2006 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Penn State came to Notre Dame for the first time since the 1992 Snow Bowl game between the two. The game began as a defensive battle with Notre Dame scoring the only points of the first quarter on a field goal. However the Irish offense picked up in the second quarter as quarterback Brady Quinn threw two touchdown passes (his first of the season) to Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight. With another field goal, Notre Dame led 20-0 at the half. In the third quarter Penn State quarterback, Anthony Morelli fumbled the ball during a lateral pass as he ran an option play. Tom Zbikowski picked up the fumble and ran it for a touchdown. Penn State would score their first points later in the quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Kevin Kelly, but the Irish scored again on a 1-yard touchdown run by Travis Thomas. In the fourth quarter Brady Quinn threw a third touchdown to Darius Walker, Morelli threw his only touchdown of the day to Deon Butler, and Penn State running back Daryll Clark ran a 5-yard touchdown with time running out. The game ended with Notre Dame winning 41-17.The game between Notre Dame and Michigan State in East Lansing seemed doomed to be overshadowed by pregame hype. A controversial incident where Spartan players planted a flag in Notre Dame's field after Michigan State's 2005 win was talked about in the week leading up to the game. Spartan officials said the incident occurred because Notre Dame didn't present the Megaphone Trophy after the game and players needed to celebrate. Irish officials stated that they never presented rivalry trophies after games, but sent them later in the week. More controversy was sparked when it was reported that Irish head coach Charlie Weis told a group of Notre Dame Alumni during the summer of 2006 that he would never lose to Michigan State again as head coach. Weis denied it, but nevertheless Spartans used it as motivation. Added to these controversies was the fact that 2006 marks the 40th anniversary of the Game of the Century between the teams. Before the game Michigan State brought back players from that team and retired Bubba Smith's jersey. The controversies continued into the game when a late hit on Michigan State's quarterback by the Notre Dame bench lead to a scuffle between the teams and Charlie Weis claiming an MSU player slapped him in the face. This claim brought a penalty from the officials, and after the game John L. Smith implied that Charlie Weis had lied about a slap that could not be seen on any replay footage [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/preview?gameId=272650087 ESPN - Michigan State Spartans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Preview, September 22 2007 - NCAA College Football ] ] .

The game was played in windy and rainy conditions for most of the night. Notre Dame won the coin toss and took the ball as Charlie Weis normally does. Michigan State chose to play with the wind at their backs for the first quarter. The commentators for the game, especially Bob Davie, questioned Weis' decision, believing that the windy conditions would affect play significantly. It seemed to as Notre Dame was held without a score for the entire first quarter, while the Spartans threw two quick touchdowns, one after a fumble on a punt return by Tom Zbikowski, and added a field goal before having to change sides. In the second quarter Notre Dame switched to a no-huddle offense with worked to confuse the Spartan defense for a drive allowing Brady Quinn to throw a 32-yard touchdown to Rhema McKnight. On their next drive, however, Quinn threw an interception to Ervin Baldwin which was returned for a 19-yard touchdown to give the Spartans a 24-7 lead. Quinn would throw another touchdown to Jeff Samardzija and Spartan quarterback Drew Stanton would add another touchdown pass to Kerry Reed to end the half with the Spartans leading 31-14.

The second half began with a defensive stop by the Irish which allowed Quinn to throw a third touchdown of 62-yards to John Carlson to cut the Spartan lead to 10. However later in the quarter Michigan State's Jehuu Caulcrick would run for a 30-yard touchdown. The Spartans failed in a two point conversion attempt leaving the score 37-21 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Michigan State had the ball at the Notre Dame 42-yard line and looked to score again. However a series of miscues and holding penalties halted the Spartan drive and forced them to punt. Quinn took advantage and threw a fourth touchdown to Jeff Samardzija. The Irish attempted a two point conversion to make their deficit only 8, but failed, leaving the score 37-27 with 8 minutes left in the game. On the ensuing drive, a Stanton fumble was recovered by the Irish on the Spartan 24-yard line. Aided by a pass interference call on 3rd down and 25-yards to go, Quinn would throw his fifth touchdown pass of the evening to Rhema McKnight. The extra point was missed leaving the Spartans ahead 37-33. On the next drive, Stanton threw an interception to Terrail Lambert which was returned 23-yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Irish led 40-37 with almost 3 minutes left. Stanton would take the Spartans to the Notre Dame 44-yard line before throwing a pass which was tipped twice and which Terrail Lambert would catch off of the back of a Spartan wide receiver to end the game, with the Irish winning 40-37.The Stanford Cardinal came to Notre Dame winless and big underdogs. However, in the first half the Cardinal kept the game closer than expected. The Irish started the game taking their opening drive for a touchdown. Brady Quinn threw an 8-yard pass to Jeff Samardzija to cap off a 91-yard drive which consumed more than seven minutes off the clock. The Cardinal's opening possession took advantage of a porous Irish defense which was without linebacker Travis Thomas and safety Tom Zbikowski, both out with injuries. Stanford drove to the Irish 3-yard line before being forced to kick a field goal after a sure touchdown was dropped. The Cardinal took six minutes off the clock themselves and the first quarter ended with Notre Dame winning 7-3. The second quarter was uneventful until the Notre Dame's final drive, which began with just over two minutes left in the half. Brady Quinn orchestrated a 72-yard drive which resulted in a 16-yard pass to Rhema McKnight to put the Irish up 14-3 at halftime.

