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Oct. 21, 2006

Recap |  Final Stats |  Quotes

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 20, UCLA 17

Today's attendance of 80,795 is the 190th 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 238 of their last 239 home games.

UCLA won the toss and elected to defer to the second-half. The Bruins defended the north end zone in the first half.

Notre Dame was ranked 10th in the Associated Press poll at kickoff. UCLA came into the game unranked in the AP poll.

THE NOTRE DAME WIN TODAY...
... made Notre Dame 6-1 or better at the seven-game mark for the second time since 1998 (the 2002 team was 7-0-0)
... improved the Irish to 61-13-2 all-time following a bye week dating back to the 1900 season (have won 28 of the past 32 games after an off-week, with two of the losses coming to USC in '04 and '05)
... was the fourth straight victory for the Irish
... improved Notre Dame to 3-0-0 in the all-time series with UCLA
... improved the Irish to 3-0-0 in the all-time series with the Bruins in Notre Dame Stadium
... improved Weis' record to 15-4 overall, 1-0 against UCLA and 4-1 against Pac-10 foes
... improved Weis' home record to 8-3.
... improved Weis' record to 4-1 in October games
... improved Weis' record to 9-4 in afternoon games
... improved Notre Dame's all-time record to 817-267-42
... improved the Irish's all-time record at home to 295-90-5
... improved Notre Dame's all-time record against the Pac-10 to 76-39-6

NOTRE DAME TEAM NOTES
The following Notre Dame players extended streaks for consecutive starts: senior QB Brady Quinn (40), senior OT Ryan Harris (31), senior DT Derek Landri (31), senior DE Victor Abiamiri (20), senior WR Jeff Samardzija (20), senior OL Dan Santucci (19), senior CB Mike Richardson (19) and junior LB Maurice Crum, Jr. (19).

Brady Quinn's 45-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Samardzija produced the game-winning points with just 27 seconds left on the clock. It was the latest in a game that Notre Dame has scored the winning points (in regulation) since D.J. Fitzpatrick's 40-yard field goal beat Navy as time expired on Nov. 8, 2003 (27-24, at ND Stadium).

It had been 14 years since a Notre Dame team scored a touchdown in the final 30 seconds to help secure victory. On Nov. 14, 1992, Rick Mirer threw a three-yard TD pass to Jerome Bettis with 20 seconds left to play in the "Snow Bowl" game with Penn State. The ensuing two-point conversion (a pass from Mirer to Reggie Brooks) gave the Irish the winning 17-16 margin. (Note that Brooks was in the press box today, as part of the Notre Dame post game radio crew).

Eleven previous Notre Dame victories have come in the final 30 seconds of regulation but nine of them have involved game-winning field goals. The two previous game-winning TD drives that have culminated in the final 30 seconds include the above-mentioned game versus Penn State in 1992, plus the famous comeback versus Houston in the 1979 Cotton Bowl (following the '78 season) when Joe Montana's eight-yard TD pass to Kris Haines tied the game with no time left on the clock. Joe Unis then converted the extra point for that 35-34 victory (commonly known as the "Chicken Soup Game").

Today's game is just the 10th time in Notre Dame history that the Irish have trailed as the clock ticked under 0:30 and still managed to pull out the victory (three on TD drives and seven resulting in field goals). Two other game-winning field goals in the final 30 seconds came when the score was tied.

Five other Notre Dame victories have featured game-winning TD drives in the final minute (but not in the final 30 seconds): 1935 vs. Ohio State in the "Game of the Century" (Bill Shakespeare 19-yard pass to Wayne Millner; 0:31; 18-13); 1990 vs. Michigan State (Rodney Culver 1-yard run; 0:34; 20-19); 1979 vs. South Carolina (Rusty Lisch 14-yard TD pass to Dean Masztak and 2-point conversion pass to Pete Holohan; 0:42; 18-17); 1999 vs. Navy (Jarious Jackson 16-yard pass to Jay Johnson; 0:36; 28-24); and the 2005 game at Stanford (see below).

