September 23, 1995
By Joshua M. Dickinson, The Scholastic 1995 Football Review
On this day, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team entered Notre Dame Stadium to take their first exam of the year. This exam was preceded by three quizzes. The first was against the Northwestern Wildcats. The Irish assumed, as usual, that this first quiz would be easy. They were wrong and they failed miserably. The second quiz was against the Purdue Boilermakers. Although this didn’t look to be difficult, the Irish cam unprepared and barely escaped with a passing grade. The third and final quiz was the simplest yet. This time, the Irish aced it, destroying the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Their first exam, however, pitted the Irish against 13th-ranked Texas. The Longhorns loomed as a stiff test, but one that could propel the number 21 Irish toward the head of their class.
The game opened with a fired up Notre Dame defense stuffing Texas and forcing a punt. As a result, the Irish received good field position and took advantage of it. Led by running back Randy Kinder, Notre Dame marched down to the Texas nine-yard line before stalling. Kevin Kopka knocked in a 27-yard field goal to give the Irish a 3-0 lead and begin the onslaught of points.
Again, Texas failed to move the ball as Renaldo Wynn sacked quarterback James Brown to end the drive. On the ensuing punt, not only did Emmett Mosley relieve fans by catching the ball, he wowed them with an electrifying 64-yard punt return for a touchdown. Mosley juked right and then jetted down the right sideline, out-legging Longhorns to the end zone.
The Longhorn refused to be lassoed easily, however, as Brown grabbed the teams’ reigns and displayed his ability. Throwing in five of the next six plays, he marched his team down to the one-yard line. There, he hit tight end Pat Fitzgerald for the touchdown. Phil Dawson’s 54th straight PAT brought Texas within three points and tied him for the all-time Texas record for consecutive PATs.
Not wanting to have the spotlight stolen, Derrick Mayes reeled in a touchdown pass, putting the Irish up 17-7. The reception was the 100th in Mayes’ career, putting him in sixth place all-time. Though Texas responded with another good drive, it ended up giving the Irish more momentum. After Brown hit Fitzgerald for their second touchdown connection of the day, the stage was set for Dawson to break the PAT record. But “Old Faithful’s” kick was blocked then scooped up by cornerback Allen Rossum, who sprinted 98 yards, giving the Irish an extra two points.
“Even though I didn’t break [the record], it is still an honor sharing the record,” Dawson said. “What’s more important is on that play Notre Dame ended up getting two points.” The score remained 19-13 Irish at half.
The Longhorns looked ready to take over the game in the beginning of the second half. Texas drove down the field with ease, and on a fourth down try from the 5-yard line, Brown hit a wide open Steve Bradley in the end zone. Dawson started a new streak with a successful point after, giving the Longhorns their first taste of the lead, 20-19. When Powlus fumbled the snap from center on the ensuing drive, Texas seemed to have the game in its hands.
But then the Irish secondary responded with a big play. LaRon Moore and Jarvis Edison both leapt for a Brown pass over the middle. The two converged on the ball simultaneously, creating a spectacular collision. Edison wound up injured, but Moore hung on to the ball. The critical turnover took the buck out of the Longhorns.
Two plays later, Powlus launched a bomb to a double-covered Mayes, who made another trademark grab that left fans wondering how he did it. The play set up a 3-yard touchdown by Kinder, which gave the Irish the lead back after a two-point conversion.
A Shawn Wooden interception and Kory Minor’s second sack of the game helped the defense keep the Longhorns out of the end zone, and when the third period ended, the Irish had the ball and momentum. “Momentum wise, [the interceptions] hurt you more than anything else,” Texas Coach John Mackovic said. “It gave Notre Dam a lift more than anything else and gave them something to feel good about.”
To begin the final period, the Irish jumped on the backs of Kinder and Marc Edward and put together their longest drive, ending with Edwards slamming into the end zone from two yards out. The drive put the Irish in command, 34-20, and gave Kinder his third straight 100-yard game.
The lead allowed the Notre Dame defense to settle in. After heavy pressure from the Irish, Brown coughed up the ball, and John McLaughlin recovered at the Texas 12-yard line. Three plays later, Powlus showed some fancy feet, scrambling before finding Edwards for a score. This strike vaulted Powlus to seventh on the all-time Notre Dame touchdown list, tied with Joe Montana.
With only 7:42 left, Brown, the “Godfather”of the Texas offense, worked his magic. He took the Longhorns 74 yards in a little over a minute, cutting the Irish lead to 41-27 with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald.
The Irish soon got the ball back and made fans feel a bit sentimental by reviving their smash-mouth ground game of old. It carried the Irish offense down the field, setting the stage for Edwards. From the 27, the bruising fullback went off tackle, broke through more than a handful of Texas defenders and remarkably kept his balance on the way to pay dirt
This was evidence that Edwards would be able to continue the Notre Dame fullback tradition. He had successfully replaced Ray Zellars who had replaced Jerome Bettis who had replaced Anthony Johnson. For his 116 yards and three touchdowns Edwards was awarded the NBC Sports Chevrolet Notre Dame Most Valuable Player Award. “We went out and played Notre Dame football,” Edwards said of the game. ”This is the way things need to be.
Rossum added insult to injury with a 29-yard pass return, giving the Irish a satisfy ing 55-27 win. ”This was a huge win, Powlus said. “We can’t afford losses.”
Although the Irish gave up 422 yards overall, they were able to capitalize on five Texas turnovers and blow the game open in the fourth quarter. The game was filled with impressive numbers posted by the Irish. In addition to Edwards’ performance and Kinder’s 100-yard day, Derrick Mayes had 146 receiving yards.
Exam number one was thus passed with flying colors. But with three exams in the next four weeks in the form of Ohio State, Washington and USC, the Irish clearly have a lot of homework ahead of them.