Nov. 18, 2006

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Army Black Knights
Nov. 18, 2006
Notre Dame Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 41, Army 3

Today’s attendance of 80,795 is the 192nd consecutive sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. Since 1966, every Notre Dame home football game has been a sellout except one – a 1973 Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force. The Irish now have played in front of sellouts in 240 of their last 241 home games.

Army won the toss and elected to receive. The Irish defended the south end zone in the first half.

Notre Dame was ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll at kickoff. Army came into the game unranked in the AP poll.

THE WIN TODAY…
… makes Notre Dame 10-1 for the first time since 2002 and fifth time in school history.
… gives the Irish 10 victories in a season for the first time since 2002 and 14th time in school history.
… gives Notre Dame 19 victories over the past two years (most wins over any two-year span since 1992-93 when former head coach Lou Holtz guided the Irish to 21 victories).
… was Notre Dame’s eighth straight victory (longest winning streak since an eight-game run in 2002).
… was the 13th consecutive victory over Army and seventh straight victory in Notre Dame Stadium.
… improves Notre Dame to 37-8-4 in the all-time series with Army.
… improves the Irish to 8-1-0 in the all-time series with the Black Knights in Notre Dame Stadium.
… improves a ranked Irish squad to 18-3-2 all-time against Army.
… improves Notre Dame to 32-5-2 all-time against an unranked Black Knights’ squad.
… improves Weis’ record to 19-4 overall, 1-0 against Army and 4-0 against service academies.
… improves Weis’ home record to 10-3.
… improves Weis’ record to 7-0 in November games.
… improves Weis’ record to 13-4 in afternoon games.
… gives Weis 19 victories over his first two seasons as Irish head coach (most for any Notre Dame head coach over his first two years).
… makes Weis the first Irish coach to register double-digit wins in his second season (previous high for a second-year Irish head coach was nine by Bob Davie, 1998, and Dan Devine, 1976).
… improves Notre Dame’s all-time record to 821-267-42.
… improves Notre Dame’s all-time record against the military academies to 129-22-5.

IN THE WEIS ERA…
(first number is for 2006 season, second number refers to Weis era)

Opponent Scores First     3-1     6-3Leading At Halftime       7-0     15-1Leading After 3 Qtrs.     7-0     15-0Scoring 40+ Points        4-0     9-1Scoring 30+ Points        8-0     16-2Allowing 0-19 Points      7-0     10-0Outrushing Opponent       6-0     9-0Passing For More Yds      9-1     16-2Outgaining Opponent       6-0     14-1Losing Time of Poss.      3-1     5-2Fewer Penalty Yards       7-0     9-2Winning Turnover Battle   7-0     13-2Walker 100 rushing yds    5-0     11-1Walker 150 rushing yds    3-0     4-0Samardzija caught a TD    7-1     15-3McKnight caught a TD      8-1     12-4

NOTRE DAME TEAM NOTES
Notre Dame has won two straight Senior Day games (final home games) and 10 of its past 12. The Irish dropped the 2004 meeting with Pittsburgh (41-38) and the 1999 game with Boston College (31-29). The Irish now are 58-17-1 all-time in Senior Day games at Notre Dame Stadium (since 1930).

The following Notre Dame players extended streaks for consecutive starts: senior QB Brady Quinn (44), senior OT Ryan Harris (35), senior DT Derek Landri (35), senior DE Victor Abiamiri (24), senior WR Jeff Samardzija (24), senior OL Dan Santucci (23), senior CB Mike Richardson (23), junior LB Maurice Crum, Jr. (23), senior FS Chinedum Ndukwe (23) and senior DE Trevor Laws (23).

The Irish had a season-high 221 rushing yards, as part of 439 total offense yards (15 shy of that season-high, set vs. Purdue).

Army grabbed the lead, 3-0, following Austin Miller’s 27-yard field goal at 1:46 of the first quarter. It marked the first time that Notre Dame had trailed since the waning minutes of the UCLA game on Oct. 21. The Irish trailed the Bruins, 17-13, before Jeff Samardzija’s 45-yard touchdown pass from Brady Quinn propelled Notre Dame to a 20-17 victory. Notre Dame had gone 193:41 since its previous deficit.

The Irish were held scoreless in today’s first quarter. It marked the first time Notre Dame was held scoreless in a quarter since the fourth quarter against Purdue on Sept. 30 (a span of 20 quarters). It also was the first time the Irish were held without any points in an opening quarter since Sept. 23 against Michigan State.

Notre Dame scored 20 points in the second quarter today. It tied the season-high for points in a quarter for the Irish (ND totaled 20 points in the first quarter against Air Force). After Notre Dame added 14 points in the third quarter, the Irish have scored at least 14 points in a single quarter on 12 different occasions in 2006.

Army totaled 67 yards (51 rushing, 16 passing) and three first downs on its 15 plays in the first quarter. Notre Dame then limited the Black Knights to minus-12 yards and two first downs over the second and third quarters (21 plays).

The Irish allowed only a field goal until the game’s final play. Notre Dame has held its opponents to three points or less in 21 different quarters this season.

Mike Richardson’s third-quarter interception was the first pick for the Irish defense since Oct. 21 against UCLA – a span of 262:30 and 268 plays.

The nine points by Army are the fewest allowed by an Irish defense since Oct. 16, 2004, versus Navy (27-9).

NOTRE DAME PLAYER NOTES
Senior QB Brady Quinn
NCAA History
… now has 90 career passing touchdowns to rank 10th all-time in NCAA Division I-A history. Quinn passed Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 1996-99), Luke McCown (Louisianna Tech, 2000-03), Troy Kopp (Pacific, 1989-92), Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1994-97) and Byron Leftwich (Marshall, 1998-02). Next up on the list is David Klingler (Houston, 1988-91) with 92 career TD passes.

