Five Questions: Notre Dame 2016

 

By Steve Habel, Senior Editor

With Texas in dire need of a signature win to vault the program back into the college football ranks, the Longhorns turned to a tried-and-true strategy — man-on-man, stop-us-if-you-can, smash mouth football — with the game in the balance.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

Backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes rammed his way to a 6-yard keeper in the second overtime, propelling the Longhorns past No. 10 Notre Dame 50-47 Sunday night before a stadium-record crowd of 102,315 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Swoopes, running Texas’ 18-wheeler package that calls for the 6-foot-4, 249-pound senior to bash his way through opponents, scored on a 3-yard keeper on the first possession of overtime.

“I wanted the chance,” Swoopes said. “I knew a touchdown would win the game and everybody worked together to make it happen. We prepared well and I felt great moving forward and making plays. It was a big game in a big situation and our team is built to be resilient and never stop fighting.”

Notre Dame immediately answered with a 25-yard touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to C.J. Sanders to send the game to a second overtime.

After Justin Yoon gave the Fighting Irish a 47-44 lead with a 39-yard field goal on Notre Dame’s next possession, Texas took over and marched to the winning touchdown. Swoopes did the majority of the damage, including a punishing 10-yard run two snaps before his final touchdown, in which he ran through three Notre Dame defenders.

Notre Dame roared from behind in the final quarter and a half thanks to Kizer’s five touchdown passes. The Irish (0-1) sent the game into overtime when Jarron Jones blocked Texas’ Trent Domingue’s extra-point kick attempt after a 19-yard touchdown run by D’Onta Foreman. Notre Dame’s Shaun Crawford returned the ball for 88 yards and two points.

Kizer completed 15-of-24 passes for 215 yards and rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown. He was at his best when the Fighting Irish handed him the reins to their offense after splitting time with Malik Zaire (2-for-5, 23 yards) through the first series of the third quarter.

Texas receiver John Burt had six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Foreman ran for 131 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston gained 88 yards on 18 carries, with 54 of those yards coming on the second snap of the game.

Texas head coach Charlie Strong said he told Swoopes, before the game, that he would have a chance to make a winning play. According to Strong, the senior has accepted his role as a backup and situational player without complaint.

“I told him, ‘You’ll have your chance,’” Strong recalled. “At the end I said, ‘Listen, we’re not throwing the ball. We’re going to line up and let the 18-wheeler run over people.’”

Notre Dame opened the game with Kizer at quarterback, and he drove the Fighting Irish 78 yards in six plays, ending with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Equanimeous St. Brown and a 7-0 lead.

True freshman Shane Buechele got the starting quarterback nod for Texas and only showed signs of confidence in his first game at the collegiate level. He wound up 16-for-26 for 280 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. His 19-yard touchdown pass to Armanti Foreman at the end of the Longhorns’ initial possession capped an 11-play, 75-yard march and tied the score at 7.

Texas took its first lead at 14-7 with 7:13 to play in the first half when Buechele lunged across the goal line from 1 yard at the end of a 16-play, 88-yard drive.

The Fighting Irish answered with Kizer’s second scoring hookup to St. Brown — this time a 30-yard rocket down the left seam that tied the score at 14 with 3:44 to play in the half.

Texas went deep to grab the lead at intermission. Buechele found Jerrod Heard — who started 10 games at quarterback for the Longhorns last season — in stride for a 68-yard gain to the Notre Dame 1. Swoopes scooted around the right end three snaps later to put the Longhorns up 21-14.

Buechele went deep again on Texas’ opening drive of the third quarter, hitting Burt in stride for a 72-yard catch-and-run touchdown that expanded the Longhorns’ lead to 28-14.

After Domingue put the Longhorns ahead with a 25-yard field goal six minutes into the third quarter, Notre Dame came to life with Kizer back at the helm. He directed a 61-yard, four-play drive and took the ball the final 29 yards to the end zone, bringing the Fighting Irish back, 31-21.

Buechele made his first big mistake with an interception that Crawford returned to the Texas 6. Kizer then hit Torii Hunter Jr. on a 5-yard touchdown pass to bring Notre Dame to 31-28.

The Fighting Irish’s bid to tie the game was thwarted when Yoon’s 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Texas’ Naashon Hughes on the next to last play of the third quarter.

Kizer’s fourth touchdown pass of the game was his most impressive. Working under duress from a swarming Texas rush, he found Josh Adams out of the backfield on an arching, 17-yard scoring toss that gave Notre Dame a 35-31 lead with 10:57 to play.

“We made plays but Swoopes is difficult to tackle,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “He’s a big physical player. Clearly, we were not in positions to make tackles and then when we were, Texas ran through some of them.

