Texas Longhorns, Notre Dame Fighting Irish sign agreement to play on Sept. 9, 2028 in South Bend and Sept. 22, 2029 in Austin.
A couple of weeks ago, Longtime Longhorns scribe Bobby Burton of On Texas Football reported that Texas and Notre Dame were expected to sign a home-and-home agreement. Now it is official.
The Longhorns and Fighting Irish have indeed signed an agreement to play on Sept. 9, 2028 in South Bend and Sept. 22, 2029 in Austin. With the announcement, the Longhorns now have three non-conference games scheduled in both 2028 and 2029.
If the SEC moves to nine conference games, as has been speculated, that would give the Longhorns a complete non-conference slate. Louisiana Tech and UTSA will come to Austin in 2028, with Texas hosting Louisiana-Monroe and UTEP in 2029.
UT has holes to fill in its future schedule created by joining the SEC. Texas’ main non-conference opponents for 2028-2031 were supposed to be the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators. The Horns were set to face UGA in 2028 and 2029 and then the Gators in 2030 and 2031.
Obviously, now that the Longhorns are conference members with Florida and Georgia, replacements need to be found. Texas has found a great matchup for fans to replace the home-and-home with Georgia. It is now the vacated Florida spot in ’30-31 which Texas must fill.
Texas does a great job of scheduling. The Athletic Department typically schedules one big program each year and fill around it. The Horns just played the front half of a split home-and-home with Michigan. The Wolverines will complete the series in Austin in 2027. UT will start a back-to-back home-and-home at Ohio State next year. The Buckeyes will travel to Austin in 2026. Arizona State is schedule in 2032 and 2033.
Surprisingly, Texas and Notre Dame have only played 12 times, with the Irish holding a commanding 9-3 lead. The last time the Irish and Horns played was a home-and-home in 2015 and 2016. The teams split with the home team winning each game. Before that, Texas and Notre Dame played in the 1990s, with Notre Dame winning both the 1995 and 1996 meetings.
The two blue blood programs twice in the Knute Rockne era, with the Irish winning in both 1913 and 1915. Texas won a squeaker in 1934. Notre Dame won pretty easily in 1952 and 1954.
Then the series moved to Dallas, where Texas and Notre Dame played three famous Cotton Bowls in the 1970. With the Irish playing in their first bowl game in almost 20 years, the Horns beat Notre Dame 21-17 in 1970. The Horns would go on to win their second unanimous national championship in seven seasons.
The two met again in Dallas in 1971, where the Irish upset No. 1 and undefeated Texas 24-11, causing UT to win only a share of the national title. The final meeting was in the 1978 Cotton Bowl. Newly-minted Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell rushed for 116 yards on 29 carries, but didn’t score a touchdown. Three Notre Dame TDs during an eight-minute span in the second quarter put the Irish ahead and ruined Campbell’s last game in Burnt Orange.
