) than victories (6). Strong also vowed this season will not feature more losses than wins.
“We have to have a winning season,†Strong said, noting that last year’s 6-7 mark “will never be good enough†at Texas. “You’re always looking for leadership. You’re looking for discipline. It’s all about competing. You’re here to compete for championships.â€
Whether Texas can contend for a Big 12 title in a league that includes No. 2 TCU, No. 4 Baylor and No. 19 Oklahoma is open to debate. But the Longhorns plan to exceed middle-of-the-pack projections by being more productive in their new spread offense.
Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, who threw almost as many interceptions (11) as touchdown passes (13) while posting a 5-7 mark as last season’s starter, is expected to start against Notre Dame. Strong said Jerrod Heard, a redshirt freshman from Denton Guyer, also will take snaps against the Irish, but Swoopes has shown more in fall camp.
Strong is adamant that Swoopes (6-foot-4, 248 pounds), a dual-threat player who ran a spread offense in high school, should improve his production this year because he’ll be more comfortable and more confident running an offense similar to what he ran in high school.
9Dismissals from last year’s team in Charlie Strong’s first year.
“For him, it’s all confidence,†Strong said. “At that position, you have to win the team. Right now, the way he’s carrying himself through camp, he’s trying to win the team, and he’s doing a good job with the way he carries himself. He’s not throwing interceptions. He’s putting the ball in the right people’s hands.â€
Swoopes, an emergency replacement in last year’s lineup after starter David Ash retired in September from chronic concussions, will be protected by a veteran offensive line this season. Four starters return in the trenches. Gray (637 rushing yards, seven TDs), a five-star signee, is back to full speed after undergoing surgery for a torn Achilles tendon in November, 2013.
“Last year, going into the first half of the season, I had aches and pains in my Achilles. It wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do,†Gray said. “Toward the end of the season, it felt great. Now, I’m just ready to get back on the field and ready to be 100 percent Johnathan Gray.â€
Because of graduation, Texas’ defense will feature six new starters. Linebacker Malik Jefferson, who enrolled in January, is among several freshmen expected to shoulder major roles. Other freshmen expected to surface on the opening-week depth chart include defensive backs John Bonney, Holton Hill, Davante Davis and Kris Boyd. Strong said he has an idea who will start “on both sides of the ball†but has identified Jefferson as the only freshman likely to line up with the first unit against Notre Dame … until further notice.
“Malik is going to be key for us there,†Strong said.
Safety Dylan Haines, a junior who had more tackles (73) and interceptions (4) last season than any returning Longhorn, pointed to the proliferation of talented freshman defenders as motivation to veteran players.
“You have to be head and shoulders above a freshman because they are an investment and have four-plus years to play,†Haines said. “Some of these juniors and seniors only have limited time to play. So, yeah, it motivates the upperclassmen. You can see them pushing and working hard in practice.â€
Ideally, Strong hopes all the fresh faces and fresh ideas mesh to trigger a turnaround season at a power program that won its last conference title in 2009. Strong acknowledged the opening matchup against Notre Dame will set a mental tone for his players for the rest of the season.
“We need to go out and we need to go play well,†Strong said. “They understand the magnitude of that game. It’s going to be an unbelievable game for us. Very challenging.â€
Just like most of the games that will follow for a team seeking to bury the bad vibes from last season’s 6-7 record
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-texas/article32764125.html#storylink=cpy
AUSTIN
In efforts to turn around last year’s disappointing 6-7 record, Texas football coach Charlie Strong has not been shy about test-driving fresh ideas and fresh faces.
The Longhorns head into the Sept. 5 season opener against No. 11 Notre Dame with a new offense (spread), lots of first-year starters (multiple freshmen, total TBD) and a more open line of communication between players and coaches than a year ago. Although Texas is unranked heading into the opener in South Bend, Ind. (6:30 p.m., KXAS/Ch. 5), such meager projections are not prevalent within the locker room.
