Sep 5 | Texas

[clashmore_mike]

<div align="center"><img src="http://graphics.collegesports.com/graphics/teams/team-logo-tex.gif" width="115" height="115"><img src="http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/images/gameday/nd.gif">
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<br><strong>Texas Longhorns at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Stadium
Saturday, September 5, 2015
7:30 PM ET

<img src="http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/images/gameday/nbc.gif"></strong>

 

[ulukinatme]

Boom! Charlie Strong returns to ND. This will be a big game to start the season. Expect the Longhorns to be better next year than they were this year, but we should hopefully be much healthier too. Looking forward to this one, hoping I get some of the family's season tickets.

 

[jerboski]

texas didn't show much improvement under Strong this year, just being honest. Their offense is one of the worst in the nation and they are losing several big name defensive players to graduation and expected draft. ND should be able to dominate this game as long as we don't make costly turnovers and the defense gets better in year 2

 

[GoldenDomer]

Great game for recruiting. Think we roll.

 

[ulukinatme]

texas didn't show much improvement under Strong this year, just being honest. Their offense is one of the worst in the nation and they are losing several big name defensive players to graduation and expected draft. ND should be able to dominate this game as long as we don't make costly turnovers and the defense gets better in year 2

Texas basically sanctioned themselves as Charlie trimmed the fat and booted a number of players from the squad. It hurt them this year, but I think you'll see a much improved Texas team in the coming years as Strong molds them. He's a good coach, no doubt about it. Met him when he was ND's DL coach, and we've seen the impact he's had at Florida and Louisville. They may not be playoff contenders next year yet, but they'll likely be better and I think we'll be in for a test in Austin come 2016.

 

[jerboski]

Texas basically sanctioned themselves as Charlie trimmed the fat and booted a number of players from the squad. It hurt them this year, but I think you'll see a much improved Texas team in the coming years as Strong molds them. He's a good coach, no doubt about it. Met him when he was ND's DL coach, and we've seen the impact he's had at Florida and Louisville. They may not be playoff contenders next year yet, but they'll likely be better and I think we'll be in for a test in Austin come 2016.

Agreed, Charlie can coach but ND has loads of talent and Strong is trying to change a mentality there that he obviously hasn't been able too yet. I see ND winning this game by multiple scores, their offense is completely inept and I don't see that changing next year with Swoopes or a freshmen Heard who doesn't fit their offense identity

 

[ulukinatme]

Agreed, Charlie can coach but ND has loads of talent and Strong is trying to change a mentality there that he obviously hasn't been able too yet. I see ND winning this game by multiple scores, their offense is completely inept and I don't see that changing next year with Swoopes or a freshmen Heard who doesn't fit their offense identity

No, you're right, baring a South Florida fiasco, there's no reason to think we shouldn't come out swinging here and do well. Texas is still a year or two away, but they'll be a better team next year. Mack Brown was not leading them in a good direction, and 2014 was rock bottom for the Longhorns.

 

[scUM Hater]

Best case: After ND beats them, Texas runs the table to make it a great win. Go IRISH

 

[arrowryan]

Kinda hoping this is the night game for 2015

 

[jerboski]

No, you're right, baring a South Florida fiasco, there's no reason to think we shouldn't come out swinging here and do well. Texas is still a year or two away, but they'll be a better team next year. Mack Brown was not leading them in a good direction, and 2014 was rock bottom for the Longhorns.

Absolutely, I think the 2016 game will be very competitive. Texas recruiting is starting to pick up and they landed Jefferson so I see them being a much more intimidating team in 2016. Next year we should smoke them as bad as possible, help continue lay the bricks for recruiting in Texas. The Midwest is going to be ultra competitive with Michigan and Ohio State and too a lesser extent PSU, so it is vital that we continue to go into Texas and recruit well

 

[ulukinatme]

Kinda hoping this is the night game for 2015

I listed the Power 5 matchups for September 5th below, not that they'll have any bearing necessarily on whether or not we have a home game at night since we'll have NBC showing it. Just an idea of some other match-ups that day:

Wisconsin-Alabama
Louisville-Auburn
Texas A&M - Arizona State
BYU-Nebraska
Northwestern-Stanford
UCLA-Virginia

 

[andre784]

Big loss for Texas as Malcom Brown DT enters early for the draft. One less 5 star athlete to worry about.

 

[ulukinatme]

This is why I think Strong will have the Longhorns rollin' again in a year or two. Of course not all those players can be attributed to him directly either, I wouldn't list ND's DBs since Strong was DL coach for us. We should handle Texas next year, but 2016 in Austin could be a trip

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>.“<a href="https://twitter.com/TEXAS_TRU3">@TEXAS_TRU3</a>: Why not put this on billboards all thru the south? <a href="http://t.co/y4V3sR6Q1J">pic.twitter.com/y4V3sR6Q1J</a>”

Whoa is that real</p>— Chuck F'n Strong (@ChuckFnStrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckFnStrong/status/552903422605660161">January 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[irishtrain]

one of the possible losses for '15, This guy will have Texas ready to play. If the Irish get this win they'll be off running. Once again look at the schedule and compare these opening games to the sorry #$$ games of the sec.

