Texas and Notre Dame fans will have to wait one additional day for the start of a new college football season. The Longhorns and Irish are pushing their season opener in Austin back a day to Sunday, September 4.
The draw of moving the game to Sunday is pretty clear to see. With the NFL still a week away from kicking off, the Sunday schedule is pretty much wide open for college football. Moving a game to that Sunday is nothing new, but this may be one of the more attractive-looking games to get the Sunday treatment in recent years. By moving the game to Sunday, Texas and Notre Dame get a little bit of extra national attention on a weekend that is loaded with mega matchups on that opening weekend. For a program like Texas, which is trying to make up ground as a national power, that can be a nice way to get a season started as long as the Longhorns can avoid getting blown away as they did by the Irish in primetime last season.
“Having worked in both programs, I have a deep appreciation of the great football pride, tradition and passion at Texas and Notre Dame,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said in a statement (per Austin American-Statesman). “This is a game we’re obviously very excited about and really looking forward to. I think moving it to Sunday with no NFL games when it can really be in the spotlight will make it that much more special.”
In statement, Texas AD Mike Perrin says, "We discussed it quite a bit and took into account all of the factors in making the decision."
— Brian Davis (@BDavisUT) April 8, 2016
Charlie Strong: "I think moving it to Sunday with no NFL games when it can really be in the spotlight will make it that much more special.”
— Brian Davis (@BDavisUT) April 8, 2016
The only questions left to answer will be what time the game will kickoff and who will broadcast it. It is likely Texas and Notre Dame will be given a primetime slot by ESPN or FOX Sports 1 with it being a home game for the Longhorns (thus ruling NBC out; CBS has a contract with the SEC too, so they’re out too).