Notre Dame has played in 44 bowl games and counting all-time, a number that might seem low considering they’ve been playing football for over 130 years. However, Notre Dame didn’t play in bowl games out of their belief in amateurism for over 40 years which means for a lot fewer bowl appearances than several other blue-blood programs.
There have been great triumphs and incredible heartbreakers both over those 44 games.
Legends were made, thrilling wins were had, and heartbreaking losses also occurred.
Check out the game-by-game history of Notre Dame in postseason bowl games below.
More Bowl Game History from the College Wire Network:
It’s been fun already but there’s still work to do. Ohio State has looked absolutely fantastic so far in the first-ever, 12-team College Football Playoff, good enough to take home the national title.
It won’t be easy though — winning a national championship never is. After dismantling Tennessee and No. 1 Oregon, the Buckeyes are now faced with playing Texas in its own backyard at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. As with any matchup, there are obstacles, unknowns, and breaks that may need to go OSU’s way in order to win and advance. If that happens, Ohio State will be playing for a national title in the next game.
We like to dissect each matchup the OSU team has during the football season and we’re doing the same here. We like where this Buckeye team is and think they’ll come out on top.
Here are five reasons we think Ohio State beats Texas on Friday night in Big D.
Momentum
This team is playing well, very well and it has everything to do with learning from what went wrong against Michigan and sticking with a new mindset. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and head coach Ryan Day are going to swing for the fences with playmakers on the outside, and that’s exactly what should be happening.
The result has been magical on the offensive end of the ball and look for that to continue. There’s a lot of confidence being exuded from quarterback Will Howard and the offensive playmakers and it’s going to be hard to stop if Kelly is dialing up plays that get all of that skill in open space and over the top.
The Defense
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Bot Ohio State and Texas have great defenses, but Ohio State has the better of the two. When you go on the road — which is what this game is going to feel like — that travels well. The Longhorns have a solid offense but if you like one team’s chances of shutting the other one down more consistently, it’s Ohio State and its defense rather than what Texas can do.
Now, that doesn’t mean the game plan will unfold like we all think, but if OSU’s defense is playing like it has and Texas is doing what it has over the last part of the season, that’s a big advantage for OSU.
Jeremiah Smith
USA TODA SMG
Sometimes you just have to have the dude to win games and at this point, is there a football player that’s going to cause more issues than the freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith? He has been an absolute terror over the last two games and you can bet he’ll be a big part of the game plan in this one as well.
Even if Texas doubles him (they will), he’ll still have his moments, and when covered, it’ll open up things for Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, and backs and tight ends coming open. He’s going to be a problem and it’ll continue to open up the offense.
Will Howard
USA TODAY SMG
Will Howard has been a different quarterback during the College Football Playoff. He has been really good this season as it is, but he has played at a different level against Tennessee and Oregon.
Give all the credit to Jeremiah Smith and the wide receivers for getting open, but someone has to deliver the ball in the right spots and on-time, and Howard is doing that and more. He’s thrown for over 300 yards in the first two contests of the playoff, and is playing with a ton of confidence and ability. If he plays like he has so far, you feel pretty good about him outdueling the Texas side.
Ohio against the world
(Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
This team is playing with a chip on its shoulder after how the season ended and look for that to continue. The team feels like its Ohio State against everyone else and that’s the mindset that has had the team playing fast and loose. There was something missing with this team, keeping it from hitting the level everyone thought it would, but that seems to be in play now.
The Buckeyes have been able to get out to quick starts and jump on very good and athletic teams because of bottling all of that up and coming out with their hair on fire. Look for that to continue against Texas. If it does, it’s lights out in Jerry’s World.
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Fresh off a Rose Bowl win against Oregon, Ohio State is prepping for the next step in the journey. A showdown in the Lone Star State with the Texas Longhorns awaits in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. It might be easy to relax after dismantling the No. 1 team in America in the “Granddaddy of Them All,” but this Buckeye team seems to understand the job’s not done.
To quote Ryan Day “It’s Ohio against the world. It’s always been Ohio against the world. It’ll always be Ohio against the world.” That’s the mentality this team has. The Buckeyes are hotter than any team in the country right now because they are keeping that edge.
In the latest game trailer, the players understand exactly what it means to represent the great state of Ohio and what it means to those from Ohio. Give it a watch as the Buckeyes have their eyes set on the next game and no further. And be sure to take a look at our preview and prediction to get you ready for the Texas showdown.
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Here’s where Nick Saban and College GameDay will be for the CFP semifinals this week.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” has announced its locations for the semifinal rounds of the College Football Playoff.
GameDay is headed to both Miami for the Orange Bowl showdown between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 6 Penn State at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday, and to Arlington for Friday’s Cotton Bowl matchup between No. 8 Ohio State and No. 5 Texas at AT&T Stadium.
Both games are scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. GameDay will be broadcasting at 5 p.m. both days.
For Saban, he’s seen the Buckeyes more than any other team (besides Alabama) since his retirement last January. Friday will mark the sixth time this season alone that GameDay will be on site for an Ohio State football game — and the third straight week.
The Buckeyes routed No. 1 Oregon, 41-21, at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day to advance to the semifinals of the playoffs. Texas survived Arizona State, 39-31, in double overtime at the Peach Bowl.
Nick Saban had perfect record at Cotton Bowl, Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium
The Cotton Bowl venue in particular holds a lot of fond memories for Saban and Alabama fans. Saban’s Crimson Tide teams were a perfect 6-0 in the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium, starting with their 41-14 victory over Michigan to open the 2012 season en route to their third national championship in four years.
Alabama returned there for the 2015 season opener against Wisconsin and made the trek back to Arlington later that year for the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State on New Year’s Eve, a 38-0 Crimson Tide romp of Mark Dantonio’s Spartans. Alabama won the national championship a week later against Clemson.
