On Wednesday afternoon, Notre Dame finally made the rumored Georgia series official via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/481876814714138624
While there was certainly much rejoicing about the series, an immediate damper was put on the celebration with an announcement that two future games against Texas were now in danger:
W/Georgia games, Notre Dame-Texas in ’17 & ’19 in jeopardy. “Hopeful we will be able to reschedule,” Jack Swarbrick told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 25, 2014
You are now likely having one of two reactions:
- “DAMMIT!”
- “Wait, isn’t ND/Texas scheduled for 2015-2016 and 2019-2020?!”
Both reactions appear to be appropriate. McMurphy appears to have gotten the exact ND/Texas dates mixed up with the Georgia announcement, but that doesn’t change the fact that the main point of his tweet: the last two games against Texas are definitely in some danger. According to the South Bend Tribune, John Heisler, ND’s assistant AD and media relations guru, had this to say:
The series likely will affect Notre Dame’s four-game scheduled series with Texas. The Irish are scheduled to host the Longhorns in 2015 and 2020 with games in Austin in 2016 and 2019. With a commitment to play five games each season against ACC teams, along with annual series with USC, Stanford and Navy and the annual off-site Shamrock Series game, bringing Georgia into the window where the Irish are scheduled to play Texas is a tight fit.
Notre Dame senior associate athletic director for media and broadcast relations John Heisler said Wednesday night that the school has let Texas officials know that it would like to move the 2019 and 2020 games.
“We’re hopeful that we can move those games somewhere down the road into the next decade,” Heisler said. “We’re trying to create as much variety as we possibly can and let our fans see as many teams as they can.”
The main issue really is the 2019 game in which ND is scheduled to play both at Georgia and Texas. Because of that, ND and Texas will have to try to move the 2020 game as well to preserve the home-and-home agreement.
So why would ND be concerned about 2019? Remember that ND is trying to do the following schedule:
- Six home games
- One Shamrock Series off-site “home game”
- This leaves 5 road games
- USC, Stanford, Navy to remain on schedule
- 5 games vs ACC opponents
While 2019 is unknown as far as exact ACC opponents go, we do know how the home/away slate will look based on Swarbrick’s scheduling announcement. On odd years, ND will play three ACC opponents on the road, making the 2019 away slate look like this:
- @ Texas
- @ Georgia
- @ Stanford (ND plays @ USC even years, @ Stanford odd years)
- @ Boston College (@ ACC Opponent #1)
- @ ACC Opponent #2
- @ ACC Opponent #3
That’s a total of six road games which is one too many. Stanford is an absolute priority for Swarbrick. The BC agreement is likely going to be folded in to the ACC slate (much like it is for 2015), but even if it isn’t, ND will still have an ACC road commitment. That leaves Texas as the odd man out with the Georgia series announcement.
I’m certain that ND will do whatever they can to make sure the final two Texas games still happen. I would imagine that the 2019 and 2020 games are simply pushed back a little bit further to make it work for both schools as Heisler suggested.
However, there is a little bit of humor in this situation. Texas’s new AD, Steve Patterson aka the guy that got all pissy that ND tried to drop ND @ Arizona State for 2014, is now having to deal with yet another ND scheduling headache.
Coincidence or master troll maneuvering by Swarbrick? You decide.
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.
First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