… now has 11,340 career passing yards to rank 13th all-time in NCAA Division I-A history. Quinn today passed Eric Zeier (Georgia, 1991-94), Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1994-97), Derek Anderson (Oregon State, 2001-04) and Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 1996-99). Next on the list are Carson Palmer (11,389; 1998-02, USC) and Todd Santos (11,426; San Diego State, 1984-87).

… now has 892 career pass completions to pass Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 1996-99) and Gino Guidugli (Cincinnati, 2001-04) while remaining four completions shy of passing Carson Palmer (USC, 1998-02).

… now has 1,520 career pass attempts to pass Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 1996-99), Carson Palmer (USC, 1998-02) and Derek Anderson (Oregon State, 2001-04). Quinn now is just four attempts away from passing Drew Brees (Purdue, 1997-00) and nine shy of passing Ty Detmer (BYU, 1988-91).

Notre Dame Career History
… with his ninth pass attempt Saturday, Quinn eclipsed 1,500 for his career (already a school record).

Miscellaneous
… with the victory this afternoon, Quinn registered his 29th career win as a Notre Dame quarterback. He now is tied with Tom Clements (1972-74) and Ron Powlus (1994-97) for the school record in career victories by an Irish quarterback.
… with his first completion on Saturday, Quinn has now recorded a completion in 47 straight games (already a school record).
… registered his 44th consecutive start for the Irish (tied with Chris Leak for the second most among active I-A quarterbacks).
… with 218 yards passing, Quinn became the first Notre Dame quarterback ever to throw for 3,000 yards in consecutive seasons (only Irish QB to ever eclipse 3,000 in one season).
… with his first touchdown pass on Saturday, Quinn became the first Irish quarterback ever to toss 30 touchdown passes in consecutive seasons (only Notre Dame QB to ever to throw 30 TDs in one season).
… with the interception on his fourth pass attempt Saturday, Quinn’s streak of consecutive passes without an interception ended at 226. His previous interception came in the second quarter against Michigan State on Sept. 23, 2006.
… with his three touchdown passes, Quinn became the 10th player in NCAA Division I-A history to ever throw 90 touchdown passes.

Consecutive Passes Without An Interception This Season (Division I-A)
1. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame 226*
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
… the 162 yards rushing is a season-high and second-most of his career (behind his 186 vs. Stanford in 2005).
… registered his sixth and seventh rushing touchdown of 2006 (seventh and eight overall TDs) and 22nd and 23rd of his career (25th and 26th overall).
… surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight season.
… became the fourth Irish running back ever to eclipse 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons (Vagas Ferguson 1978-79, Allen Pinkett 1983-85, Autry Denson 1996-98).
… became the fifth Irish running back ever to eclipse 3,000 career yards (Autry Denson 1995-98, Allen Pinkett 1982-85, Vagas Ferguson 1976-79, Julius Jones, 1999-01, 2003).
… recorded a reception in his 26th consecutive game.
… eclipsed 100 yards on the ground for the fifth time in 2006 (second straight game and third in past four games) and 13th time in his career. … registered his first game with two rushing touchdowns of 2006 and fourth of his career.
… now has 657 career carries to rank fourth all-time in school history. Walker passed Julius Jones (1999-01, 2003).
… now has 3,065 career rushing yards to rank fourth all-time in school history. Walker passed Julius Jones (1999-01, 2003).
… now has 53 receptions in 2006 to tie for ninth in single-season history. He is tied with Jim Seymour (1968).
… now has 361 receiving yards in 2006 to tie for sixth in single-season running back school history. Walker passed himself (2005), Nick Eddy (1964) and is one behind Marc Edwards (1995).
… now has 786 career receiving yards to rank fourth all-time in running back school history. Walker passed Allen Pinkett (1982-85).

Senior WR Jeff Samardzija
… now has 64 receptions in 2006 to rank fourth in single-season school history. Samardzija passed Arnaz Battle (2002) and Jack Snow (1964).
… now has 165 career receptions to rank first all-time in school history. Samardzija passed Tom Gatewood (1969-71) and leads current teammate Rhema McKnight (161, 2002-05) for the school record.
… now has 879 receiving yards in 2006 to rank seventh in single-season school history. Samardzija passed Ken MacAfee (1977), Tim Brown (1987), Derrick Mayes (1994) and Jim Seymour (1966).
… now has 2,455 career receiving yards to rank third all-time in school history.
… now has 10 receiving touchdowns in 2006 to rank fifth in single-season school history.
… only Irish receiver ever to have 10 or more touchdown catches in multiple seasons.

Senior WR Rhema McKnight
… now has 58 receptions in 2006 to tie Arnaz Battle (2002) for fifth in single-season school history.
… now has 161 career receptions to rank second in school history behind teammate Jeff Samardzija (165).
… now has 2,146 career receiving yards to rank sixth all-time in school history. McKnight passed Jim Seymour (1966-68) and still is 50 yards shy of tying former teammate Maurice Stovall (2002-05).
… now has 21 career receiving touchdowns to remain third in school history, one behind Derrick Mayes and four back of Jeff Samardzija.

Senior P Geoff Price
… his 55-yard punt in the first quarter was his 10th punt of the season that exceeded 50 yards.

Senior DT Derek Landri
… recorded his fourth blocked kick of the season (three point-after attempts and one field goal).

Senior CB Mike Richardson
… recorded his first and second interceptions of the season and fifth and sixth of this career.
… second Irish player to register two or more interceptions in a game this season (Terrail Lambert against Michigan State on Sept. 23).