Get ready for tonight’s season opener with this week’s Gameday FAQ!
Who does Notre Dame play today?
Notre Dame is playing Texas to open the 2016 season tonight.  This marks the second year in a row in which Notre Dame and Texas open the season against each other in a primetime showdown.  Notre Dame won last year’s contest 38-3 and leads the all-time series 9-2.
Who is starting at quarterback for Notre Dame tonight?
Great question! Â No one knows who is starting tonight as Brian Kelly has not named a starter and has maintained that both Deshone Kizer and Malik Zaire will play against the Longhorns. Â Earlier today ESPN reported that they reached out to Notre Dame to see if they would name a starter but were told there was no update. Â Odds are we will all find out who is starting a few minutes before kickoff in an on-field interview.
Where is the Notre Dame game being played today?
This year’s Notre Dame season opener will be played at Darrell K Royal Stadium in Austin, Texas.  Notre Dame opens on the road for the first time since 2012 when they traveled all the way to Ireland to take on Navy to open their undefeated regular season.  Since then Notre Dame has opened with three straight home games – Temple ’13, Rice ’14, and Texas ’15.
What time is the Notre  Dame game today?
Tonight’s game kicks off just after 7:30 ET/4:30 PT.
What channel is the Notre Dame game on today?
Tonight’s game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
Is today’s Notre Dame game available for online streaming?
Tonight’s game will not be available via live streaming on WatchESPN because it is on a normal broadcast cable station. Â The game will be available via replay on WatchESPN following completion of the game.
What is the weather forecast for today’s game?
Tailgaters for today’s game will be treated with some HOT South Texas weather.  The forecast currently calls for  highs in the low 90’s with some intense humidity.  By kick-off the temps will still be hovering around the mid 80’s with humidity levels reaching close to 80%.
If you are tailgating outside today – drink lots of water in between your beers!
As for the game, the intense humidity could force more substitutions than normal for Notre Dame. Â The Irish will depth will be tested right out of the games this year.
Who is favored in today’s Notre Dame game?
Notre Dame opened as a 3.5 point favorite on Bovada and currently sit as a 4 point favorite.
Notre Dame vs Texas Betting Line (via Oddshark.com)
Helmet to helmet hit. Plain and simple. It was a bad call and the ACC ruled as such, MikeT.
BTW: Great throw by Kizer on that play. With Kizer the ND O was perfect in the red zone. So that non-call was key.
But in the end it was the ND D and BVG that lost this game.
While the hit on Hunter was vicious, the defender actually led with his shoulder not his helmet which is probably why targeting was not called. Targeting is defined as leading with the crown of the helmet. That wasn’t done. The only other avenue is a hit on a defenseless player. Perhaps the officials didn’t see someone as defenseless that was catching a pass in the end zone with his feet on the ground. Don’t be surprised if the NCAA says it was a good no call.
7 years on the job and ND still has a subpar D under Kelly. Maybe he should let Sanford run the O plays and spend more time overseeing the D side of things. I am not calling for Kelly to be fired but I think he needs to make a change at DC sooner rather than later. As to Kelly, I don’t see or hear folks even talking about a potential future opportunity at ND if it were available for a HC position. That says a lot in my opinion as to how far the program has fallen in stature and status. Kelly is certainly record wise better than his 3 predecessors but really, SHOULD THAT be defined as the standard to judge by. I know the game has changed and evolved in all aspects in the last 20+ years, but, there was a time as a fan of ND football the product on the field made one think the Irish would always be in the game. As a fan, I haven’t felt that way for many years during and before Kelly. SteelFanRob, you indeed raise some interesting points about program evolution and how to view the current state of ND football. Frankly, we are not even on a close playing field with the Bama’s or the OSU’s and that is who we would have to play in a CFP game(s) and beat. I get the kind of players that Bama or OSU recruits wouldn’t be accepted at ND but that is the talent ND faces in FBS elite football. That talent disparity will only continue with ND’s academic standards not changing for its student players. If I keep bringing a knife to a gun fight, chances are I will be on the losing side more often. It feels a little like ND is bringing the knife instead of the gun, metaphorically speaking of course. Better knock the crap out of Nevada. If that turns out tone a nail biter of a game, there isn’t going to be much to look forward to for 2016.
More importantly than the BVG usual suspect D and the unimpressive OL . . .
How could any ref watching not flag that brutal helmet-to-helmet hit in the end zone against Torii Hunter? Isn’t the rule in place to protect players from exactly what the Texas DB did? Isn’t the rule change in place this year that the officials upstairs can review and call it exactly what didn’t happen?
Weren’t they looking at that replay while Hunter lay on the ground? Why wasn’t BK all over that, the way he ususally is when he gets in the face of his coaches and players? How could he let that go? The one time he should lose it- and he doesn’t! If the unenforced rule or the penalty isn’t called, the coaching staff should make that a big deal, like the rule says it should be- whether it was meant to injure or not. Utter negligence by the refs on the field, upstairs, and the ND coaching staff. Good wishes go out to Hunter.
Can’t fire a whole team. Coaches are ultimately responsible. That’s why they make the big bucks!
BK will win 8 or 9 games. That’s OK. But ND football should be more than just OK. It should be great!
