Luck Of Irish Prevails In Texas
Freshman Jim Sanson kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired, capping a dramatic fourth-quarter rally as No. 9 Notre Dame knocked off No. 6 Texas 27-24 Saturday in front of the largest crowd in Longhorns history.
Although the Fighting Irish lead the series 8-2, Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz had never won in Austin in three previous trips as coach at Arkansas and said earlier this week that “God didn’t mean for me to lose four times there.”
When asked about the winning field goal, Holtz said, “It’s hard to see when you’re on your knees with your head pointed to the sky.”
It took Sanson’s heroics, a botched Texas punt and the only turnover of the game late in the fourth quarter to keep Notre Dame (3-0) unbeaten in four trips to Texas (2-1). Three times the teams have played in the Cotton Bowl with national title implications. Notre Dame won two of those meetings.
“I was real nervous, but I just wanted a chance,” said Sanson, whom Holtz nicknamed “Foul Ball” because he missed so many in practice. “I told him to keep calling me that to get me mad. I wanted to prove him wrong.”
Desperate to prove that they could win a big game and show that last year’s 10-2-1 record was no fluke, the Longhorns - 1-7-1 against Top 10 teams since 1990 - were devastated by the defeat.
“It’s gonna be harder for us to pick ourselves back up and come back,” said Texas sophomore fullback Ricky Williams, who ran 17 times for 107 yards. “Mistakes killed us.”
Texas led 24-17 and had momentum, but Notre Dame linebacker Lyron Cobbins intercepted a pass by James Brown that was tipped by Cory Minor. The resulting drive was capped by Autry Denson’s 6-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal, tying the game at 24 with 2:54 to play.
The game appeared headed to overtime, but Texas punter Mark Schultis shanked a 22-yard punt that gave Notre Dame the ball at its 43 with 59 seconds left. Denson ran for 22 yards and Ron Powlus overthrew a wide-open Bobby Brown for a sure TD pass before hitting Malcolm Johnson with an 11-yard strike to set up Sanson’s kick with 5 seconds left.