Dec. 10, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame junior quarterback Brady Quinn (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman HS) finished fourth Saturday night in the voting for the 2005 Heisman Trophy, making him the highest Irish finisher since Raghib Ismail took second to BYU’s Ty Detmer in the 1990 Heisman race.
Quinn received seven first-place votes, 21 second-place votes and 128 third-place votes among the 923 voters. The top three finishers were Reggie Bush from USC, quarterback Vince Young from Texas and the ’04 winner, USC quarterback Matt Leinart.
Here was the voting for the top five slots:
Name | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total Points | |
1. Reggie Bush, USC | 784 | 89 | 11 | 2,541 | |
2. Vince Young, Texas | 79 | 613 | 145 | 1,608 | |
3. Matt Leinart, USC | 18 | 147 | 449 | 797 | |
4. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame | 7 | 21 | 128 | 191 | |
5. Michael Robinson, Penn State | 2 | 7 | 29 | 49 |
The most recent top-five finisher from Notre Dame was tailback Reggie Brooks who was fifth in 1992 behind winner Gino Torretta (Miami) and runner-up Marshall Faulk (San Diego State).
Quinn set virtually every Notre Dame passing record in sight in 2005. He has set Irish single-season records for attempts (405), completions (263), passing yards (3,633) and TD passes (32), with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl yet to count in those totals. He’s already the Notre Dame career leader in pass attempts (1,090), completions (611), passing yards (8,050) and TD passes (58).
Quinn was named winner of the Sammy Baugh Award as college football’s top passer by the Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio). He was one of three finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award as the top quarterback in the country and one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year as presented by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He’s also one of five finalists for the Manning Award, which goes to the top quarterback, and is the only quarterback award presented after the bowl games are played.
Here’s how Quinn fared in terms of numbers in 2005, compared to some of the nation’s other top-rated signal-callers:
Name, School (games played) | Att. | Comp. | Int. | Pct. | Yards | TD | Rating | |
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame (11) | 405 | 263 | 7 | .649 | 3,633 | 32 | 162.9 | |
Matt Leinart, USC (12) | 391 | 254 | 7 | .649 | 3,450 | 27 | 158.4 | |
Vince Young, Texas (12) | 285 | 182 | 10 | .638 | 2,769 | 26 | 168.6 | |
Drew Olson, UCLA (11) | 354 | 232 | 3 | .655 | 3,055 | 31 | 165.2 | |
Michael Robinson, Penn State (11) | 272 | 141 | 9 | .518 | 2,097 | 16 | 129.4 | |
Troy Smith, Ohio State (10) | 209 | 130 | 4 | .622 | 1,940 | 14 | 158.4 |
— ND —