2006 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 2006 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was a college football team which represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The team was coached by Charlie Weis in his second year as head coach and played their home football games at Notre Dame Stadium . The team completed the season with a record of ten wins and three losses that culminated in a post - season appearance in the 2007 Sugar Bowl and a number 19 ranking in the nation . Pre - season . After finishing 9 - 3 in 2005 , Notre Dame began the 2006 season ranked No . 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No . 2 in the Associated Press Poll . These were Notre Dame ' s highest preseason rankings since 1994 , when they occupied the same positions in both polls . Roster changes . The Irish lost nine former starters to graduation and the NFL after the 2005 season , including five offensive starters , three defensive , and placekicker D . J . Fitzpatrick . However , the Irish returned many key players such as quarterback Brady Quinn , wide receiver Jeff Samardzija , running back Darius Walker , and safety Tom Zbikowski from the previous year ' s squad , Notre Dame received much pre - season hype as a possible national championship contender . Recruits . In Weis ' first full year of recruiting , the Irish signed 28 recruits . The top ten ranked recruiting class , included three five star recruits on offense and 14 four star recruits with eight on offense and six on defense . Award candidates . Quinn also entered the season as one of the favorites to win the coveted Heisman Trophy . Along with Quinn , the following Fighting Irish football players were named to national award watchlists for the 2006 season : Notre Dame ' s three players on the Maxwell Award watchlist tied Miami , Michigan , Ohio State , and USC for most nominees . Schedule . Game notes . Georgia Tech . Pregame Line : ND - 7 . 5 Georgia Tech drew first blood when quarterback Reggie Ball connected on a four - yard touchdown pass with receiver Calvin Johnson at the end of the first quarter . Georgia Tech ' s defense continued to menace 3rd - ranked Notre Dame ' s offense , while a Travis Bell field goal increased Tech ' s lead to 10 - 0 . It was the last time Georgia Tech would score , however . Notre Dame orchestrated a 14 - play , 80 - yard drive right before the half , punctuated by a five - yard rushing touchdown from Brady Quinn , to close the score to 10 - 7 at the half . Coach Charlie Weis adjusted at halftime and began the second half determined to establish the Irish running game . The move paid off when running back Darius Walker hit paydirt on Notre Dame ' s first drive of the second half , scoring on a 13 - yard touchdown run to put the Irish ahead for the first time in 2006 , 14 - 10 . Both defenses tightened , as the teams traded punts . With Notre Dame facing a 4th - and - 1 at the Georgia Tech 47 yard line with 1 : 10 left to play in the game , Georgia Tech appeared to be on the verge of getting the ball back with a chance to win the game . However , Weis gambled and elected to go for the first down rather than punt . Weis ' gamble was rewarded when Quinn picked up the yard on a quarterback sneak , giving Notre Dame the first down and enabling them to run the clock out for the 14 - 10 victory . Quinn completed 23 of 38 passes for 246 yards . Quinn rushed for a score , but was held without a passing touchdown . Walker rushed 22 times for 99 yards and one touchdown , while Rhema McKnight was Notre Dame ' s leading receiver with 8 receptions for 108 yards . Despite being confounded by Georgia Tech ' s defense all night , Notre Dame was able to seize control during the second half and walk away with the victory in its 2006 season opener . Penn State . Pregame Line : ND - 8 . 5 Penn State came to Notre Dame for the first time since the 1992 Snow Bowl game between the two . The game began as a defensive battle with Notre Dame scoring the only points of the first quarter on a field goal . However the Irish offense picked up in the second quarter as quarterback Brady Quinn threw two touchdown passes ( his first of the season ) to Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight . With another field goal , Notre Dame led 20 - 0 at the half . In the third quarter Penn State quarterback , Anthony Morelli fumbled the ball during a lateral pass as he ran an option play . Tom Zbikowski picked up the fumble and ran it for a touchdown . Penn State would score their first points later in the quarter on a 28 - yard field goal by Kevin Kelly , but the Irish scored again on a 1 - yard touchdown run by Travis Thomas . In the fourth quarter Brady Quinn threw a third touchdown to Darius Walker , Morelli threw his only touchdown of the day to Deon Butler , and Penn State running back Daryll Clark ran a 5 - yard touchdown with time running out . The game ended with Notre Dame winning 41 - 17 . Michigan . Pregame Line : ND - 5 . 