Statistically Speaking - Air Force | by Pat
The Mighty Quinn. Not content to only making his mark on the Notre Dame record book, Brady Quinn is poised to etch his name in some all-time NCAA records as well. With 11,112 career passing yards, Quinn is only 178 yards away from passing Tim Lester for 5th place in the NCAA all-time career yardage stat. Quinn is also 5 touchdown passes away from passing David Klinger for 5th place in NCAA career touchdown passes and 41 completions away from passing Todd Santos for 5th place in NCAA career completions.
Tackling Machine. Responsible for the pitchman in the Air Force option scheme, Chinedum Ndukwe turned in a yeoman's performance by totaling 22 tackles against the Falcons. His tackle tally (15 solo, 7 assisted) is not only the high water mark for an Irish defender on the year, it's also the highest single game tackle total in the NCAA this year, both total and solo. Nedu now leads the Irish in tackles by two over Maurice Crum, Jr. In terms of Irish history, Nedu becomes the first defender not named Bob to crack the all-time Top 5 for single game tackles.
Tackles - single game
| 1 | Bob Crable | 26 | vs. Michigan - 1978 |
| 1 | Bob Crable | 26 | vs. Clemson - 1979 |
| 3 | Bob Golic | 22 | vs. Pitt - 1978 |
| 3 | Chinedum Ndukwe | 22 | vs. Air Force - 2006 |
| 5 | Bob Crable | 20 | vs. Michigan - 1981 |
Return Man. One of the more overlooked contributions to the Irish this year is the work of sophomore David Grimes on kickoff returns. Currently, Grimes is averaging 26.6 yards per kickoff return, which is good for 16th in the nation. That puts him ahead of such notable kickoff returners as Ted Ginn, Jr. of Ohio State, Steve Breaston of Michigan, and Jonathan Stewart of Oregon, who led the NCAA is the same category last year.
Block that Kick. A review of the North Carolina game found that Derek Landri, and not Trevor Laws as initially credited, blocked the Tarheel 3rd quarter extra-point attempt. When paired with Landri's 2nd quarter extra-point attempt block, Landri recorded two point-after attempt blocks for the game and become only the 2nd player in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. The only other player was Nigel Codrington of Rice, who accomplished the feat in 1988 against Notre Dame.
Returning to Glory. With a 9-1 record this year, the Irish have clinched back-to-back 9 win seasons for the first time since 1992-93, when the Holtz-led Irish went 10-1-1 and 11-1 in successive seasons. In a sign of just how far the program had fallen, the back-to-back 9 win seasons are also the first back-to-back seasons with winning records for the Irish program since 1997-98, Bob Davie's first two years as head coach.
Season Long Running Totals
Once again, check out the full table here for a look at the season long stat averages and totals for the 2006 Irish.
