Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: TEXAS loss to Arkansas in the Advocare Bowl, Swoopes was sacked three times and completed 13 of 25 throws for only 57 yards with an interception. "Most fans thought after Tyrone Swoopes took his last snap against Ar- kansas, they would never see him at quarterback again," said Anwar Rich- ardson, beat writer for Orangebloods. com which covers Texas on the Rivals network. "Or at least, as the quarterback at Texas. "When people hear that Jerrod Heard hasn't taken the No. 1 spot, and the staff is clearly behind Tyrone Swoops — it's a bit baffling to the fan base. I think the overwhelming thought for most Long- horn fans is, let's see what happens when Swoops gets hit. Because last year, whenever he did get hit, he crumbled under the pressure." Uncertainty at quarterback hasn't halted some cautious optimism from permeating Austin. Strong dismissed nine players in his first year at Texas after implementing his new code of conduct, and fans are hoping that new structure begins to pay dividends down the road. "I think a lot of people want to believe that Charlie Strong will turn around the program," Richardson said. "But they are waiting to see if that actually occurs. They took their lumps last year. Now it's about seeing if there's going to be prog- ress in year two with the hopes that this program really takes off in year three. "The guys who are here now are the ones who want to be here. The guys who didn't want to follow the rules — smoke drugs, skip class and not be respectful or part of the program — those guys are gone. These guys are the ones who wanted to stick around, and the ones he recruited came in knowing exactly what to expect and have embraced it." Senior Johnathan Gray will join who- ever wins the starting quarterback job in the backfield. The former No. 1-ranked running back in the class of 2012 cur- rently sits 15th on the Longhorns all- time rushing list with 2,118 yards, but he gained only 637 yards on the ground and averaged a mediocre 4.3 yards per carry in 2014 behind a struggling of- Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. TEXAS Game Info Date: Sept. 5, 2015. Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795). Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Television: NBC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 11th meeting between Notre Dame and Texas. The Irish lead the all-time series 8-2. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (45-20, sixth season); Texas — Charlie Strong (6-7, sec- ond season). Noting Texas: The Longhorns' offensive line returns all five starters from last season, plus adds talented newcomers in left tackle Connor Williams and guard Patrick Vahe … Notre Dame has 882 wins in school history (ranking No. 2 in NCAA history) and Texas ranks right behind in third place with 881 … Texas was 3-1 in away games in 2014, with wins over Kansas (23-0), Texas Tech (34-13) and Oklahoma State (28-7) … Junior Tyrone Swoopes passed for 334 yards and ran for an additional 50 against Oklahoma, the most total yardage by a Texas quarterback in Red River Showdown history.