5 The Michigan Wolverines came to Notre Dame having lost three of the last four games to the Irish and having not won at Notre Dame since 1994 , the year before Lloyd Carr became head coach . The game began with Notre Dame receiving the ball on the opening kickoff . On the second play , Brady Quinn ' s pass was intercepted by Prescott Burgess who ran it back for a 21 - yard touchdown to put Michigan ahead 7 - 0 . After a punt on Notre Dame ' s next drive Michigan quarterback Chad Henne threw an interception to Chinedum Ndukwe which was returned to the 4 - yard line to set up a Brady Quinn touchdown pass to Ashley McConnell . Michigan would score the next 27 points with three touchdown passes by Henne to Mario Manningham and a run by Mike Hart . The Irish would score with a touchdown pass to Jeff Samardzija before halftime to leave the score 34 - 14 . In the third quarter Michigan kicked two more field goals , one after Brady Quinn ' s second interception in the game . Brady Quinn threw a touchdown in the fourth quarter to Rhema McKnight to end the Irish scoring . The Wolverines ended any chance of a comeback when , while being sacked , Quinn ' s fumble was returned for a 54 - yard touchdown by LaMarr Woodley . The game ended as a Wolverine blowout of 47 - 21 , giving Lloyd Carr his first win in Notre Dame . Michigan State . Pregame Line : ND - 3 . 0 The game between Notre Dame and Michigan State in East Lansing seemed doomed to be overshadowed by pregame hype . A controversial incident where Spartan players planted a flag in Notre Dame ' s field after Michigan State ' s 2005 win was talked about in the week leading up to the game . Spartan officials said the incident occurred because Notre Dame didn ' t present the Megaphone Trophy after the game and players needed to celebrate . Irish officials stated that they never presented rivalry trophies after games , but sent them later in the week . More controversy was sparked when it was reported that Irish head coach Charlie Weis told a group of Notre Dame alumni during the summer of 2006 that he would never lose to Michigan State again as head coach . Weis denied it , but nevertheless Spartans used it as motivation . Added to these controversies was the fact that 2006 marks the 40th anniversary of the Game of the Century between the teams . Before the game Michigan State brought back players from that team and retired Bubba Smith ' s jersey . The controversies continued into the game when a late hit on Michigan State ' s quarterback by the Notre Dame bench lead to a scuffle between the teams and Charlie Weis claiming an MSU player slapped him in the face . This claim brought a penalty from the officials , and after the game John L . Smith implied that Charlie Weis had lied about a slap that could not be seen on any replay footage . The game was played in windy and rainy conditions for most of the night . Notre Dame won the coin toss and took the ball as Charlie Weis normally does . Michigan State chose to play with the wind at their backs for the first quarter . The commentators for the game , especially Bob Davie , questioned Weis ' decision , believing that the windy conditions would affect play significantly . It seemed to as Notre Dame was held without a score for the entire first quarter , while the Spartans threw two quick touchdowns , one after a fumble on a punt return by Tom Zbikowski , and added a field goal before having to change sides . In the second quarter Notre Dame switched to a no - huddle offense with worked to confuse the Spartan defense for a drive allowing Brady Quinn to throw a 32 - yard touchdown to Rhema McKnight . On their next drive , however , Quinn threw an interception to Ervin Baldwin which was returned for a 19 - yard touchdown to give the Spartans a 24 - 7 lead . Quinn would throw another touchdown to Jeff Samardzija and Spartan quarterback Drew Stanton would add another touchdown pass to Kerry Reed to end the half with the Spartans leading 31 - 14 . The second half began with