“Expectations are high,†said running back Johnathan Gray, a senior from Aledo preparing for his second season under Strong. “We want this team to be a better team this year, to put Texas back on top. To win games and have more of a competitive edge.â€
Gray said Strong laid a foundation for off-season improvement by capping spring drills with a unique motivational twist. Strong invited several team leaders, including Gray, to his office for what players envisioned as one-on-one meetings. Instead, each player met face-to-face with all coaches, including graduate assistants, and engaged in frank discussions about ways to improve personal and team performance.
We need to go out and we need to go play well. They understand the magnitude of that game [against Notre Dame]. Coach Charlie Strong
“One player was in the hot seat,†Gray said. “You got the true answer out of all the coaches. And I think that’s what this team needs to understand … what we need to do to fix the bad things.â€
Gray said he welcomed the feedback, including personal criticisms, and looks forward to unveiling his off-season tweaks against an opponent to show “how I can help this team.†Strong is counting on the rest of his team leaders to do likewise after a disappointing debut campaign marked by more player dismissals (9) than victories (6). Strong also vowed this season will not feature more losses than wins.
“We have to have a winning season,†Strong said, noting that last year’s 6-7 mark “will never be good enough†at Texas. “You’re always looking for leadership. You’re looking for discipline. It’s all about competing. You’re here to compete for championships.â€
Whether Texas can contend for a Big 12 title in a league that includes No. 2 TCU, No. 4 Baylor and No. 19 Oklahoma is open to debate. But the Longhorns plan to exceed middle-of-the-pack projections by being more productive in their new spread offense.
Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, who threw almost as many interceptions (11) as touchdown passes (13) while posting a 5-7 mark as last season’s starter, is expected to start against Notre Dame. Strong said Jerrod Heard, a redshirt freshman from Denton Guyer, also will take snaps against the Irish, but Swoopes has shown more in fall camp.
Strong is adamant that Swoopes (6-foot-4, 248 pounds), a dual-threat player who ran a spread offense in high school, should improve his production this year because he’ll be more comfortable and more confident running an offense similar to what he ran in high school.
9Dismissals from last year’s team in Charlie Strong’s first year.
“For him, it’s all confidence,†Strong said. “At that position, you have to win the team. Right now, the way he’s carrying himself through camp, he’s trying to win the team, and he’s doing a good job with the way he carries himself. He’s not throwing interceptions. He’s putting the ball in the right people’s hands.â€
Swoopes, an emergency replacement in last year’s lineup after starter David Ash retired in September from chronic concussions, will be protected by a veteran offensive line this season. Four starters return in the trenches. Gray (637 rushing yards, seven TDs), a five-star signee, is back to full speed after undergoing surgery for a torn Achilles tendon in November, 2013.
“Last year, going into the first half of the season, I had aches and pains in my Achilles. It wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do,†Gray said. “Toward the end of the season, it felt great. Now, I’m just ready to get back on the field and ready to be 100 percent Johnathan Gray.â€
Because of graduation, Texas’ defense will feature six new starters. Linebacker Malik Jefferson, who enrolled in January, is among several freshmen expected to shoulder major roles. Other freshmen expected to surface on the opening-week depth chart include defensive backs John Bonney, Holton Hill, Davante Davis and Kris Boyd. Strong said he has an idea who will start “on both sides of the ball†but has identified Jefferson as the only freshman likely to line up with the first unit against Notre Dame … until further notice.
“Malik is going to be key for us there,†Strong said.
Safety Dylan Haines, a junior who had more tackles (73) and interceptions (4) last season than any returning Longhorn, pointed to the proliferation of talented freshman defenders as motivation to veteran players.
“You have to be head and shoulders above a freshman because they are an investment and have four-plus years to play,†Haines said. “Some of these juniors and seniors only have limited time to play. So, yeah, it motivates the upperclassmen. You can see them pushing and working hard in practice.â€
Ideally, Strong hopes all the fresh faces and fresh ideas mesh to trigger a turnaround season at a power program that won its last conference title in 2009. Strong acknowledged the opening matchup against Notre Dame will set a mental tone for his players for the rest of the season.