In 2016, Alabama opened the year against USC with a 52-6 beatdown in a game that saw more fight from the Crimson Tide sidelines than the team the Trojans put on the field that night. Saban teams won two more times in Arlington — 31-14 vs. Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day 2021, played that year in Arlington instead of Pasadena, and 27-6 vs. Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl 364 days later.
Saban teams were 2-0 at the Orange Bowl venue, crushing Notre Dame 42-14 for the national championship in January 2013, and holding on for a 45-34 win over Kyler Murray and Oklahoma in the 2018 Orange Bowl in the semifinal round of the playoffs.
College football is having its first postseason without Saban as the head coach of a program that appeared in the four-team Playoff more times than any other since its debut in 2014. All told, Saban guided Alabama to the four-team Playoff eight times and failed to qualify only twice, in 2019 and 2022.
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Sark knows his team is playing an Ohio State team that’s playing at a high level right now. Just listen to what he had to say. #GoBucks
The next stop on the College Football Playoff train is the semifinals. Ohio State takes on Texas in the Cotton Bowl, and Notre Dame and Penn State meet up in the Orange Bowl. That’s a lot of blue blood left with both of those games being a hoot.
For OSU, playing Texas is a made for television matchup the suits at ESPN must be salivating over, especially with it slotted as a night game. For the coaches though, it’s about prepping for the team in front of them with a chance to advance to the CFP National Championship game.
Longhorns coach, Steve Sarkisian knows his team is in for a battle, and said as much (and then some) when he met with the media to preview the upcoming tussle with the Buckeyes.
If you missed any of what was said by the Texas head man, you can catch his comments in their entirety thanks to the “Inside Texas Football” YouTube channel. Sark is very complimentary of Ohio State and even calls the Buckeyes the “best team in football.”
There’s even more to digest, so get a feel for everything by hitting play below.
And, as a reminder, the colors of Scarlet and Gray and Burnt Orange are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Friday night. It can’t get here soon enough.
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Hear and watch what Ryan Day had to say in previewing the matchup with Texas in the Cotton Bowl. #GoBucks
This is getting real fun. Ohio State is playing its best football of the season and at just the right time. It sure looked like doom and gloom after a fourth-straight loss to arch rival Michigan to finish up the regular season, but that seemed to have motivated the this current Buckeye squad to get its act together and go on a run.
So, after two dominating wins against Tennessee and No. 1 Oregon, Ohio State is now tasked with competing at a high level again, this time against Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Friday.
OSU head coach had his media availability to preview the matchup with the Longhorns this week and had plenty to say about the state of his team, the preparations for Texas, and more.
We’ve got his entire press conference below thanks to the WBNS 10TV YouTube channel, so dial it up and soak in what Day had to say below.
Ohio State and Texas are set to do battle at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN. These night games are sure getting fun, especially as the stakes get higher and higher. Join us as we dissect this matchup in the upcoming days.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
Texas vs Ohio State assigned ACC officiating crew.
There may be some good news for Longhorn fans at the Cotton Bowl. UT won’t have to worry about the game being officiated by the conference Texas spurned a year ago.
The College Football Playoff committee has announced the Cotton Bowl between the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes will feature an officiating crew from the ACC. The Big 12 will officiate the Orange Bowl between the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions.
Before the announcement it was thought the game in Arlington would either have an ACC or Big 12 crew. Texas fans have bad memories of Big 12 officiating after the Longhorns announced they were leaving for SEC greener pastures.
The crew for the National Championship Game hasn’t been assigned yet, which was expected to be released today. It’s likely to be finalized after the semifinal games. So there is a chance that Kevin Marr and his Big 12 crew could officiate the big game in Atlanta.
Texas had Big Ten officiating crews in both the first round game at home against Clemson and the Peach Bowl against Arizona State.
Texas-Ohio State will feature an ACC officiating crew. Jerry Magallanes will be the referee. Magallanes officiated Ohio State’s first round playoff win over Tennessee.
Everything is bigger in Texas, and that mean’s prices, too.
The Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes will face off in an epic clash at AT&T Stadium next Friday in the Cotton Bowl. The victor will advance to Atlanta and secure a spot in the 2024 College Football Playoff.
This game promises to be an absolute spectacle, with the Longhorns playing in what can be considered their “de facto” home game. On the other hand, Ohio State stands as arguably the hottest and most talented team in the entire bracket. Interestingly, Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers initially chose Ohio State over Texas in high school, but later decided to returned to the Lone Star State after one year.
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How much will tickets cost? Currently, the entry fee on SeatGeek is $354, which will secure you a spot in section 436, the highest tier at AT&T Stadium. In fact, the most expensive seat at the Peach Bowl, located in the front rows along the 50-yard line, cost almost the same as the nosebleed seats at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. For comparison, those seats at AT&T Stadium would be in the C135 section, which is the Hall of Fame Club or the Owner’s Club at Jerry’s World. Those will run you around $1,800 on SeatGeek.
The Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes are set for kickoff in the Cotton Bowl on Friday January 10th at 6:30pm. If you can’t make the game you can catch it on ESPN.
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Welp. They freed Bevo. Clearly, nobody wants any beef.
Unfortunately, the big guy could not be on the sidelines for Texas’ recent Peach Bowl matchup with Arizona State. There wasn’t enough space for players, coaches, staff, cheerleaders and Bevo to all exist at Mercedes Benz Stadium without risking safety.
But, on Friday, the Longhorns announced that Bevo had been freed. He’s going to Arlington and is expected to be on the sidelines at AT&T Stadium on January 10 when Texas plays Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. It’s Bevo, Jerry World and the College Football Playoffs. It doesn’t get any better than that.