a defensive stop by the Irish which allowed Quinn to throw a third touchdown of 62 - yards to John Carlson to cut the Spartan lead to 10 . However later in the quarter Michigan State ' s Jehuu Caulcrick would run for a 30 - yard touchdown . The Spartans failed in a two point conversion attempt leaving the score 37 - 21 at the end of the third quarter . In the fourth quarter , Michigan State had the ball at the Notre Dame 42 - yard line and looked to score again . However a series of miscues and holding penalties halted the Spartan drive and forced them to punt . Quinn took advantage and threw a fourth touchdown to Jeff Samardzija . The Irish attempted a two point conversion to make their deficit only 8 , but failed , leaving the score 37 - 27 with 8 minutes left in the game . On the ensuing drive , a Stanton fumble was recovered by the Irish on the Spartan 24 - yard line . Aided by a pass interference call on 3rd down and 25 - yards to go , Quinn would throw his fifth touchdown pass of the evening to Rhema McKnight . The extra point was missed leaving the Spartans ahead 37 - 33 . On the next drive , Stanton threw an interception to Terrail Lambert which was returned 23 - yards for the go - ahead touchdown . The Irish led 40 - 37 with almost 3 minutes left . Stanton would take the Spartans to the Notre Dame 44 - yard line before throwing a pass which was tipped twice and which Terrail Lambert would catch off of the back of a Spartan wide receiver to end the game , with the Irish winning 40 - 37 . Purdue . Pregame Line : ND - 14 . 0 The Purdue Boilermakers came to Notre Dame undefeated , but still underdogs to the Irish . Notre Dame started the scoring with a 70 - yard opening drive capped with a 11 - yard run by George West for a touchdown , their first opening drive touchdown of the year . Purdue tied the game later in the quarter with a 7 - yard run by Kory Sheets . However the Irish completed another long drive with a 14 - yard touchdown run by Darius Walker to put them in the lead 14 - 7 at the end of the first quarter . Brady Quinn threw his first touchdown of the game to Rhema McKnight for 6 - yards halfway through the second quarter . With a little over a minute remaining before halftime , the Irish faked a field goal and Jeff Samardzija , the holder , ran for a 5 - yard touchdown . However , 30 seconds later , Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter threw an 88 - yard touchdown pass to Selwyn Lymon to put the halftime score at 28 - 14 , in favor of Notre Dame . The only score in the third quarter was a 12 - yard touchdown pass by Brady Quinn to Rhema McKnight to give the Irish a 21 - point lead . In the fourth quarter , Curtis Painter threw a 9 - yard touchdown to Selwyn Lymon to give the final score of 35 - 21 , Notre Dame winning . At the end of the game , Lymon had 238 receiving yards , the second most yards ever for a Purdue receiver and the most receiving yards ever against the Irish . The teams combined for 955 total yards , and only 242 - yards were from rushing . Darius Walker ran for 146 of those yards himself . Stanford . Pregame Line : ND - 29 . 5 The Stanford Cardinal came to Notre Dame winless and big underdogs . However , in the first half the Cardinal kept the game closer than expected . The Irish started the game taking their opening drive for a touchdown . Brady Quinn threw an 8 - yard pass to Jeff Samardzija to cap off a 91 - yard drive which consumed more than seven minutes off the clock . The Cardinal ' s opening possession took advantage of a porous Irish defense which was without linebacker Travis Thomas and safety Tom Zbikowski , both out with injuries . Stanford drove to the Irish 3 - yard line before being forced to kick a field goal after a sure touchdown was dropped . The Cardinal took six minutes off the clock themselves and the first quarter ended with Notre Dame winning 7 - 3 . The second quarter was uneventful until the Notre Dame ' s final drive , which began with just over two minutes left in the half . Brady Quinn orchestrated a 72 - yard drive which resulted in a 16 - yard pass to Rhema McKnight to put the Irish up 14 - 3 at halftime . In the third quarter the Irish began to pull away . Darius Walker ran for a 32 - yard touchdown , his longest run of the season , to give the Irish an 18 - point lead . Later in the quarter , Carl Gioia added a 32 - yard field goal to put the Irish up 24 - 3 at the end of the third quarter . In the fourth quarter the Cardinal used a trick play to get on the