Nov. 11, 2006

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FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 39, Air Force 17

Today’s game between Notre Dame and Air Force was officially sold out, making it the 62nd in the last 67 road games for the Irish that were sellouts. The 2001, 2003 and 2005 games at Stanford, the 2004 game vs. Navy at The Meadowlands and last year’s game at Washington were not sellouts.

Notre Dame won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. The Falcons defended the south end zone in the first half.

Notre Dame was ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll at kickoff. Air Force came into the game unranked in the AP poll.

THE VICTORY TODAY…
… makes Notre Dame 9-1 for the first time since 2002.
… gives the Irish nine victories in a season for the second straight year (first time in consecutive years since 1992, 1993) and 35th time in school history.
… was Notre Dame’s seventh straight victory (longest overall winning streak since eight straight in 2002).
… was the Irish’s third consecutive victory over Air Force and sixth straight victory in Falcon Stadium.
… improves Notre Dame to 22-5-0 in the all-time series with Air Force.
… improves the Irish to 12-2-0 in the all-time series with the Falcons in Falcon Stadium.
… improves a ranked Notre Dame squad to 19-2-0 all-time against Air Force.
… improves the Irish to 20-4-0 all-time against an unranked Falcon squad.
… improves Weis’ record to 18-4 overall, 1-0 against Air Force and 3-0 against service academies.
… improves Weis’ road record to a perfect 8-0 (longest road winning streak since nine straight from 1991-94).
… improves Weis’ record to 6-0 in November games.
… improves Weis’ record to 12-4 in afternoon games.
… improves Notre Dame’s all-time record to 820-267-42.
… improves the Irish’s all-time record against the military academies to 128-22-5.

NOTRE DAME TEAM NOTES
Twelve Notre Dame teams have started a season 9-1. The last Irish team to start 9-1 was the 2002 squad that finished 10-3.

With Notre Dame’s touchdown on the game’s opening drive, the Irish recorded a touchdown on their opening drive of the game for the fourth time in 2006 and 12th time in head coach Charlie Weis’ 22nd career game on the sidelines.

The Irish touchdown drive (two plays, 80 yards) following the opening kickoff took just 54 seconds off the game clock. The touchdown was the earliest of the season for Notre Dame – besting the previous mark of 2:03 set last weekend on the opening drive against North Carolina. The drive also equaled the fastest scoring drive of the season for the Irish (ND had a 54-second drive against Michigan earlier this season).

The Irish scored on their first two drives of the afternoon. It marked the 10th time this season that Notre Dame has scored at least 14 points in a single quarter.

The Irish limited the Falcons to just a field goal in the opening two quarters. Notre Dame has held its opponents to three points or less in 18 different quarters this season.

Notre Dame’s 87-yard, third quarter scoring drive was the second longest of the season. The Irish had a 91-yard touchdown march against Stanford earlier this season.

Air Force came into Saturday’s game averaging 266.88 yards rushing (third in the NCAA). Notre Dame limited the Falcons’ ground game to 200 yards on 60 carries. Air Force’s previous single-game low for rushing this season was 208 against BYU on Oct. 28. The Falcons averaged 4.5 yards per carry over its first eight games, but managed just 3.3 yards per rush this afternoon. Air Force also rushed for 297 yards earlier this season at No. 13 Tennessee.

The following Notre Dame players extended streaks for consecutive starts: senior QB Brady Quinn (42), senior OT Ryan Harris (33), senior DT Derek Landri (33), senior DE Victor Abiamiri (22), senior WR Jeff Samardzija (22), senior OL Dan Santucci (21), senior CB Mike Richardson (21) and junior LB Maurice Crum, Jr. (21).

In the Weis Era
… the 20 points in the first quarter is the most for the Irish in the opening period and tied for the fifth-most points in any quarter under Weis. … the 27 points in the first half are the fourth most in a half under Weis.
… the 24-point halftime lead was the largest of 2006 and largest since a 28-0 lead over Purdue on Oct. 1, 2005 (the largest halftime lead under Weis).
… the Irish averaged 8.3 yards per play (383 yards on 46 plays). It is the highest average yards per play under Weis (previous high was 8.0 yards per play against BYU on Oct. 22, 2005).
… Notre Dame managed just 21:25 time of possession. It marked the least time of possession for the Irish under Weis (previous low was 24:21 against Michigan State earlier this season).
… the 22-point margin of victory is the second largest of 2006 and fifth largest under Weis.

