Sunday, September 22, 1996

Notre Dame finally beats UT in Austin
By CHIP BROWN
Associated Press

AUSTIN - Lou Holtz finally won at Texas, and he needed the luck of the Irish to do it.

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.

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 and 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 get Holtz his first victory in Austin and keep Notre Dame (3-0) unbeaten in four trips to Texas (2-1).

"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."

The Irish improved their national title hopes and have a schedule that plays to their favor after tough games at home against Ohio State next week and Washington on Oct. 12. Ohio State knocked Notre Dame out of the race for No. 1 last season.

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. "This hurts so much. Mistakes killed us."

With games still looming against Virginia, Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas and Texas A&M, Longhorns coach John Mackovic was hopeful his team could still make a run at the national title.
"It hurts because it was built up so much and there was a lot on it," Mackovic said. "But it's early in the season. It would hurt more if we had lost this game in the last game of the season."

The teams met in the 1970, 1971 and 1978 Cotton Bowls with national titles on the line, and this game stacked up with those battles. The Irish, who finished with 419 yards, including 292 on the ground, lead the series 8-2 and have won four straight.

Texas had a nine-game home winning streak dating back to 1994 snapped before 83,312 roaring fans.

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. Autry 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 five seconds left. The kick was perfect.

Texas led 24-17 and had momentum, but Notre Dame linebacker Lyron Cobbins intercepted a pass by James Brown that was tipped by Irish linebacker Kory Minor.

"He was trying to make a miraculous pass," said Cobbins, who has picked off a pass in every game this season. "It was not a good decision on his part, and we capitalized on it."

The turnover gave Notre Dame the ball at the Texas 34 with 6:47 left. The Irish had a first down at the Texas 4, but the Longhorns stiffened, and a Notre Dame offsides penalty forced a fourth-and-goal from the 6.

Notre Dame called an option play and Denson outmanuevered Texas linebacker Tyson King into the end zone, tying the game at 24-24 with 2:54 to play.

"I guess I forced it," Brown said of his intercepted pass. "But that play was messed up from the start. We were in the wrong formation. When I think about it now, I probably should have called timeout."

"Turnovers usually decide the game. And just look at it," Texas offensive guard Dan Neil said. "They got one turnover and that was the game."

Denson finished with 24 carries for 158 yards and Marc Edwards ran 14 times for 61 yards. Powlus was 13 of 24 for 127 yards, including a 3-yard TD pass to Edwards.

Brown was 14 of 30 for 178 yards, including a 3-yard TD pass to Mike Adams.
Prior to Cobbins' interception, Texas was riding inspired defensive play and the running of Williams.

Williams did most of the work on a 65-yard scoring drive in which he had carries of 6, 26 and 9 yards before crashing into the end zone from 1 yard out, giving Texas a 24-17 lead with 10:53 left.
Both teams were sluggish early in the second half, but Texas was sparked by its defense late in the third quarter after cornerback Bryant Westbrook flattened Randy Kinder on an option play and Dwight Kirkpatrick sacked Powlus to force a punt.

Texas went 43 yards to set up a 47-yard field goal by Phil Dawson that tied the game at 17-17 with 8:09 left in the third.

Texas' offense played about as well as it could in building a 14-3 lead, scoring on two of its first three possessions with long drives filled with gutsy third-down conversions.

Notre Dame answered before halftime, wearing down the Texas defense with its relentless running attack and scoring on two long drives in the final 8:30 of the second quarter.

Robert Farmer, on his first carry of the game, caught Texas in a blitz and sliced off left tackle for an 18-yard TD run that capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive in which the Irish passed only twice and didn't face a third down.

After pushing Texas back 17 yards on the Longhorns' next possession and forcing a punt, Notre Dame took over at its 37 with 2:37 left in the half.

Edwards broke two tackles at the line on a 6-yard run on third-and-4 and Powlus hit Pete Chryplewicz and Raki Nelson on passes of 9 and 13 yards before Denson caught Texas blitzing and raced 26 yards. That set up a 3-yard TD pass from Powlus to Edwards on a bootleg option and gave the Irish a 17-14 lead at halftime.