scoreboard again . On a toss play to running back Anthony Kimble , Kimble threw a 57 - yard touchdown to a wide open Kelton Lynn . The score brought the Cardinal within 14 . Later in the quarter , Brady Quinn would throw his third touchdown of the game to tight end John Carlson to give the final margin of victory , 31 - 10 , in favor of the Irish . UCLA . Pregame Line : ND - 13 After trailing UCLA for most of the game , Brady Quinn was able to lead Notre Dame to a miraculous last minute comeback that may have saved Notre Dame ' s BCS hopes , as well as Quinn ' s Heisman candidacy . Notre Dame got on the board first when Quinn capped a 7 play , 44 yard drive with a two yard touchdown pass to Jeff Samardzija . UCLA would roar back , however , scoring fourteen unanswered second quarter points before Notre Dame would add a field goal as the quarter expired . Down 14 - 10 heading into the locker room at halftime , the situation looked grim for the Irish , who were unable to deal with the relentless UCLA defense . Notre Dame would cut the Bruins ' lead to one when Carl Gioia capped a long , 14 play , 60 yard drive with a 33 yard field goal near the end of the third quarter . UCLA would answer with a field goal of its own midway through the fourth quarter to push its lead to 17 - 13 . The UCLA defense continued to frustrate the Notre Dame offense , and it appeared the Bruins had the game won after stopping Notre Dame on a fourth - and - 1 attempt from the UCLA 35 with 2 : 25 remaining in the game . UCLA , though , was unable to run the clock out . UCLA was forced to punt after running three straight running plays that netted 6 yards . UCLA was only able to take 1 : 19 off the clock with its three running plays . After Aaron Perez ' s 59 yard punt resulted in a touchback , Notre Dame took over on its own 20 yard line with : 55 remaining in the game , needing a touchdown to avoid its second loss of the season . Rather than blitz Quinn , UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell opted to rush only his four down linemen . UCLA was unable to generate any kind of a pass rush against the Notre Dame offensive line , allowing the masterful Quinn to pick apart the Bruin defense with surgical precision . On the first play of the drive , Quinn dropped back deep , but was initially unable to find an open man . Quinn started to roll out to his right before he spotted Samardzija along the right sideline and fired a 21 yard strike that moved the Irish to the Notre Dame 41 yard line . Quinn picked up 14 yards on the next play with a completion to wide receiver David Grimes , bringing Notre Dame to the UCLA 45 . Before the Bruins knew what hit them , Notre Dame had taken the lead . After taking a five step drop , Quinn pump - faked and began to roll to his right in search of an open receiver . Quinn spotted Samardzija open on the right side of the field and delivered a bullet to the Irish receiver . Samardzija caught the ball at the 30 - yard line and then jutted towards the middle of the field , weaving in and out of Bruin defenders before momentarily losing his balance after taking a hit from UCLA safety Dennis Keyes near the 15 yard line . Samardzija was quickly able to regain his footing , jumping the final yard into the end zone and scoring the winning touchdown with the ball raised aloft . The touchdown , which came with just : 27 left in the game , was only the third game winning touchdown in Notre Dame history come with less than : 30 remaining in the game , the other two occurring in the 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic and a 1992 game against Penn State . Quinn finished the game 27 of 45 for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns , thrusting himself back into the forefront of the Heisman race with his late game heroics . With the victory , Notre Dame improved its record to 6 - 1 on the season . Navy . Pregame Line : ND - 13 . 