Notre Dame vs. Nevada prediction and game preview.
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In his third season in Austin, Strong, who locked up a top 10 recruiting class and added a few more after the Baylor scandal centering around the mishandling of sexual assault allegations and firing of coach Art Briles, is one win from 50 in his career, most coming at Louisville.
Everything seemed to work for Texas against Notre Dame. Much like the Miners will use quarterbacks Kavika Johnson and Ryan Metz during the season, Swoopes came in and ran the ball 13 times for 53 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Buechele was the first freshman to start a Texas season-opener since Bobby Lane in 1944.
As the scoreboard blared “Swoopes There It Is!” in the aftermath of a dog pile Shane Buechele knew better than to jump in – but did so anyway (his father, former Texas Rangers’ infielder Steve Buechele, advised him to always stay out of dog piles), I saw WWE star and World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry on the field. “You knew the stage wouldn’t be too big”, Strong said.
No one knows that like Perrin, who played defensive end for Darrell Royal.
Particularly telling was an implication by Texas coach Charlie Strong that Kizer was the more hard to prepare for, as the Longhorns simply overloaded against the run when Zaire was in the game. The two sophomores combined for eight catches, 130 yards and three touchdowns.
“Absolutely”, Kelly said. “Like I said, it’s great conversation for everybody to have, but it’s so short-sighted of what really happened in the Texas game”.
The AP Poll marks the first time the Longhorns have been ranked under Strong, who entered 2016 at 11-14 in two years leading the burnt orange. “Our fans really needed that. It’s good for our program, to see where we’re at early and try to go from there”.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly will have to consider scrapping the quarterback rotation between Kizer and Malik Zaire that sapped all momentum and helped dig his team into a big hole. “Yeah, we will make that decision this week”. However, no matter how the quarterback situation shakes out, this is an offense that can produce big plays at any moment.
It’s been said time and again in recent years, but the Longhorns sure look like they’ve got their quarterback and a new offense, despite a sputtering second half.
“To get people to believe in you, you have to give people a reason”, Strong said. “I haven’t sat down and talked with either one of them, so before we do that we don’t have any plans to make any decisions”. “He checked out of a pass play into a run play late in the game where we had a pass on, and just tried to do a little too much”.
“Obviously, it’s a great start and we also see tremendous room for growth and improvement”.
Texas (1-0) won because the two quarterback system adopted by the Longhorns at the 11th hour worked nearly flawlessly against Notre Dame. Although the Irish lost to the Longhorns, the coaching staff and fans can takeaway several things from the outcome.
Notes: Ranked 10th in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, the Irish dropped to No. 18. But Texas finished 5-7 and Heard’s fall was so swift he’s now playing receiver.
Irish wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. was placed into concussion protocol Monday as the school sent video of a crushing hit from Texas defensive back DeShon Elliott to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which deemed the hit “most likely” a target.
TEXAS: Safety Dylan Haines left the game in the second quarter with a head injury.
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As Notre Dame turns the page and looks toward its home opener against Nevada (3:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC), Kelly has no intentions at this time of pulling the proverbial rug from VanGorder.
