According to the 1995 Notre Dame Football Review, the Irish viewed the matchup as their first true \u201cexam\u201d of the season.<\/p>\n
Having already survived early-season tests against Northwestern, Purdue, and Vanderbilt, Notre Dame faced a Texas team that arrived in South Bend ranked No. 13 in the nation and poised to derail the Irish\u2019s fast start. Instead, the afternoon quickly became a showcase for Lou Holtz\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame\u2019s defense set the tone immediately by forcing a Texas punt on the opening possession. Taking advantage of favorable field position, the Irish marched to the Longhorns\u2019 9-yard line before settling for a 27-yard Kevin Kopka field goal and an early 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n
The momentum continued to swing Notre Dame\u2019s way when Texas again failed to move the ball. Renaldo Wynn dropped quarterback James Brown on third down, forcing another punt. This time, Emmett Mosley provided the spark. Fielding the kick, Mosley electrified the Notre Dame Stadium crowd with a 64-yard punt return touchdown, weaving through defenders before racing down the sideline and into the end zone.<\/p>\n
Texas refused to fold.<\/p>\n
Brown responded by showcasing the talent that made him one of the nation\u2019s most dynamic quarterbacks. Completing five of his next six passes, he guided the Longhorns to the Notre Dame 1-yard line, where he capped the drive with a touchdown run. Phil Dawson\u2019s extra point cut the deficit to three and tied the NCAA record with his 54th consecutive PAT.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame answered immediately.<\/p>\n
Derrick Mayes hauled in a touchdown pass to push the Irish advantage to 17-7. The score marked the 100th catch of Mayes\u2019 career and moved him into sixth place on Notre Dame\u2019s all-time receptions list.<\/p>\n
Texas continued to battle back, but each time the Longhorns threatened, Notre Dame had an answer. Early in the second half, Brown engineered another impressive drive and found Steve Bradley for a touchdown on fourth down. Dawson\u2019s extra point gave Texas its first lead of the afternoon at 20-19, and for a brief moment it appeared the Longhorns might seize control of the game.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Irish secondary delivered the play that changed everything.<\/p>\n
The Turning Point<\/p>\n
As Brown fired a pass over the middle, LaRon Moore and Jarvis Edison converged on the football simultaneously. The collision was spectacular. Edison was injured on the play, but Moore emerged with possession, ripping the ball away from the Longhorns and ending the threat. The turnover shifted momentum squarely back to Notre Dame and helped ignite the offensive explosion that would follow.<\/p>\n
Just two plays later, quarterback Ron Powlus delivered one of the signature throws of the afternoon, launching a pass to a tightly covered Derrick Mayes. Somehow, Mayes came down with the football, leaving defenders and fans alike wondering how he made the catch. Moments later, Randy Kinder powered into the end zone from three yards out. Notre Dame converted the two-point attempt and suddenly held a 27-20 advantage.<\/p>\n
The Irish defense continued to tighten its grip on the game. Shawn Wooden intercepted Brown, while Kory Minor recorded his second sack of the afternoon. By the end of the third quarter, Notre Dame had seized control.<\/p>\n
As Texas head coach John Mackovic later admitted, the interception was the pivotal moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMomentum-wise, the interception hurt us more than anything else,\u201d Mackovic said. \u201cIt gave Notre Dame a lift more than anything else and gave them something to feel good about.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Irish.<\/p>\n
Kinder and Marc Edwards pounded away at the Texas defense on a long, physical drive that ended with Edwards crashing into the end zone from two yards out. The touchdown stretched Notre Dame\u2019s lead to 34-20 and showcased the smash-mouth football that had become a trademark of Lou Holtz\u2019s best teams.<\/p>\n
The defense delivered another crushing blow moments later. Under heavy pressure, Brown fumbled, and John McLaughlin recovered at the Texas 12-yard line. Three plays later, Powlus escaped the rush, scrambled to buy time, and found Edwards for another touchdown. The score vaulted Powlus into a tie with Joe Montana for seventh place on Notre Dame\u2019s all-time touchdown pass list and pushed the Irish lead to 41-20.<\/p>\n
Texas managed one final response. With just over seven minutes remaining, Brown orchestrated a quick 74-yard drive and connected with Pat Fitzgerald on a 19-yard touchdown pass to trim the deficit to 41-27.<\/p>\n
Any thoughts of a comeback were short-lived.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame immediately returned to its power running game and marched down the field. The drive culminated with Edwards taking a handoff at the Texas 27-yard line, breaking through multiple defenders and maintaining his balance before rumbling into the end zone for another Irish touchdown.<\/p>\n
The performance served as a coming-out party for Edwards, who had stepped into the spotlight following the departures of Ray Zellars and Anthony Johnson. He finished the afternoon with 116 rushing yards and three touchdowns, earning NBC Sports\/Chevrolet Notre Dame Most Valuable Player honors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went out and played Notre Dame football,\u201d Edwards said afterward. \u201cThis is the way things need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rossum added the final exclamation point with a 29-yard punt return touchdown, capping a dominant fourth quarter and sending the Irish to a convincing 55-27 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t afford losses,\u201d Powlus said after the game. \u201cThis was a huge win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to the 1995 Notre Dame Football Review, the Irish viewed the matchup as their first true \u201cexam\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25706,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-349928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-notre-dame-football","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}