1970 Cotton Bowl Classic

1970 Cotton Bowl Classic
Texas Longhorns Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–0) (8–1–1) 21 17 Head coach:  Darrell Royal Head coach:  Ara Parseghian AP Coaches 1 1 AP Coaches 9 9
1 2 3 4 Total Texas 0 7 0 14 21 Notre Dame 3 7 0 7 17
Date	January 1, 1970
Season	1969
Stadium	Cotton Bowl
Location	Dallas, Texas
MVP	Steve Worster, FB, Texas Bob Olson, LB, Notre Dame
Favorite	Texas by 7
Attendance	71,938
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Lindsey Nelson and Tom Brookshier

The 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic was a postseason college football bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Background

Texas was looking to win their second national championship in 5 years, having won one in 1963. They finished with a perfect season and a 2nd straight Southwest Conference championship. This was the Irish's first bowl game appearance since the 1925 Rose Bowl 45 years earlier.

Game summary

It was a cool clear day between two titans. The two teams were even in first downs and were different in total yards by only 28. Both teams had over 70 offensive plays, the Irish had their passing attack and the Longhorns with their running attack. Notre Dame scored the first 10 points on a Scott Hempel field goal and a Tom Gatewood 54 pass from Joe Theismann. After the Irish kickoff, Texas went on a 74 yard drive that culminated with a Jim Bertelsen touchdown run that made it 10-7 as halftime soon followed. The fourth quarter had 21 points combined, as Texas scored first and last in the quarter. Ted Koy culminated a 77 yard drive with his touchdown run with 10 minutes remaining. But Theismann would lead his team on an 80 yard drive and threw a pass to Jim Yoder that gave the Irish the lead with 6:52 left. But after the kickoff, the Longhorns went on a 76 yard drive that culminated with a Billy Dale touchdown plunge with 1:06 on the clock, too little time for the Irish as Texas secured its second consensus national championship in school history.