Aug. 30, 2016

Game Week Central | Notre Dame Game Notes | Texas Game Notes

TIME, DATE AND PLACE

• 7:30 p.m. ET; Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016
• Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (100,119); Austin, Texas

TELEVISION

• ABC national telecast with Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analysis) and Holly Rowe (sideline).

RADIO

• IMG College Sports is the exclusive national rights-holder for Irish football radio broadcasts. Notre Dame games will be broadcast to 117 affiliates by Don Criqui (play-by-play) and Allen Pinkett (analysis). This broadcast can be heard live on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (channel 129).
• The broadcast will be preceded by a one hour pre-game show hosted by Tony Castricone with interviews conducted by Jack Nolan. It will be followed by a national post-game show hosted by Castricone, Criqui and Pinkett.
• All games can be heard in South Bend on WSBT 96.1 FM & 960 AM, and Sunny 101.5 FM.

TICKETS

• Texas is expecting a sellout on Sunday night.
• Notre Dame has played in front of sellout crowds in 287 of its previous 336 games (.854) overall. Notre Dame has played before 658 sellouts in 937 total games (.702) since 1930. The Irish have sold out 297 of their last 298 home games dating back to 1964, including each of the last 249 in a row since 1973.
• Every Notre Dame game in 2015 attracted a sellout crowd, including a Temple record 69,280 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Oct. 31 and a Heinz Field-era Pitt record 68,400 onNov. 7.

SERIES INFO

• Notre Dame leads the series with Texas, 9-2, including a 4-0 record in Austin.
• This is the first meeting between the Irish and Longhorns in Texas since a 27-24 Notre Dame victory on Sept. 21, 1996, in Austin, Texas.

THE COACHES

• Notre Dame: Brian Kelly, 55-23 at Notre Dame (7th year), 226-80-2 overall (26th year), 1-0 vs. Texas
• Texas: Charlie Strong, 11-14 at Texas (3rd year), 48-30 overall (6th year), 0-1 vs. Notre Dame

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• Notre Dame opens a season with a true road game for the first time since 2006 as it heads to Austin, Texas, a city where the Irish stand at 4-0 all-time.

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

14 Notre Dame last played a non-Saturday regular season game on Thursday, Sept. 5, 1996, collecting a 14-7 season-opening win at Vanderbilt.

13 Only 13 teams have more than Notre Dame’s 39 wins since 2012.

12 Sophomore Justin Yoon has made each of his last 12 field goals, the fourth-longest streak in school history.

11 The Irish claim 11 consensus national championships and a share of 11 more. The 10th consensus championship came following a 38-10 win over Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl. Vagas Ferguson was the offensive MVP with 100 rushing yards and a 17-yard TD catch from Joe Montana.

10 Notre Dame is opening its season with a true road game for the first time in 10 years (2006) when the Irish commenced their season with a 14-10 win at Georgia Tech.

9 Notre Dame’s nine wins over Texas are the most of any school that has never been in a conference with the Longhorns.

8 Head coach Brian Kelly begins his seventh year at Notre Dame. He won at least eight games in each of his first six seasons at the helm, the only Irish coach to accomplish that feat.

7 Notre Dame returns just seven starters (three on offense and four on defense) in 2016. Since 2004, the previous low total of returning starters entering a season was 10 (2007).

6 Each of Notre Dame’s last six regular starting tight ends have been NFL draftees with five of the six going in either the first or second rounds.

5 The Irish have captured each of the last five meetings with Texas and hold a 9-2 advantage in the all-time series.

4 Notre Dame is undefeated in four all-time meetings with Texas in Austin, claiming victories in ’13, 1915, 1952 and 1996.

3 Since 2000, other than Josh Adams, only three “Power 5” true freshmen have averaged at least seven yards with at least 100 carries: Jamaal Charles of Texas, C.J. Spiller of Clemson and Nick Chubb of Georgia.

2 Notre Dame ranks second all-time with 892 victories, while Texas is in third place with 886.

1 Notre Dame is one of just five teams nationally that returns multiple starting quarterbacks that beat a “Power 5” team in 2015.

0 Notre Dame landed at No. 10 in the Associated Press preseason poll. No Fighting Irish team has been ranked higher to open a season since being No. 2 in 2006.