NOTRE DAME PLAYER NOTES

Senior QB Brady Quinn
NCAA History … now has 1,492 career pass attempts to rank 14th all-time in NCAA Division I-A history. Quinn passed Todd Santos (San Diego State, 1984-87) and trails Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 1996-99) for 13th.
… now has 870 career pass completions to rank 17th all-time in NCAA Division I-A history. Quinn passed Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1994-97) and trails Tim Lester for 16th.
… now has 11,122 career passing yards to rank 18th all-time in NCAA Division I-A history. Quinn passed Ryan Schneider (UCF, 2000-03), Charlie Frye (Akron, 2001-04) and trails Eric Zeier (Georgia, 1991-94) for 17th.
… now has 87 career passing touchdowns to rank tied for 11th all-time in NCAA Division I-A history with Luke McCown (Louisiana Tech, 2000-03) and Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 1996-99). Quinn passed Ben Roethlisberger (Miami of Ohio, 2001-03), Chris Redman (Louisville, 1996-99) and Andrew Walter (Arizona State, 2001-04).

Notre Dame Single-Season History … now has 357 pass attempts this season to rank second. Quinn passed his total of 353 from the 2004 season.
… now has 2,786 passing yards this season to rank second. Quinn passed his total of 2,586 from the 2004 season and Jarious Jackson (2,753, 1999).

Miscellaneous … with his first completion on Saturday, Quinn has recorded a completion in 46 straight games (already a school record).
… registered his 43rd consecutive start for the Irish (tied with Chris Leak for the second most among active I-A quarterbacks).
… tossed four or more touchdown passes for the seventh time in his career (third time in 2006). Even more impressive, all four TD passes went to different receivers.
… Quinn has now tossed touchdown passes to seven different Notre Dame receivers this season.
… Quinn has now gone 223 consecutive passes without an interception (NCAA Division I-A record is 271 held by Trent Dilfer of Fresno State in 1993).

Consecutive Passes Without An Interception This Season (Division I-A)
1. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame 223
2. Kevin Kolb, Houston 191*
3. Colt Brennan, Hawaii 182*
4. Dennis Dixon, Oregon 161*
5. James Pinkney, East Carolina 149*
*- streaks are inactive

Junior RB Darius Walker
… recorded a reception in his 25th consecutive game.
… eclipsed 100 yards on the ground for the fourth time in 2006 and 11th time in his career.
… his 39-yard scamper in the fourth quarter was his longest rush of the season (career-high is a 40-yard rush against Pittsburgh in 2005).
… recorded his sixth touchdown of 2006 (fifth rushing) and 24th of his career (21st on the ground).

Senior WR Jeff Samardzjia
… now has 55 receptions in 2006 to rank tied for fifth in single-season school history. Samardzjia passed Jim Seymour (1968) and is tied with current teammate Rhema McKnight.
… now has 156 career receptions to rank third all-time in school history.
… now has 2,368 career receiving yards to rank third all-time in school history. Samardzjia passed Tom Gatewood (1969-71) and trails Tim Brown (2,493, 1984-87) for second place.
… now has nine receiving touchdowns in 2006 to rank tied for fifth in single-season school history. Samardzjia passed Tom Gatewood (1969) and Jim Seymour (1966).
… surpassed 100 yards receiving for fourth time in 2006 (tied for fourth most in single-season history) and ninth time in his career (tied for second most in career history).

Senior WR Rhema McKnight
… now has 55 receptions in 2006 to rank tied for fifth in single-season school history. McKnight passed Jim Seymour (1968) and is tied with current teammate Jeff Samardzjia.
… now has 158 career receptions to rank first all-time in school history. McKnight passed Tom Gatewood (1969-71) for the school record.
… now has 19 career receiving touchdowns to rank tied for third all-time in school history. McKnight passed Maurice Stovall (2002-05).

Senior TE Marcus Freeman
… his 23-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter was his first career TD grab.

Senior FS Chinedum Ndukwe
… registered a career-high 22 tackles (previous career best was 11 earlier this season against Michigan).
… tied for third most tackles in a single game in school history.
… the most tackles for an Irish player since Bob Crable had a school record 26 against Clemson on Nov. 17, 1979.