“We need to go out and we need to go play well,†Strong said. “They understand the magnitude of that game. It’s going to be an unbelievable game for us. Very challenging.â€
Just like most of the games that will follow for a team seeking to bury the bad vibes from last season’s 6-7 record
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-texas/article32764125.html#storylink=cpy
TeamMayhall
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injury Update
UPDATE SATURDAY - RB D'Onta Foreman suffered a strained hamstring in last Saturday's scrimmage, so coaches rested him this week and that he should be ready to go for Notre Dame
UPDATE FRIDAY - Freshman LB Breckyn Hager suffered a minor knee injury in practice on Thursday. No immediate timetable for his return.
UPDATE SATURDAY - RB D'Onta Foreman suffered a strained hamstring in last Saturday's scrimmage, so coaches rested him this week and that he should be ready to go for Notre Dame
UPDATE FRIDAY - Freshman LB Breckyn Hager suffered a minor knee injury in practice on Thursday. No immediate timetable for his return.
primal defense
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Two items in this article stuck out. Were worried that we have an offense that will not show up and the ND DC is worried about the same offense. If I were the ND DC, I would take away the run and make Swoopes and Heard prove they can beat me by throwing the ball. I would also prepare for a faster pace offense. The spread not so much.
The other is that last year ND had problems against a fast tempo team.
Well ... There’s not much on film that will give any solid evidence as to what sort of offense Texas is going to run Saturday.
That’s gotta be driving Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder up a wall this week. Texas is a team in transition.
No huddle, fast tempo (remember how badly the Irish handled North Carolina’s uptempo assault last year?).
http://www.ndinsider.com/football/notre-dame-will-lean-on-dt-sheldon-day-against-unknown/article_2d57324a-4f5f-11e5-848d-3388afe5b123.html
The other is that last year ND had problems against a fast tempo team.
Well ... There’s not much on film that will give any solid evidence as to what sort of offense Texas is going to run Saturday.
That’s gotta be driving Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder up a wall this week. Texas is a team in transition.
No huddle, fast tempo (remember how badly the Irish handled North Carolina’s uptempo assault last year?).
http://www.ndinsider.com/football/notre-dame-will-lean-on-dt-sheldon-day-against-unknown/article_2d57324a-4f5f-11e5-848d-3388afe5b123.html
primal defense
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One of my favorite UT games.
Bevostuntdouble
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Pretty amped up for this game... I also think we have a solid shot to win this game. Great coverage from everybody involved. Thanks!
primal defense
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Notre Dame vs. Texas: A Look at the History
When old friend Charley Strong leads his Longhorns onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium, it will be the 11th time Texas and Notre Dame have played.
The series had a surprisingly early start as the Irish first played Texas in 1913, winning in Austin 30-7. Knute Rockne was on that Irish team and perhaps got a nice taste of traveling to play. The Irish had drawn first blood.
The teams played four more times between then and ’54, with the
Irish losing only the ’34 game, 7-6 in South Bend. That game occurred during Notre Dame’s “Dark Ages†the interregnum between Rockne and Leahy. The series stood at Notre Dame 4-Texas 1 and it seemed like a historical footnote.
Then in the late 60’s three personalities impacted both a change in Notre Dame policies regarding postseason play and brought the mothballed ND-Texas series into a brave new world.
Ara was close with athletic Director Moose Krause and Ara wanted to compete on the field in a bowl game for the National Championship. Moose had played football and basketball at Notre Dame and he was a “players and coaches†athletic director, unlike the MBA types that now inhabit most athletic directors offices in America.
Ara had had quite enough of the de riguer anti-Notre Dame vitriol after the 1966 Notre Dame National Championship earned with late season, EPIC 10-10 tie with Michigan State and a 51-0 stomping of Rose Bowl Champ USC in the Coliseum.
