Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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70 PRESEASON 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI I n 1985, the Texas Department of Transportation created a popular slogan for an anti-littering campaign that proved effective: "Don't Mess With Texas." It soon was awarded a plaque on the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame and a place in the Advertis- ing Hall of Fame. This year, the Notre Dame Club of Austin, Texas, to raise scholarship money, created a T-shirt that didn't promote littering — but definitely falls into the category of trash talking. The front of the T-shirt has the slogan "Messin' With Texas Since 1913," which speaks to the first meeting between Notre Dame and Texas in football that year. The back shows the scores of the 11-game history between the two longtime powers, with the Fighting Irish holding a commanding 9-2 advantage. The 30-7 romp against the Longhorns in 1913 — ending their 12-game winning streak — concluded one of the greatest and most important months in Notre Dame football history when it won four straight road games at Army, Penn State, St. Louis and Austin to put itself on the football map nationally. The win was the beginning of the amazing 9-2 series lead Notre Dame has against both Texas and Oklahoma. Com- bine that with a 5-2 ledger against Alabama (the January 2013 meeting in the BCS National Championship Game notwithstanding), and the Fighting Irish are 23-6 versus that esteemed college football triumvirate. Other amazing facts: • Notre Dame is 4-0 in Austin. Another victory on Sept. 4 would match the remarkable 5-0 mark it has in Norman, Okla. • Eight of the nine victories against the Longhorns were by double digits, and six by at least 21 points, with last year's 38-3 pasting the largest disparity. The average margin of victory in Notre Dame's nine wins has been 21.2 points. • Since the start of the Associated Press poll in 1936, Notre Dame is 5-1 versus Texas when the Longhorns were ranked No. 6 or higher in the poll, including twice defeating them in the Cotton Bowl when they were No. 1 at the end of the regular season. The No. 21-ranked Irish also posted a 55-27 rout of then No. 13 Texas in 1995 — and the Longhorns were otherwise 10-0-1 that regular season and would go on to win their conference and play in the Sugar Bowl. Here were some classic moments: 1952: WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE Seldom did any detail get past Notre Dame head coach Frank "The Master" Leahy. In the school's first trip to Austin since 1915, Leahy noted how the searing Texas sun would shine along Notre Dame's sideline during the game, and re- quested that his team share one sideline with the Longhorns — and it was accommodated. He also was granted his wish to be positioned on the left of the Texas team. The one-touchdown favorite Longhorns took Messin' With Texas Notre Dame has an amazing 9‑2 lead in the football series Senior running back Terry Eurick scored Notre Dame's first two touchdowns in its 38‑10 pasting of No. 1 Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl. The impressive vic‑ tory vaulted the Fighting Irish all the way from No. 5 to the national title. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS