Oct. 28, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Notre Dame “Fighting Irish” vs. Navy “Midshipmen”
Oct. 28, 2006
M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, Md.)
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 38, Navy 14
Today’s game between Notre Dame and Navy was officially sold out, making it the 61st in the last 66 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. Navy defended the south end zone in the first half.
Notre Dame was ranked 11th in the Associated Press poll at kickoff. Navy came into the game unranked in the AP poll.
THE NOTRE DAME WIN TODAY…
… made Notre Dame 7-1 for the first time since 1998 (did open 2002 with eight straight victories).
… was the fifth straight victory for the Irish.
… was the 43rd consecutive victory over Navy (already an NCAA Record for one team against another) and 22nd straight victory away from Notre Dame Stadium.
… improved Notre Dame to 70-9-1 in the all-time series with Navy.
… improved the Irish to 44-6-1 in the all-time series with the Midshipmen away from Notre Dame Stadium.
… improved a ranked Irish squad to 45-3-1 all-time against Navy.
… improved Notre Dame to 64-5-0 all-time against an unranked Midshipmen squad.
… improved Weis’ record to 16-4 overall, 2-0 against Navy and 2-0 against military academies.
… improved Weis’ record to 5-1 in October games.
… improved Weis’ record to 10-4 in afternoon games.
… improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 818-267-42.
… improved Notre Dame’s all-time record against the service academies to 127-22-5.
NOTRE DAME TEAM NOTES
The following Notre Dame players extended streaks for consecutive starts: senior QB Brady Quinn (41), senior OT Ryan Harris (32), senior DT Derek Landri (32), senior DE Victor Abiamiri (21), senior WR Jeff Samardzija (21), senior OL Dan Santucci (20), senior CB Mike Richardson (20) and junior LB Maurice Crum, Jr. (20).
Notre Dame converted on its 15th fourth down of the season in the first quarter touchdown drive. At the time, the Irish were 15-for-19 on fourth down this season – good for a .789 conversion percentage. Notre Dame entered the game tied for fifth in the NCAA in fourth down efficiency.
The 36-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Brady Quinn to sophomore WR David Grimes was the ninth play for Notre Dame this season that exceeded 30 yards. Four of the nine plays have gone for touchdowns. Grimes was the sixth different Irish receiver to register a touchdown reception this season.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and then added 14 points in the second quarter. The Irish have scored at least 10 points in a quarter on nine different occasions this season. The 24 first half points are the most for Notre Dame since scoring 28 in the opening 30 minutes against Purdue earlier this season. In fact, the Irish have scored 24 or more points in a half 18 different times under second year head coach Charlie Weis.
Senior QB Brady Quinn conducted a scoring drive on Notre Dame’s final possession of the first half for the sixth time this season. Quinn went 5-for-6 for 64 yards and a 33-yard touchdown pass to senior Rhema McKnight. Over the six scoring drives (Georgia Tech, Penn State, Michigan, Stanford, UCLA and Navy) in the waning minutes of the first half in 2006, Quinn is a remarkable 34-for-40 for 341 yards passing, four touchdown passes and a touchdown run.
The Irish converted another fourth down play midway through the third quarter. Notre Dame has now converted 16 fourth down attempts this season. Senior TE John Carlson, who converted both fourth downs with receptions, has given the Irish first downs on four fourth down plays this season (tied with Darius Walker for the team-high).
Notre Dame eclipsed the 30-point barrier for the fifth time this season. The Irish have scored 30 or more points 15 times under second-year head coach Charlie Weis (today’s game was his 20th as Irish head coach). The Irish have scored 30 or more points in 17 of the last 22 meetings with Navy. Notre Dame has scored more points against the Midshipmen (2,178) than any of its other 134 opponents in school history.
The Irish were not forced to punt in a game for the first time this season and first time since Nov. 12, 2005 against Navy. Notre Dame ran 62 plays over 10 drives today and 70 plays over nine drives in last season’s meeting. The Irish have gone 140 plays against Navy without being forced to punt – dating back to a D.J. Fitzpatrick punt in the fourth quarter of a 27-9 Irish victory in 2004.
Notre Dame allowed 211 yards rushing and 14 points in the first half. The Irish not only held the Midshipmen scoreless in the second half, but also limited the Navy option attack to just 60 yards on the ground in the second half.
The 24-point margin of victory (38-14) is tied for the second largest victory under second year head coach Charlie Weis (largest margin of victory was 26 points last season against BYU).
Notre Dame held Navy scoreless in the first, third and fourth quarter Saturday afternoon. It marked the 11th, 12th and 13th quarters this season that the Irish have held an opponent without any points for an entire period.
Notre Dame set season-highs with yards per pass attempt (11.8), total yards (471) and yards per play (7.6).
The Irish rushed for 176 yards this afternoon. That rushing effort ranks as the sixth-best game on the ground in the Charlie Weis era.