It made sense to the competitive Krause and he prevailed on the Hesburgh/Joyce axis to once again consider allowing Notre Dame to play in a bowl. Notre Dame had played in only one bowl, but it was an dandy! Knute Rockne and the Four Horsemen bested Pop Warner, Ernie Nevers and Stanford 27-10 in the Rose Bowl following the 1924 season.
Hoss Brock of the Cotton Bowl, a garrulous guy with a Texas twang as syrupy and sweet as molasses, sent Krause a cowboy hat, big one, all of ten gallons. Moose, with that huge Chicago stockyard of a face, loved wearing it.
And so, the Irish ended their 45 year hiatus from bowl participation and agreed to take on Darrell Royal and his top ranked Longhorns, ranked #1 and unbeaten in the ’69 regular season. Texas was only challenged once, in a thrilling 15-14 win over Arkansas up in the hills in Fayetteville, a game attended by President Richard Milhous Nixon.
One humorous moment occurred during the coaches’ press conferences during Cotton Bowl week. Ara gave his usual intricate, lengthy, polite deferential answers to the assembled reporters. When Royal, the native of Hollis Oklahoma, took his turn on the podium, he answered a question regarding whether he would tweak his wishbone offense. He quickly responed “Naw, we’ll dance with the one whut brung us.â€
The game in “neutral†Dallas was thrilling and the Irish were more than up to the task. But a riverboat gambler named James “Slick†Street played quarterback for Texas. He had been the hero of the comeback win at Arkansas. Slick Street engineered a late drive, made a key pass to Cotton Speyrer and then halfback Biilly Dale punched it in from close range to give Texas a 21-17 win and the National Championship.
Notre Dame found the experience, but for the narrow loss, exhilarating. The television executives swooned as they found the Nielsen ratings even more exhilarating and Notre Dame would never lack for bowl suitors again.
The Irish were invited back the following year, for a rematch, once again in “neutral†Dallas. The Horns got an early 3-0 lead from a Happy Feller field goal, but the Irish offense then ruthlessly ran off the next 21 points for a Bevo-Busting 21-3 lead. The die was cast and it was Golden and not burn Orange. Final score: ND 24-Texas 11.
The Irish next were selected to play the sacrificial lamb for a Texas National Championship after the ’77 season. The Irish had lost an insipid game to Ole Miss early in the season and were ranked 5th before the Bowl Game.
Texas had everything going for them. They were unbeaten, and only Oklahoma and Arkansas had put up even token resistance. They had the Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell who had won the Heisman Trophy. They supported him with Johnny “Lam†Jones, from Lampassas in the Hill Country near Austin, Johnny “Ham†Jones from Hamlin in the dry plains of West Texas, and AJ “Jam†Jones from Youngstown Ohio. Texas was also bringing Brad Shearer, the Outland Trophy winner, who had keyed the three shutouts the Horns defense had put up. Steve “Bam-Bam†McMichael was his sidekick. Shearer had much to say the week before the game. Irish Offensive Guard Ernie Hughes a quiet Idahoan from Boise, said little but his blood was boiling.
The Texas exes marched to the Cotton Bowl for something more akin to a coronation that a football game, but the Irish imposed a crown of thorns on Akers, Campbell, Lam, Ham and Jam and Hughes made Spam out of Shearer.
Poor Irish! All they had was Montana, Ferguson, Heavens, Ernie Hughes and Browner, Fry, Golic and Bradley. Early in the game, Browner announced his presence by deftly batting a Randy McEachern lateral to the Cotton Bowl turf and recovering it. The game was barely two minutes old but it was an ominous play.
There is a syndrome in college football that occurs occasionally and blends the thrill of victory with the agony of defeat. It is when a visiting team hears a home, or home-state, crowd raucous at the beginning. Then the sound becomes more muted, and eventually there is silence, when fans slump in their seat and their eyes grow moist. Little by little, you look up and see empty seats in what was a scalper’s paradise of a packed house. Then vast wedges of blue and white seat sections of the Cotton Bowl, without a pixel of burnt orange.