 

[texbender]

Cant wait for this one, coming up from Big D. Tough year for UT, and next year may be tough too. Irish, on paper, should win this one. But Strong will be working extra hard until kickoff to come up with a big game from his 'horns. Irish should be getting ready for a good strong run and winning this convincingly will be a good start.

 

[ulukinatme]

Cant wait for this one, coming up from Big D. Tough year for UT, and next year may be tough too. Irish, on paper, should win this one. But Strong will be working extra hard until kickoff to come up with a big game from his 'horns. Irish should be getting ready for a good strong run and winning this convincingly will be a good start.

You a UT grad/fan?

 

[texbender]

You a UT grad/fan?

Live in Dallas(30 years), kids went to UT, dad taught at ND(30+years), grew up in SB. Love ND, come up for 2 games /year....have 4 season tix.

 

[ulukinatme]

Live in Dallas(30 years), kids went to UT, dad taught at ND(30+years), grew up in SB. Love ND, come up for 2 games /year....have 4 season tix.

That's awesome. I'm over on ShaggyBevo regularly, although not always in their football forums, that's why I was curious. Pretty cool that you have ties to both schools! I do enjoy Texas if I'm going to root for a Big 12 team, and it's pretty cool that Strong wound up there and used to be on Lou's staff back in the day.

 

[texbender]

UT is a good school and wish Strong the best, but ND always #1 with me. Have been to UT when Irish came with Holtz....folks should plan on the game in Austin in '16....very nice scene.

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A "roughly half dozen" players are expected to transfer out of Texas. <a href="http://t.co/fb562h9d0d">http://t.co/fb562h9d0d</a> <a href="http://t.co/DuiEGqUX76">pic.twitter.com/DuiEGqUX76</a></p>— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNationCFB/status/555397482486562817">January 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ACamp1900]

UT is a good school and wish Strong the best, but ND always #1 with me. Have been to UT when Irish came with Holtz....folks should plan on the game in Austin in '16....very nice scene.

Love Austin... Would love to end up in Manor or Frederickburg outside of Austin one day...

 

[irishff1014]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A "roughly half dozen" players are expected to transfer out of Texas. <a href="http://t.co/fb562h9d0d">http://t.co/fb562h9d0d</a> <a href="http://t.co/DuiEGqUX76">pic.twitter.com/DuiEGqUX76</a></p>— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNationCFB/status/555397482486562817">January 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ouch

 

[tko]

This will be interesting. It's probably a combination of kids that don't care for Strong's style and those that are toxins. I think Strong is a solid coach.

 

[koonja]

Charlie Strong is a bad man, and I mean that in a good way. Too bad he already landed an elite job. Would love for him to have been available for ND once BK leaves/retires.

He's changing the culture there and not giving a crap about the immediate future, but it's going to pay off.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Charlie Strong is a bad man, and I mean that in a good way. Too bad he already landed an elite job. Would love for him to have been available for ND once BK leaves/retires.

He's changing the culture there and not giving a crap about the immediate future, but it's going to pay off.

I said the same thing awhile ago. I like Coach Strong and he already has ties to ND under Holtz and Davie.

 

[ThePiombino]

Charlie Strong is a bad man, and I mean that in a good way. Too bad he already landed an elite job. Would love for him to have been available for ND once BK leaves/retires.

He's changing the culture there and not giving a crap about the immediate future, but it's going to pay off.

Not impossible that things can still work out that way. A couple years of average or worse football in Texas and you gotta think the Texas natives will be getting restless. I can imagine a scenario where Strong does well, but not quite national prominence well, Muschamp kills it at Auburn as DC for 2-3 years, Kelly bolts to NFL, and BAM! Stars would REALLY need to align kinda like they did at Michigan this year.

 

[ulukinatme]

I imagine most of these kids that are transferring were never going to see the field anyway, or it was going to be late. Sounds like Texas is still trimming the fat. It'll make next year easier from a depth perspective, but I still think 2016 could be a challenge in Austin.

 

[arrowryan]

I imagine most of these kids that are transferring were never going to see the field anyway, or it was going to be late. Sounds like Texas is still trimming the fat. It'll make next year easier from a depth perspective, but I still think 2016 could be a challenge in Austin.

"Trimming the fat" is all good but it looks like the team was made up of mostly "fat". What's gonna happen if a few guys go down and they're struggling to replace them?

 

[ulukinatme]

"Trimming the fat" is all good but it looks like the team was made up of mostly "fat". What's gonna happen if a few guys go down and they're struggling to replace them?

It's a shame we don't meet them later in the season, cause I expect a few injuries could put them in a bad position given the number of players they've lost.

 

[ACamp1900]

It's a shame we don't meet them later in the season, cause I expect a few injuries could put them in a bad position given the number of players they've lost.

This is exactly what I've thought for a few weeks, they'll beat us... Then the season will erode them, their lack of depth will show and they'll lose to Kansas or someone...