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AUSTIN, Texas -- A season opener between college football heavyweights Texas and No. 10 Notre Dame should be a preview for the national title chase.Instead, its a referendum on Longhorns coach Charlie Strong.Hes coming off two losing seasons at a program that likely wont tolerate a third. Strong is still searching for a dependable quarterback and has put his future in the hands of hotshot offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, who wouldnt leave Tulsa until he was pried away with a personal visit from the Texas president and athletic director and a three-year guaranteed contract worth $850,000 annually.And now here come the Irish, who expect to be in the College Football Playoff hunt in December. Beat Notre Dame and the pressure -- for now -- eases off Strong. Lose again and it only gets worse . No Texas coach has had three consecutive losing seasons since the 1930s.Its big, said Strong, whose 11-14 record includes a 38-3 loss to the Irish last season. Were at home ... We need it within our program to play well. I expect us to go play well.Win or lose, all praise or blame will fall on Strong, who charged Gilbert with lighting up defenses like everyone else in the Big 12 does. Gilberts biggest challenge has been finding a starting quarterback in either senior Tyrone Swoopes or freshman Shane Buechele, who had a tantalizing spring.Strong wont reveal his starter until the game. Gilbert seems confident in whoever it will be.Well just call it and theyll ball it, Gilbert said.A few things to watch when Notre Dame and Texas play Sunday night:IRISH QUARTERBACKS: Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has been just as coy about his quarterbacks , refusing to say if hell start Malik Zaire or DeShone Kizer. Unlike Strong, Kellys dilemma is choosing between two proven playmakers. His bigger problem is the potential for hurt feelings and disrupted team chemistry whichever way he goes.Wed both rather ourselves be the only guy playing. But this is how it is, Kizer said. We want to win games. Thats one thing we can agree on.18-WHEELER: Even if he doesnt start, look for Swoopes to get on the field. At 6-foot-4, 250-pounds, he was effectively brutish runner in the 18-Wheeler package in upset wins over Oklahoma and Baylor. The set calls for Swoopes to take the snap, dive off tackle and drag defenders with him.THIRD DOWN: The Texas defense was notoriously bad on third down last season, ranking among the worst in the country. If Notre Dame can keep moving the chains, Gilberts offense may never get a chance to get on the field. As for Notre Dame, expect a steady rush of blitzes to disrupt Swoopes or Buechele in passing situations. Swoopes has shown he can be rattled and no one knows yet how Buechele will handle pressure.DEFENDING THE DEEP BALL: Texas will throw deep. The offense typically accounts for a deep target, and with speedy receivers John Burt, Devin Duvernay and converted quarterback Jerrod Heard, the pressures on the Notre Dame secondary -- notably freshman Devin Studstill -- to prevent the long touchdown.NOTRE DAME DISCIPLINE: Kelly has said he intends to make four of the five players arrested by state police on marijuana possession during training camp available to play. Wide receiver Kevin Stepherson and linebacker Tevon Coney were listed on the depth chart this week. Kelly has said he expects running back Dexter Williams and cornerback Ashton White to contribute this season. Kelly dismissed safety Max Redfield, who also was charged in the same Aug. 19 incident with a misdemeanor charge of carrying a handgun without a license. Air Max 95 Uomo Scontate . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Air Max 270 Nere Scontate . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. http://www.airmaxscarpescontate.it/scarpe-air-max-720-prezzo-basso/max-720-uomo-saldi.html . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Air Max 90 Donna Scontate .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Scarpe Off White Air Max 97 . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals.PITTSBURGH -- The NHLs most unlikely post-season success story is nearly bald, his hairline an unwitting casualty to three decades spent hidden under a goaltenders mask. All those long winters -- including 16 in the best league in the world -- never led to long springs, however, for Tomas Vokoun. Until now. Halfway through the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs the two-time All-Star turned journeyman backup holds the key to the Pittsburgh Penguins playoff hopes. He is, for the first time in his life, the "hot goalie" during the most important time of year. Heading into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins Saturday night, Vokouns numbers appear to be a