The Irish moved to a 24-3 lead and there was no joy for Texas.. It ended 38-10 and Fred Akers, and for that matter the Ernie Hughes-dominated Brad Shearer were never heard from again.
There were two more games, one in South Bend in _’95 when the Irish shut down another Texas Heisman trophy winner, Ricky William, 55-27.
The following year in Austin, current Notre Dame running back coach Autry Denson had his most shining moment, punching in a courageous late run to tie the game with three minutes left. Am even later Sanson field goal gave the Irish a 27-24 win.
Yes, seven of the series’ ten games have been played in the Lone Star State, where the Horns have a LONE win. We are ND. We will continue to mess with Texas whenever we feel like it.
Notre Dame vs. Texas Series History
Season
Site
Result
Notre Dame Rank
Texas Rank
1913 Away W, 30-7 No Poll No Poll
1915 Away W, 36-7 No Poll No Poll
1934 Home L, 6-7 No Poll No Poll
1952 Away W, 14-3 19 5
1954 Home W, 21-0 2 4
1969 Cotton Bowl L, 17-21 9 1
1970 Cotton Bowl W, 24-11 6 1
1977 Cotton Bowl W, 38-10 5 1
1995 Home W, 55-27 21 13
1996 Away W, 27-24 9 6
GoIrish Horns!
http://www.uhnd.com/articles/football/notre-dame-texas-history-23108/
When old friend Charley Strong leads his Longhorns onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium, it will be the 11th time Texas and Notre Dame have played.
The series had a surprisingly early start as the Irish first played Texas in 1913, winning in Austin 30-7. Knute Rockne was on that Irish team and perhaps got a nice taste of traveling to play. The Irish had drawn first blood.
The teams played four more times between then and ’54, with the
Irish losing only the ’34 game, 7-6 in South Bend. That game occurred during Notre Dame’s “Dark Ages†the interregnum between Rockne and Leahy. The series stood at Notre Dame 4-Texas 1 and it seemed like a historical footnote.
Then in the late 60’s three personalities impacted both a change in Notre Dame policies regarding postseason play and brought the mothballed ND-Texas series into a brave new world.
Ara was close with athletic Director Moose Krause and Ara wanted to compete on the field in a bowl game for the National Championship. Moose had played football and basketball at Notre Dame and he was a “players and coaches†athletic director, unlike the MBA types that now inhabit most athletic directors offices in America.
Ara had had quite enough of the de riguer anti-Notre Dame vitriol after the 1966 Notre Dame National Championship earned with late season, EPIC 10-10 tie with Michigan State and a 51-0 stomping of Rose Bowl Champ USC in the Coliseum.
It made sense to the competitive Krause and he prevailed on the Hesburgh/Joyce axis to once again consider allowing Notre Dame to play in a bowl. Notre Dame had played in only one bowl, but it was an dandy! Knute Rockne and the Four Horsemen bested Pop Warner, Ernie Nevers and Stanford 27-10 in the Rose Bowl following the 1924 season.
Hoss Brock of the Cotton Bowl, a garrulous guy with a Texas twang as syrupy and sweet as molasses, sent Krause a cowboy hat, big one, all of ten gallons. Moose, with that huge Chicago stockyard of a face, loved wearing it.
And so, the Irish ended their 45 year hiatus from bowl participation and agreed to take on Darrell Royal and his top ranked Longhorns, ranked #1 and unbeaten in the ’69 regular season. Texas was only challenged once, in a thrilling 15-14 win over Arkansas up in the hills in Fayetteville, a game attended by President Richard Milhous Nixon.