Can anyone offer any evidence BK is the one to make ND football great again?
i’m not suggesting firing BK. After all, right now no one better would want the job. How sad is that!
BVG must go, however. It’s clear he’s not competent.
SteelFanRob,
I’m not necessarily saying you are wrong, but… who do we realistically get that is better than BK? He and BVG certainly cost ND the win today, without a doubt. I also think BVG has to be fired this season, but for Brian Kelly… what Head Coach would want to come TO South Bend that’s better than Brian Kelly?
Our only hope would be groom Mike Sanford like we have been doing, and hope he turns out better than the continual 9-3 seasons.
a lot of George steinbrenners here want to fire the coach, anybody want to fire the players? as a side note the yankees went thru their greatest championship drought when Steinbrenner was firing all those managers. all the pundits here said that notre dame had questions marks on the offensive line and the defensive backfield. your were right. both areas performance was subpar, that is why they lost the game.
BVG is a BK guy. We know how important that is for some on this site. We love all those 3 star BK guys. Having said that, it seems even the few 4 and 5 star recruits BK gets are hit or miss, e.g., Max Redfield.
The D is just awful and has been for a long time. BVG is clueless. His players are outclassed constantly. His schemes don’t work.
But the main point is BK cannot get the job done. Perhaps no one can. ND football is synonymous with gut-wrenching defeats. It can’t beat the big boys anymore. Heck it can’t beat a very average Texas team.
I can’t wait to hear our holier than thou crowd jump to defend BK with excuse after excuse. BVG is at ND because of BK. Plain and simple.
Qb carousel certainly didnt help o line slow and got ate up center made critical mistake But my god that defense is just pitiful 35 points and its not enough jesus this aint funny bvg is not the answer but who is this is been going on for 25 yrs
Van gorder has to go. What does he do well? He doesn’t recruit well or really anyone. We never pressure the qb and our safeties are terrible. What current defensive player is an nfl talent other than rochell? None. Anyone is better than him right now. When we blitz someone is wide open because a corner or safety got toasted.
Although the QB carousel and offensive play calling were head scratching, it was the defense that lost this game. The offense scored 35 pts and committed zero turnovers. That’s enough pts to win the game. But this defense cannot stop giving up big plays. The defense is poorly coached, poorly prepared and their game plan is poorly schemed. This happens game after game and BVG has no answers or solutions. Enough is enough.
BK is just a very average coach. Forget about how many wins he had playing against the likes of Slippery Rock State. Coaching at Cinci isn’t coaching at ND.
He can’t seem to get his charges over the top. There will always be excuses. I can already predict a few. Most will blame ND youth. So is Bama. But unlike BK, Saban just wins. I know others will blame BK for rotating QBs. So did Bama. Others will blame BVG. Bama doesn’t need to blame its D coordinator. It has an awesome D.
The bottom line is this: Can ND compete at the level of Bama or other powers? I think time has passed ND football by. 3 star recruits cannot consistently compete against the monsters in the SEC or at Ohio St. Perhaps ND should just realize its becoming a glorified Ivy League program. Texas is so far from a powerhouse right now. But they beat ND. Plain and simple. A very average team just beat ND on prime time.
Brian Kelly tried to be cute by playing two QB’s, a good decision maker knows Kizer got them to where they were last year. Cute isn’t an option, sorry Zaire got hurt last year but guess what Kizer proved his worth. Everyone knew two QB’s was not a good decisions except Brian Kelly, shame on him, he should know better. At least we know early this year is over.
In the end it turns out to be a horrible decision by Kelly to rotate QBs into the 3rd quarter. Kizer should’ve been named the starter after the Spring game based on his performance last year. A few on this site felt Zaire should start but i doubt they still feel that way. Zaire got in there for 3 or 4 series and could do nothing. Defense was horrible once again. BVG days at ND are numbered
This is what ND football has become since the early 1990s. Find ways to lose big games in primetime. This game was lost when ND O couldn’t make a couple of first downs. That was followed by a usual bad punt from a usually bad punter. Then the D did its job and let Texas go down the field and score a TD. Bottom line is another defeat for BK and Co. on a big stage.
ND will not win a NC with BK. Plain and simple. The Irish will win 8 to 9 games regularly. But NCs, now way! ND is light years away from Bama. The distance between ND and Bama has actually gotten wider since the Irish were getting their asses handed to them in the 2012 NC game.
This is so pathetic! BK just doesn’t know how to win the prime time games.
Unsurprising that they came up on the wrong side of the score. Kelly is a very good recruiter, a so-so coach.
Fire the defensive coordinator as soon as possible.
Hopefully Torii Hunter Jr will be fine. Thanks to the ref’s for the protection of players.
Bad play calling, at the end, and now they will lose by a field goal. Hope I’m wrong.
Kizer has proven how great he is.
Time to get Zaires transfer papers ready. Barring injury your days of playing QB at ND are fading fast.
Fire bvg and hire anybody else
Thank You Brian Kelly for out coaching yourself
maybe next year
Defense looks good, anyone else impressed?
Make it 28 lol
His defense has only given up 21 pts so far this year
Fire bvg
He didn’t have them prepared for this hurry up offense
Bvg sucks gives up touchdown on first series