This marks the third time in Brady Quinn's career that he has engineered a game-winning drive when the winning points were scored in the final minute. The first came during his freshman season in the above-mentioned win over Navy. The second was in the final regular-season game of the 2005 season, when Darius Walker's six-yard run with 57 seconds left to play helped produce a 38-31 victory. One other game in Quinn's career has seen the Irish score the winning points in the final five minutes: the win earlier this season on Michigan State, when Terrail Lambert's interception return produced the final points with 2:53 to play).

Quinn's combined stats on the above three final-minute comebacks are as follows: 10-for-12 passing for 183 yards (4-for-6/35 vs. Navy; 3-for-3/68 vs. Stanford; and 3-for-3/80 vs. UCLA). Those three drives totaled 222 yards in 20 plays and 3:20 of game time (11 plays/62 yds/1:54 vs. Navy; 6 plays/80 yds/0:51 vs. Stanford; and 3 plays/80 yds; 0:35 vs. UCLA).

The three plays in today's final drive were: a 21-yard completion to Jeff Samardzija, a 14-yard completion to David Grimes and the 45-yard TD pass to Samardzija.

Notre Dame entered the game with 18 touchdowns on 23 attempts inside its opponents' red zone (inside the 20-yard line), also settling for three red-zone field goals prior to today's game. Notre Dame entered the Bruins' red zone three times today and came away with just one touchdown and two field goals.

The Irish had just one 2006 scoring drive lasting longer than six minutes prior to today's game. Notre Dame had scoring drives against UCLA of 6:55 and a season-long of 7:18 (each resulting in field goals).

Notre Dame converted its first four fourth-down attempts versus UCLA before being stopped late in the fourth quarter. It marked the most fourth-down attempts (5) of the season for the Irish and the most since Notre Dame was 4-of-7 on fourth down versus North Carolina State in the 2003 Gator Bowl (following the 2002 season).

Notre Dame failed to score a touchdown over the second and third quarter. The previous time that the Irish went consecutive quarters without a touchdown was Sept. 10, 2005, against Michigan. (when ND managed just three points in the second half).

Notre Dame closed the first half with a 19-play, 77-yard drive that took 7:18 off the clock. The drive is the longest of the season for the Irish in terms of plays and time of possession. It also is the longest scoring drive for the Irish that failed to result in a touchdown since Oct. 11, 2003, against Pittsburgh - when Notre Dame used 9:14 off the clock and did not score (that 16-play, 68-yard drive ran out the clock to end the game).

The Irish managed just a field in the second quarter. The previous season-low for points in a second quarter was seven points on three occasions. The 10 points at halftime are the fewest for Notre Dame in an opening half since scoring seven in the first half against Georgia Tech earlier this season.

The Irish held UCLA on a 4th-and-1 from the Bruin 44-yard line in the first quarter. It was the fourth consecutive time that Notre Dame held its opponent on fourth down. The Irish have limited their opponents to 30-percent (3-for-10) on fourth down this season. Notre Dame converted on a 4th-and-1 from the UCLA 35-yard line on the ensuing possession. The Irish converted two more fourth down plays on their final drive of the first half. The Irish have converted 76 percent (13-for-17) on fourth down this season.

Notre Dame held the Bruins scoreless in the first quarter Saturday afternoon. It marked the ninth quarter this season that the Irish have held an opponent without any points for an entire period.

Notre Dame fumbled on its opening drive of the afternoon against UCLA. It marked the second turnover for the Irish in their seven drives to open games in 2006. Notre Dame's only other turnover on the opening drive of a game came against Michigan (an interception returned for a TD). The Irish have punted twice, kicked a field goal once and scored a touchdown two other times on first drives this season.

The Darius Walker fumble on the opening drive of the game was Notre Dame's first turnover since Sept. 23 against Michigan State. The Irish had gone 159:59 without committing a turnover.