One humorous moment occurred during the coaches’ press conferences during Cotton Bowl week. Ara gave his usual intricate, lengthy, polite deferential answers to the assembled reporters. When Royal, the native of Hollis Oklahoma, took his turn on the podium, he answered a question regarding whether he would tweak his wishbone offense. He quickly responed “Naw, we’ll dance with the one whut brung us.â€
The game in “neutral†Dallas was thrilling and the Irish were more than up to the task. But a riverboat gambler named James “Slick†Street played quarterback for Texas. He had been the hero of the comeback win at Arkansas. Slick Street engineered a late drive, made a key pass to Cotton Speyrer and then halfback Biilly Dale punched it in from close range to give Texas a 21-17 win and the National Championship.
Notre Dame found the experience, but for the narrow loss, exhilarating. The television executives swooned as they found the Nielsen ratings even more exhilarating and Notre Dame would never lack for bowl suitors again.
The Irish were invited back the following year, for a rematch, once again in “neutral†Dallas. The Horns got an early 3-0 lead from a Happy Feller field goal, but the Irish offense then ruthlessly ran off the next 21 points for a Bevo-Busting 21-3 lead. The die was cast and it was Golden and not burn Orange. Final score: ND 24-Texas 11.
The Irish next were selected to play the sacrificial lamb for a Texas National Championship after the ’77 season. The Irish had lost an insipid game to Ole Miss early in the season and were ranked 5th before the Bowl Game.
Texas had everything going for them. They were unbeaten, and only Oklahoma and Arkansas had put up even token resistance. They had the Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell who had won the Heisman Trophy. They supported him with Johnny “Lam†Jones, from Lampassas in the Hill Country near Austin, Johnny “Ham†Jones from Hamlin in the dry plains of West Texas, and AJ “Jam†Jones from Youngstown Ohio. Texas was also bringing Brad Shearer, the Outland Trophy winner, who had keyed the three shutouts the Horns defense had put up. Steve “Bam-Bam†McMichael was his sidekick. Shearer had much to say the week before the game. Irish Offensive Guard Ernie Hughes a quiet Idahoan from Boise, said little but his blood was boiling.
The Texas exes marched to the Cotton Bowl for something more akin to a coronation that a football game, but the Irish imposed a crown of thorns on Akers, Campbell, Lam, Ham and Jam and Hughes made Spam out of Shearer.
Poor Irish! All they had was Montana, Ferguson, Heavens, Ernie Hughes and Browner, Fry, Golic and Bradley. Early in the game, Browner announced his presence by deftly batting a Randy McEachern lateral to the Cotton Bowl turf and recovering it. The game was barely two minutes old but it was an ominous play.
There is a syndrome in college football that occurs occasionally and blends the thrill of victory with the agony of defeat. It is when a visiting team hears a home, or home-state, crowd raucous at the beginning. Then the sound becomes more muted, and eventually there is silence, when fans slump in their seat and their eyes grow moist. Little by little, you look up and see empty seats in what was a scalper’s paradise of a packed house. Then vast wedges of blue and white seat sections of the Cotton Bowl, without a pixel of burnt orange.
The Irish moved to a 24-3 lead and there was no joy for Texas.. It ended 38-10 and Fred Akers, and for that matter the Ernie Hughes-dominated Brad Shearer were never heard from again.
There were two more games, one in South Bend in _’95 when the Irish shut down another Texas Heisman trophy winner, Ricky William, 55-27.
The following year in Austin, current Notre Dame running back coach Autry Denson had his most shining moment, punching in a courageous late run to tie the game with three minutes left. Am even later Sanson field goal gave the Irish a 27-24 win.
Yes, seven of the series’ ten games have been played in the Lone Star State, where the Horns have a LONE win. We are ND. We will continue to mess with Texas whenever we feel like it.