In the third quarter the Irish began to pull away. Darius Walker ran for a 32-yard touchdown, his longest run of the season, to give the Irish an 18-point lead. Later in the quarter, Carl Gioia added a 32-yard field goal to put the Irish up 24-3 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the Cardinal used a trick play to get on the scoreboard again. On a toss play to running back Anthony Kimble, Kimble threw a 57-yard touchdown to a wide open Kelton Lynn. The score brought the Cardinal within 14. Later in the quarter, Brady Quinn would throw his third touchdown of the game to tight end John Carlson to give the final margin of victory, 31-10, in favor of the Irish.

Brady Quinn has put himself back in Heisman contention after a fantastic performance against Navy. He made 18 of 25 passes and threw for 296 yards making 3 TD passes. He also showed his footwork by taking a TD in from 19 yards out.

The Irish started out their scoring quickly with Carl Gioia hitting a 40-yard FG, 3:15 into the game putting them up 3-0 and ended the 1st quarter with a 36-yard pass from Quinn to WR David Grimes to make it a 10-0 game with 1:32 left.

Navy got back in the game quickly with a 1-yd run by Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada to make 10-7 with 11:39 left in the half, but the Irish came back quickly with Travis Thomas running in a ball 16 yards to make it a 17-7 game with 8 min. left in the half. But Kaheaku-Enhada once again got Navy back in the game with another 1-yard run to make 17-14 with 2:43 left in the half giving Navy only a 3 pt deficit. Quinn turned right around and hit hitting Rhema McKnight with a 33-yard pass and his 2nd TD pass with a 1:19 left to give Notre Dame a 24-14 lead heading into halftime.

Quinn continued his dominance in the second half leading 3 strong drives two of them scoring TDs. With 8:10 left in the 3rd, Quinn ran in a TD from 19 yards out to give the Irish a 31-14 lead the drive was helped out by a late hit call on 3rd and 19 that allowed Quinn to make the play. The second drive stalled at the 1 when the Midshipmen's defense held. The third drive however ended with Quinn hitting McKnight with a 6-yard pass and his 2nd TD catch and Quinn's 3rd TD pass with 9:36 left in the game, to give the Irish a 38-14 final.Less Than a minute into the game Brady Quinn proved just why he's one of the top QBs in College Football today and he didn't stop there going 14 of 19 for 207 yards passing and 4 TDs. At :54 seconds Quinn hit Jeff Samardzija for a 51-yd TD pass and a 7-0 lead. Less than five minutes later he threw a 1-yd pass to John Carlson to put Notre Dame up 14-0. At 8:40 into the game Air Force got on the board when Zach Sasser kicked a 32-yd field goal to shrink the deficit to 14-3. But Quinn would respond with a 24-yd pass to Rhema McKnight. Air Force was able to block the Extra Point Attempt and Notre Dame was now up 20-3 to finish up the 1st quarter. The second quarter showed off a lot of good defense including a blocked FG attempt that saw Terrail Lambert return the blocked kick 76-yds for a TD to put Notre Dame up 27-3 at the half.

Brady Quinn came out of halftime and with 8:33 left in the quarter threw a 23-yd pass to Marcus Freeman, but Air Force once again block Carl Gioia's XP attempt putting Notre Dame up 33-3. And with :17 seconds left in the quarter Shaun Carney threw a 12-yd pass to Beau Suder to make it 33-10 to close out the 3rd quarter of play. The 4th quarter saw Darius Walker run in a TD from 4-yds out with Gioia missing the XP attempt giving Notre Dame a 39-10 lead. Carney then hit Jacobe Kendrick for a 7-yd TD to give the game a 39-17 final.Notre Dame visited the Coliseum with a 4-game losing streak to the Trojans. After the epic 2005 game, the Irish were hopeful that they could end their losing streak. The Trojans, however, knew that with a win they would still be in the national title hunt. The game started with the Irish receiving the ball and Brady Quinn throwing a quick 38-yard pass to Rhema McKnight. The Irish drive stalled afterwards and turned the ball over after Quinn's fourth down pass flew errantly into the endzone. The Trojans took over and quarterback John David Booty led them on a 61-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett. After the next Irish drive ended with a punt and a return by the Trojans to the Irish 26, Booty completed another touchdown pass to Jarrett to put the Trojans ahead 14-0. On the ensuing Irish drive, Quinn and Darius Walker brought the Irish downfield, allowing Carl Gioia to kick a field goal. The first quarter ended with the Trojans winning 14-3. In the first drive of the second quarter, Booty led the Trojans to the Irish 1-yard line where he sneaked the ball in for USC's third touchdown of the game. On the ensuing drive for the Irish, on a third down, Quinn scrambled for 59-yards, Notre Dame's longest run of the season, to bring the Irish to the USC 17-yard line. Four plays later, a Darius Walker fumble was recovered by the Trojans giving them the ball back. The Irish defense, however, held the Trojans for the first time forcing a punt. The punt was partially blocked giving the Irish the ball back on the 7-yard line. On the next play, Quinn threw a touchdown to Marcus Freeman. The next two drives by the Trojans both ended when Booty threw an interception, but the Irish couldn't capitalize on either, turning the ball over on downs two more times. The half ended with the Trojans leading 21-10.