misprint. Seven starts. Six wins. One very stoic and largely anonymous presence at the back of Pittsburghs star-laden attack. Given a week to ponder his remarkable run after taking over for struggling Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 5 of the first-round series against the New York Islanders, Vokoun insists hes trying not to think about what it all means, with varying levels of success. "You just know that youre playing well, youre trying to do the right things," Vokoun said. "You try not to treat it any differently, even if you know the stakes are just getting bigger." Its a phenomenon unique to goaltenders this time of year. For all the talk about the importance of playoff experience, the guys in the back of the net can sometimes seem immune to the pressure. Vokoun never played on a team that made it past the opening round of the post-season until Pittsburgh ousted the Islanders in six games three weeks ago. He was hardly overcome by the stage in the second round against Ottawa, allowing all of 11 goals in five games, including a pair of of meaningless scores after the Penguins already had things well in hand during Game 4 and 5 routs. NHL history is littered with callow goalies who have ended up lifting the Cup. Martin Brodeur was 22. Patrick Roy was 20. Ken Dryden was 23. Jonathan Quick was 4-8 in the playoffs before going 16-4 and leading the Los Angeles Kings to the championship at 26. Vokoun is at the opposite end of his career but enjoying the same kind of coming-out party. Its uncharted territory for a player acquired for a mere seventh-round pick last summer as an insurance plan should Fleury falter. "He has been one of the better goalies in NHL," Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said. "He just happened to be playing in Nashville and Florida, not in the media spotlight." One thats certainly going to ratchet up over the next two weeks. It can get unnerving. For proof, he need only look 180 feet down the ice on Saturday night at Bostons Tuukka Rask. The Bruins were on the cusp of a berth in the conference finals inn 2010 with a 22-year-old Rask leading the way.ddddddddddddBoston took a 3-0 lead over Philadelphia in the second round when the season suddenly imploded. A 5-4 overtime loss in Game 4 morphed into three more defeats, including a 4-3 collapse in Game 7 when Rask squandered a three-goal, first-period lead. Though he played 29 games the following season, he didnt see a second of ice time in the playoffs as Tim Thomas carried the Bruins to their first title in nearly four decades. "Its different if youre playing or if youre not," he said. "You had something to do with it on the ice." Rasks role (and his view) will be much more involved this time around. And Boston coach Claude Julien thinks Rask may have turned a corner of sorts in the second round against the New York Rangers. Boston bolted to a 3-0 lead once again and went up 2-0 early in Game 4. The Rangers recovered -- thanks in part to a curious goal in which Rask appeared to screw himself into the ice -- to win in overtime. Rask bounced back in Game 5, turning aside 28 of 29 shots as the Bruins moved on and perhaps obliterated any lingering doubts about their goaltenders resilience. "That Game 4 couldve been a lot more devastating than it was," coach Claude Julien said. "How he rebounded in Game 5 shows me that theres no issues there." Of course, the high-flying Penguins have a way of creating issues. Pittsburgh peppering Evgeni Nabokhov and Craig Anderson into early exits a combined four times during the first two rounds while averaging 4.27 goals per game, the highest scoring average at this point in the playoffs in 20 years. A highly efficient power play and a remarkably skilled roster led by former MVPs Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin helps. Still, for all its considerable firepower, Pittsburgh is not invulnerable. The Penguins were similarly loaded three years ago when they ran into Montreals unheralded Jaroslav Halak in the second round. The then-24-year-old became impenetrable as the series wore on and the Canadiens won in seven games. The memory of that stunning failure remains fresh and the Penguins are well aware Rask and Bostons smothering defence could provide an even more impenetrable shell. "We have to make (Rask) uncomfortable," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. In the end, whichever goaltender finds his comfort zone is the one that will extend his teams season into the first days of summer. Its a ride Vokoun is intent on enjoying, one the oldest player on the Stanley Cup favourite thought may never come. "This is what you play for," he said. "Its taken a long time to get here. Yeah theres pressure but really its just about doing your job. "Thats all I can do." So far, so good. ' ' '