Notre Dame vs. Texas Series History
Season
Site
Result
Notre Dame Rank
Texas Rank
1913 Away W, 30-7 No Poll No Poll
1915 Away W, 36-7 No Poll No Poll
1934 Home L, 6-7 No Poll No Poll
1952 Away W, 14-3 19 5
1954 Home W, 21-0 2 4
1969 Cotton Bowl L, 17-21 9 1
1970 Cotton Bowl W, 24-11 6 1
1977 Cotton Bowl W, 38-10 5 1
1995 Home W, 55-27 21 13
1996 Away W, 27-24 9 6
Go
http://www.uhnd.com/articles/football/notre-dame-texas-history-23108/
I was there at the 1977 game. Never heard of Joe Montana before then. They also had a huge tight end named Ken MacAfee. He and Montana seemed to team up at will. We couldn't stop them. Nasty, cold, miserable weather. Very long ride back to Houston. Not one of my favorite memories.Notre Dame vs. Texas: A Look at the History
When old friend Charley Strong leads his Longhorns onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium, it will be the 11th time Texas and Notre Dame have played.
The series had a surprisingly early start as the Irish first played Texas in 1913, winning in Austin 30-7. Knute Rockne was on that Irish team and perhaps got a nice taste of traveling to play. The Irish had drawn first blood.
The teams played four more times between then and ’54, with the
Irish losing only the ’34 game, 7-6 in South Bend. That game occurred during Notre Dame’s “Dark Ages†the interregnum between Rockne and Leahy. The series stood at Notre Dame 4-Texas 1 and it seemed like a historical footnote.
Then in the late 60’s three personalities impacted both a change in Notre Dame policies regarding postseason play and brought the mothballed ND-Texas series into a brave new world.
Ara was close with athletic Director Moose Krause and Ara wanted to compete on the field in a bowl game for the National Championship. Moose had played football and basketball at Notre Dame and he was a “players and coaches†athletic director, unlike the MBA types that now inhabit most athletic directors offices in America.
Ara had had quite enough of the de riguer anti-Notre Dame vitriol after the 1966 Notre Dame National Championship earned with late season, EPIC 10-10 tie with Michigan State and a 51-0 stomping of Rose Bowl Champ USC in the Coliseum.
It made sense to the competitive Krause and he prevailed on the Hesburgh/Joyce axis to once again consider allowing Notre Dame to play in a bowl. Notre Dame had played in only one bowl, but it was an dandy! Knute Rockne and the Four Horsemen bested Pop Warner, Ernie Nevers and Stanford 27-10 in the Rose Bowl following the 1924 season.
Hoss Brock of the Cotton Bowl, a garrulous guy with a Texas twang as syrupy and sweet as molasses, sent Krause a cowboy hat, big one, all of ten gallons. Moose, with that huge Chicago stockyard of a face, loved wearing it.
And so, the Irish ended their 45 year hiatus from bowl participation and agreed to take on Darrell Royal and his top ranked Longhorns, ranked #1 and unbeaten in the ’69 regular season. Texas was only challenged once, in a thrilling 15-14 win over Arkansas up in the hills in Fayetteville, a game attended by President Richard Milhous Nixon.
One humorous moment occurred during the coaches’ press conferences during Cotton Bowl week. Ara gave his usual intricate, lengthy, polite deferential answers to the assembled reporters. When Royal, the native of Hollis Oklahoma, took his turn on the podium, he answered a question regarding whether he would tweak his wishbone offense. He quickly responed “Naw, we’ll dance with the one whut brung us.â€
The game in “neutral†Dallas was thrilling and the Irish were more than up to the task. But a riverboat gambler named James “Slick†Street played quarterback for Texas. He had been the hero of the comeback win at Arkansas. Slick Street engineered a late drive, made a key pass to Cotton Speyrer and then halfback Biilly Dale punched it in from close range to give Texas a 21-17 win and the National Championship.
Notre Dame found the experience, but for the narrow loss, exhilarating. The television executives swooned as they found the Nielsen ratings even more exhilarating and Notre Dame would never lack for bowl suitors again.
The Irish were invited back the following year, for a rematch, once again in “neutral†Dallas. The Horns got an early 3-0 lead from a Happy Feller field goal, but the Irish offense then ruthlessly ran off the next 21 points for a Bevo-Busting 21-3 lead. The die was cast and it was Golden and not burn Orange. Final score: ND 24-Texas 11.