The second half began with a Trojan drive of 65-yards capped with a Chauncey Washington 2-yard touchdown run. The only other score of the third quarter came on Notre Dame's second drive of 58-yards, when Quinn hit Rhema McKnight for a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth down. The fourth quarter began with the Trojans driving to an eventual 32-yard field goal by Mario Danelo. After the Irish were held, Booty threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett to give the Trojans a 37-17 lead (Danelo missed the extra point). Quinn drove the Irish 78-yards and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Samardzija to put the Irish deficit to 13 points. However, the onside kick attempt, was recovered by Brian Cushing, who ran it back to give the Trojans a 20-point lead again. Notre Dame's last drive would end on another failed fourth down attempt, giving the Trojans the 44-24 win.] and John Carlson was named as a John Mackey Award finalist. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120106aab.html|title=John Carlson Finalist For The Mackey Award|accessdate=2007-07-15] Brady Quinn, after finishing third in balloting for the Heisman Trophy, [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121006aab.html|title=Brady Quinn Finishes Third in Heisman Trophy Balloting|accessdate=2007-07-15] was named a finalist to two top quarterbacking awards, the Johnny Unitas Award [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110306aai.html|title=Brady Quinn A Finalist For the Unitas Award|accessdate=2007-07-15] and the Davey O'Brien Award, [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112106aah.html|title=Brady Quinn Named Finalist For Maxwell And O'Brien Awards|accessdate=2007-07-15] and won two player of the year awards, the Maxwell Award [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120806aab.html|title=Brady Quinn Named Maxwell Award College Football Player Of The Year|accessdate=2007-07-15] and the Cingular All-American Player of the Year. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010907aaa.html|title=Brady Quinn Selected as Cingular All-America Player of the Year|accessdate=2007-07-15]

Along with the award winners, six Irish players were named to All-American lists. Sam Young was named by The Sporting News as a first team freshman All-American. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120806aap.html|title=Sam Young Named First Team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News|accessdate=2007-07-15] Five players were named by Sports Illustrated, including Quinn on the second team, and Jeff Samardzija, Rhema McKnight, John Carlson, and Munir Price as honorable mentions. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120806aar.html|title=Five Irish Players Earn All-America Honors From Sports Illustrated|accessdate=2007-07-15] The AP named Quinn and Samardzija on their second team and Tom Zbikowski on their third team, [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121306aab.html|title=Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Tom Zbikowski Earn Mention On AP All-America Teams|accessdate=2007-07-15] while Samardzija and Zbikowski were named by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on their second team. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120806aah.html|title=Samardzija & Zbikowski Named Walter Camp Football Foundation Second Team All-Americans|accessdate=2007-07-15] Finally, Samardzija was named by the Football Writers Association of America on their first team [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121006aad.html|title=Jeff Samardzija Named Football Writers Association of America First Team All-American|accessdate=2007-07-15] as well as being named, for the second time, [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010906aaa.html|title=Jeff Samardzija Named Consensus All-American|accessdate=2007-07-15] as a Consensus All-American by the NCAA. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011507aaa.html|title=Notre Dame WR Jeff Samardzija Named To NCAA Consensus All-America Football Team|accessdate=2007-07-15]

NFL Draft

In the 2007 NFL Draft seven players were taken, including offensive starters Quinn, Ryan Harris and Dan Santucci and defensive starters Victor Abiamiri, Derek Landri, Mike Richardson and Chinedum Ndukwe. Five others [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/043007aac.html|title=Seven Notre Dame Football Players Drafted Into NFL; Four Others Sign Free Agent Contracts|accessdate=2007-06-30] [cite web|url=http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/category/ncaafootball/2007/05/10/texans-sign-notre-dame-running-back-darius-walker/|title=Texans Sign Notre Dame Running Back Darius Walker|accessdate=2007-06-30] also signed contracts with NFL teams, while Samardzija signed a deal with the Chicago Cubs as a baseball pitcher. [cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011907aak.html|title=Jeff Samardzija Signs Five-Year MLB Deal With Chicago Cubs|accessdate=2007-06-30]

References