NOTRE DAME PLAYER NOTES
Senior QB Brady Quinn
… recorded his second touchdown rush of 2006 and sixth of his career
… the 19-yard run was his longest career touchdown rush and longest rush from scrimmage since Nov. 27, 2004
… posted his 13th career game (fifth in ’06) with at least three touchdown passes
… has totaled 21 touchdown passes in the past seven games, after failing to throw a TD pass in the opener versus Georgia Tech
… extended his own school record of consecutive passes without an interception to 169 pass attempts
… broke Ron Powlus’ (1994-97) previous school record of 43 straight games with a completion (Quinn has completed a pass in 44 consecutive games)
… moved past Andrew Walter of Arizona State (2001-04) for 19th place all-time in NCAA Division I-A history for pass attempts
… moved past Joe Montana (1978) for ninth most passing yards in single-season history
… moved past Ron Powlus (1997) for 10th most total yards in single-season history
… moved past Ron Powlus (182, 1997) for fourth most completions in single-season history
… moved past Jarious Jackson (184, 1999) for third most completions in single-season history
… moved past John Huarte (1964) for eighth most passing yards in single-season history
… moved past Ron Powlus (1997) for seventh most passing yards in single-season history
… moved past Rick Mirer (1991) for sixth most passing yards in single-season history
… moved past Rick Mirer (1991) and Ron Powlus (1994) for second most touchdown passes in single-season history
… moved past Rick Mirer (1992) for ninth most total yards in single-season history
… moved past John Huarte (1964) for eighth most total yards in single-season history
… moved past Joe Montana (1978) for seventh most total yards in single-season history
… moved past Gino Guidugli of Cincinnati for 19th place all-time in career touchdown passes in NCAA Division I-A history
… moved past Ron Powlus (298, 1997) for fifth most pass attempts in Notre Dame single-season history
… moved past himself (191, 2004) for second most completions in Notre Dame single-season history
… moved past Steve Beuerlein (1986) for fifth most passing yards in Irish single-season history
… moved past Steve Beuerlein (1986) for sixth most total yards in Irish single-season history
… moved past Steve Stenstrom (1991-94) of Stanford for 31st place all-time in passing yards in NCAA Division I-A
… moved past Charlie Frye (2001-04) of Akron for 18th place all-time in pass attempts in NCAA Division I-A
Junior RB Darius Walker
… moved past Nick Eddy (1964-66) for fifth place in career receiving yards for an Irish running back
… moved past Bob Scarpitto (1959) and Bob Gladieux (1967) for 10th place in single-season receiving yards by a Notre Dame running back
… moved past Rabhib Ismail (1988-90) for eighth place in career non-quarterback total yards
… eclipsed 100 yards for the third time this season and 11th time in his career
… moved past Jerome Heavens (1975-78) for fifth place all-time in career rushes
… eclipsed his own previous school record (43) for receptions by a running back in single-season history
Senior TE John Carlson
… moved past Mark Bavaro (1984) for fifth place in single-season receptions by a Notre Dame tight end
… moved past Ken MacAfee (1976) for fourth most receptions by a tight end in single-season history
… moved past Ken MacAfee (1976) for fourth place in single-season receiving yards by tight end
… moved past Tony Hunter (1982) for third place in single-season receiving yards by tight end
Senior WR Rhema McKnight
… moved past Tony Hunter (1979-82) for seventh place all-time in career receiving yards
… his second quarter touchdown reception was his eighth of the season and 15th of his career
… his fourth quarter touchdown reception was his ninth of the season and 16th of his career
… registered two touchdown catches in a single game for the first time in his career
… moved into a tie for fourth place (Jack Snow, 1964) for fourth most touchdown catches in single-season history
… moved into a tie with Jim Seymour (1966-68) for fifth most touchdown receptions in career history
Senior DE Victor Abiamiri
… moved into tie with Bryant Young (1990-93) for sixth in Notre Dame career sacks history
… moved past Brandon Hoyte (2002-05) for seventh in Notre Dame career tackles for loss history
… moved into tie with Ryan Roberts (1999-02) for fifth in Irish career sacks history
Senior K Carl Gioia
… his 40-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive was the longest of his career
Sophomore WR David Grimes
… recorded his first career touchdown catch on a 36-yard strike late in the first quarter
… the reception was also the longest catch of his career (previous career-long grab was a 20-yard catch against Michigan earlier this season)
Senior TB/LB Travis Thomas
… recorded his second touchdown run of the season and seventh of his career
… the rush was his first career carry since a one-yard scoring burst against Penn State earlier this season
Senior SS Tom Zbikowski
… registered a season and career-high 14.0 tackles
… the 14.0 tackles ties Maurice Crum, Jr.’s season-high for Notre Dame
Senior DL Derek Landri
… registered a season-high and career-high 11.0 tackles
Freshman RB James Aldridge
… rushed 12 times for 29 yards, both career-highs