NOTRE DAME PLAYER NOTES

Senior QB Brady Quinn (see notes above for information on his final-minute, game-winning drives)
...tied Ron Powlus' (1994-97) school record of 43 straight games with a completed pass
...moved past Rick Mirer (1991, 1992) for 10th on the single-season attempts list
...eclipsed 10,000 career passing yards (became the 32nd player in NCAA Division I-A history)
...recorded his 75th career touchdown pass on a two-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Samardzjia in the first quarter, adding the 76th on the decisive 45-yard pass to Samardzija
...moved past Steve Beuerlein (1986) for seventh on the single-season completions list
...moved past Joe Theismann (1970) for sixth on the single-season completions list
...moved past himself (2003) for fifth on the single-season completions list
...eclipsed 1,600 plays of total offense for his career
...attempted his second career punt, a 37-yard boot on the third quarter, and first since Stanford on Nov. 26 of the 2005 season (owns a career average of 42.5 yards per punt)
...moved past Carlyle Holiday (2002) for ninth on the single-season attempts list
...eclipsed 800 career completions
...moved past Steve Beuerlein (1986) for eighth on the single-season attempts list
...moved past Joe Montana (1978) for seventh on the single-season attempts list
...eclipsed 1,400 pass attempts for his career
...established a school record for consecutive passes without an interception (144) within the same season (the previous record was 130 set by Quinn in 2005)
...also set the Irish record for consecutive passes without an interception (spread over one or multiple seasons)
...moves past Joe Theisman (1970) for sixth on the single-season list

Junior RB Darius Walker
...moved past Phil Carter (1979-82) for seventh on the all-time Notre Dame career rush list
...registered first fumble lost in his past 405 touches (previous fumble lost was on Sept. 10, 2005, against Michigan)
...moved past Ryan Grant (2001-04) for sixth on the all-time Notre Dame career rush list
...moved past Don Miller (1922-24) for ninth on the all-time Notre Dame career total offense list (non-quarterbacks)
...his third-quarter reception extended his active streak to 22 consecutive games with a catch

Senior TE John Carlson
...passed Dean Masztak (1979) for fifth most receiving yards in single-season tight end history
...surpassed 400 yards receiving this season (just the sixth ND tight end to ever surpass 400 yards receiving in one season)

Senior WR Jeff Samardzjia
...recorded his 21st and 22nd career receiving touchdowns, giving him seven TD catches for the season; the TD catches came on a two-yard strike from Brady Quinn in the first quarter and the game-winning 45-yard catch in the final minute
...the two touchdown catches tie him with Derrick Mayes (1992-95) for the Irish career record (22)
...moved past Tim Brown (1984-87) for fourth on the all-time Notre Dame career receptions list
...moved past Jim Seymour (1966-68) for third on the all-time Notre Dame career receptions list
...moved past Maurice Stovall (2002-05) into third on the Irish career receiving yards list
...had multiple touchdown catches in a game for the sixth time in his career and second time in 2006
...the 45-yard TD catch was the ninth touchdown reception of 40-plus yards in his career

Sophomore CB Terrail Lambert
...recorded his third interception of the season and third of his career late in the first quarter

Senior DT Trevor Laws
...recorded his first fumble recovery of the season and second of his career
...previous fumble recovery came against Washington on Sept. 25, 2004

Senior DE Victor Abiamiri
...recorded one tackle for loss which gives him 10.0 TFL for the season and 35.0 for his career

Senior LB Joe Brockington
...registered a career-high seven tackles (previous career-high of five came against Stanford earlier this season)

Sophomore WR David Grimes
...recorded a career-high of eight catches (doubling his previous career-high of four set earlier this season against Michigan)

Senior K Carl Gioia
...set a career-high with three field goal attempts
...tied his career-high of two field goals made (previous time came against Penn State earlier this season)

Junior LB Maurice Crum
...his fourth-quarter sack was his second of the season and second of his career
...ranks second on the team with 7.0 tackles for loss

	Days	Hours	Mins	Secs
	vs. Nevada