The Irish next were selected to play the sacrificial lamb for a Texas National Championship after the ’77 season. The Irish had lost an insipid game to Ole Miss early in the season and were ranked 5th before the Bowl Game.
Texas had everything going for them. They were unbeaten, and only Oklahoma and Arkansas had put up even token resistance. They had the Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell who had won the Heisman Trophy. They supported him with Johnny “Lam†Jones, from Lampassas in the Hill Country near Austin, Johnny “Ham†Jones from Hamlin in the dry plains of West Texas, and AJ “Jam†Jones from Youngstown Ohio. Texas was also bringing Brad Shearer, the Outland Trophy winner, who had keyed the three shutouts the Horns defense had put up. Steve “Bam-Bam†McMichael was his sidekick. Shearer had much to say the week before the game. Irish Offensive Guard Ernie Hughes a quiet Idahoan from Boise, said little but his blood was boiling.
The Texas exes marched to the Cotton Bowl for something more akin to a coronation that a football game, but the Irish imposed a crown of thorns on Akers, Campbell, Lam, Ham and Jam and Hughes made Spam out of Shearer.
Poor Irish! All they had was Montana, Ferguson, Heavens, Ernie Hughes and Browner, Fry, Golic and Bradley. Early in the game, Browner announced his presence by deftly batting a Randy McEachern lateral to the Cotton Bowl turf and recovering it. The game was barely two minutes old but it was an ominous play.
There is a syndrome in college football that occurs occasionally and blends the thrill of victory with the agony of defeat. It is when a visiting team hears a home, or home-state, crowd raucous at the beginning. Then the sound becomes more muted, and eventually there is silence, when fans slump in their seat and their eyes grow moist. Little by little, you look up and see empty seats in what was a scalper’s paradise of a packed house. Then vast wedges of blue and white seat sections of the Cotton Bowl, without a pixel of burnt orange.
The Irish moved to a 24-3 lead and there was no joy for Texas.. It ended 38-10 and Fred Akers, and for that matter the Ernie Hughes-dominated Brad Shearer were never heard from again.
There were two more games, one in South Bend in _’95 when the Irish shut down another Texas Heisman trophy winner, Ricky William, 55-27.
The following year in Austin, current Notre Dame running back coach Autry Denson had his most shining moment, punching in a courageous late run to tie the game with three minutes left. Am even later Sanson field goal gave the Irish a 27-24 win.
Yes, seven of the series’ ten games have been played in the Lone Star State, where the Horns have a LONE win. We are ND. We will continue to mess with Texas whenever we feel like it.
Notre Dame vs. Texas Series History
Season
Site
Result
Notre Dame Rank
Texas Rank
1913 Away W, 30-7 No Poll No Poll
1915 Away W, 36-7 No Poll No Poll
1934 Home L, 6-7 No Poll No Poll
1952 Away W, 14-3 19 5
1954 Home W, 21-0 2 4
1969 Cotton Bowl L, 17-21 9 1
1970 Cotton Bowl W, 24-11 6 1
1977 Cotton Bowl W, 38-10 5 1
1995 Home W, 55-27 21 13
1996 Away W, 27-24 9 6
Go Irish Horns!
http://www.uhnd.com/articles/football/notre-dame-texas-history-23108/
J.B. TexasEx
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TeamMayhall
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Tyrone Swoopes said that Trevone Boykin came up to him after the Texas/TCU game last season and told him to "Keep playing, keep growing. I was in the same spot." Swoopes said he took that to heart and has kept that in the back of his mind even to today. He was thankful for Boykin saying that to him. Meant a lot.
TeamMayhall
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Lol! ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ pic above is funny
TeamMayhall
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Gray said the last time he returned a kickoff in a game was junior year in high school. He said that as a senior he wants to lead and should be able to play on special teams. Placing a bigger emphasis on special teams this season.
primal defense
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