“What was a little bit more surprising for me was Texas’ perimeter speed,” Kelly added. “It was outstanding. The running game is obviously difficult, but if they don’t have the perimeter speed, they’re not the same offense. That was the game changer for their offense.”

 

Can the Longhorns continue to thrive in the two-quarterback system?

Yes. Buechele and Swoopes have both bought into the notion of situational play and have, refreshingly, tossed away their egos.

“A lot of times, when you have a senior, it can go the other way and become a problem,” Strong explained. “But Swoopes told [Buechele], ‘Listen, I’m behind you. Anything that happens, I’m going to be there for you. Anytime we need to have a conversation, you just call because I’m going to be on the sidelines and I’m going to be there to help you.’”

“It feels different but it feels good,” Swoopes said about sharing the job. “Anything I have to do to win, I’ll do it, and this team has the same mentality. I’ve never checked out or gave up on anything I’ve ever done. I just bought in. I know we have a plan and the plan came into fruition tonight and it was a great win.”

Buechele said when he came to Texas he looked up to Swoopes and he still does.

“Ty is the senior leader we’re always talking about,” Buechele said. “He’s keeps me calm, cool and collected. We have a great relationship and he’s a great teammate. I was thankful to be able to go out there and play, and just seeing Ty run out onto the field, I knew he was going to do great things. It was exciting.”

 

What was the game’s biggest play?

For a while, the biggest play looked like Buechele’s interception and the short-field situation it created for Notre Dame. That play could have doomed Texas but the Longhorns found their way back and into the lead, and eventually won the game.

The game’s biggest play turned out to be a non-call by the officials. Just prior to Hughes’ blocked field goal, Notre Dame’s Hunter was knocked out of the game by a helmet-to-helmet hit from Texas safety DeShon Elliott that was not flagged by the referees. Not getting a penalty in that situation was a huge play in a game determined by the narrowest of margins.

“A lot of small things will come back and haunt us,” Kizer said. “To throw the ball in the end zone and have Torii Hunter come across the field and be hit the way he did, that hurts. If there’s targeting on a defenseless receiver, that’s a replay you’re going to play over and over again.”

Good teams take advantage of the breaks they’re given — even when it’s something like a penalty that doesn’t get called. Texas fans will tell you that the team has had its share of bad luck and calls that went the other way over the past few seasons. Perhaps things are beginning to turn around.

 

Who was the best player on the field?

Buechele, Swoopes and Kizer (who may be the best player in college football by the end of the season) shined in quarterback play but the nod for this game goes to a defensive player — the Longhorns’ Malik Jefferson.

Jefferson was credited with six tackles and a sack but there were times when his presence and pressures defused entire Notre Dame possessions. His play had the beat writers that cover the Fighting Irish singing his praises and shaking their heads in wonder.

“Malik is a great edge rusher,” Strong said. “He’s a guy that can make plays and win one-on-one battles when he blitzes.”

When the Longhorns ultimately decided that Kizer couldn’t be allowed to create yards with his legs, it was Jefferson that drew the assignment to mirror the Fighting Irish quarterback.

“I have to go out there and make plays,” Jefferson said. “When it’s a big moment, people have to step up. Big time players make big time plays in big time moments. And that’s what we were focusing on.”

Jefferson is, no doubt, a big time player.

 

Were there any surprises in the game?

There were plenty, but the choice of Buechele as the starting quarterback wasn’t one of them.

First was the clutch play of Texas slot receiver Jake Oliver, who had three catches for 36 yards and looks like the Longhorns’ answer for a possession guy to attack the middle of the field. Oliver, who spent most of his first two years at Texas on the scout team or on special teams, was the darling of fall camp and the three passes he hauled in against the Fighting Irish were the first of his career.

Second was the impact made in the middle by sophomore defensive tackle Chris Nelson, whose team-leading eight tackles was one more than he had in all of 2015.

Third was the absence of two players expected to have a huge role in this season’s team — freshmen wide receivers Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay.

 

What’s next for the Longhorns?

Texas follows up the season-opening gut-check game against Notre Dame with a short week of preparation for its next opponent, Texas-El Paso. When the season started, the home game against the Miners, and perhaps the Longhorns’ road contest in Kansas on Nov. 19, might have been the only games considered automatic wins.

Now Texas has to make sure it doesn’t stub its hoof against its West Texas-based little brother. Three road games — at Cal, at Oklahoma State and in Dallas versus Oklahoma — loom on the schedule before the Longhorns return home in mid-October to face Iowa State.

It’s up to Strong and his staff to keep Texas focused and moving forward.[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]