5 Brady Quinn has put himself back in Heisman contention after a fantastic performance against Navy . He made 18 of 25 passes and threw for 296 yards making 3 TD passes . He also showed his footwork by taking a TD in from 19 yards out . The Irish started out their scoring quickly with Carl Gioia hitting a 40 - yard FG , 3 : 15 into the game putting them up 3 - 0 and ended the 1st quarter with a 36 - yard pass from Quinn to WR David Grimes to make it a 10 - 0 game with 1 : 32 left . Navy got back in the game quickly with a 1 - yd run by Kaipo - Noa Kaheaku - Enhada to make 10 - 7 with 11 : 39 left in the half , but the Irish came back quickly with Travis Thomas running in a ball 16 yards to make it a 17 - 7 game with 8 min . left in the half . But Kaheaku - Enhada once again got Navy back in the game with another 1 - yard run to make 17 - 14 with 2 : 43 left in the half giving Navy only a 3 pt deficit . Quinn turned right around and hit hitting Rhema McKnight with a 33 - yard pass and his 2nd TD pass with a 1 : 19 left to give Notre Dame a 24 - 14 lead heading into halftime . Quinn continued his dominance in the second half leading 3 strong drives two of them scoring TDs . With 8 : 10 left in the 3rd , Quinn ran in a TD from 19 yards out to give the Irish a 31 - 14 lead the drive was helped out by a late hit call on 3rd and 19 that allowed Quinn to make the play . The second drive stalled at the 1 when the Midshipmen ' s defense held . The third drive however ended with Quinn hitting McKnight with a 6 - yard pass and his 2nd TD catch and Quinn ' s 3rd TD pass with 9 : 36 left in the game , to give the Irish a 38 - 14 final . North Carolina . Pregame Line : ND - 28 Notre Dame gets another win and Brady Quinn makes another case for the Heisman Trophy going 23 of 35 for 346 yards and 4 TDs . The game started with Brady Quinn hitting Rhema McKnight for a 7 - yd TD pass and giving Notre Dame a 7 - 0 lead . But UNC came back with Joe Dailey throwing a 12 - yd TD pass to Jesse Holley to knot up the score 7 - 7 . But Notre Dame came back with Quinn throwing an 11 - yd strike to John Carlson to close out the 1st quarter 14 - 7 . The 2nd quarter started like the 1st with Quinn hitting McKnight for a 14 - yd TD pass putting the Irish up 21 - 7 and Carl Gioia hit a 27 - yd kick to make it 24 - 7 but UNC ' s Brandon Tate would return the kickoff 90 - yds for a TD , the only saving grace being that the XP was blocked making the score 24 - 13 . The half closed out with Tom Zbikowski returning a punt 52 yds for a TD and increasing the lead to 31 - 13 going into the half . Joe Dailey would start off the scoring in the second half with a 13 - yd pass to Hakeem Nicks but the Irish defense would block another XP attempt making the score 31 - 19 . The Irish would strike back with Quinn hitting Jeff Samardzija with a 42 - yd pass to make the score 38 - 19 . UNC would repeat their earlier tandem with Dailey throwing a 72 - yd pass to Nicks to cut the deficit to 38 - 26 . But that would be UNC ' s last hurrah in this game as the Irish defense would prevent anymore scoring and the lone score of the 4th quarter was Darius Walker ' s 1 - yd run to give 45 - 26 final . Air Force . Pregame Line : ND - 11 . 5 Less Than a minute into the game Brady Quinn proved just why he ' s one of the top QBs in College Football today and he didn ' t stop there going 14 of 19 for 207 yards passing and 4 TDs . At : 54 seconds Quinn hit Jeff Samardzija for a 51 - yd TD pass and a 7 - 0 lead . Less than five minutes later he threw a 1 - yd pass to John Carlson to put Notre Dame up 14 - 0 . At 8 : 40 into the game Air Force got on the board when Zach Sasser kicked a 32 - yd field goal to shrink the deficit to 14 - 3 . But Quinn would respond with a 24 - yd pass to Rhema McKnight . Air Force was able to block the Extra Point Attempt and Notre Dame was now up 20 - 3 to finish up the 1st quarter . The second quarter showed off a lot of good defense including a blocked FG attempt that saw Terrail Lambert return the blocked kick 76 - yds for a TD to put Notre Dame up 27 - 3 at the half . Brady Quinn came out of halftime and with 8 : 33 left in the quarter threw a 23 - yd pass to Marcus Freeman , but Air Force once again block Carl Gioia ' s XP attempt putting Notre Dame up 33 - 3 . And with : 17 seconds left in the quarter Shaun Carney threw a 12 - yd pass to Beau Suder to make it 33 - 10 to close out the 3rd quarter of play . The 4th quarter saw Darius Walker run in a TD from 4 - yds out with Gioia missing the XP attempt giving Notre Dame a 39 - 10 lead . Carney then hit Jacobe Kendrick for a 7 - yd TD to give the game a 39 - 17 final . Army . Pregame Line : ND - 36 In the final home game for the team ' s senior class , the Irish took the field donning their special green jerseys . The first quarter of the game featured good defense by both teams including a stop on 4th down by the Irish and a pick that led to 3 by Army to give the Black Knights an early 3 - 0 lead . But in the second quarter the Irish came out firing and less than a minute into the 2nd Brady Quinn handed the ball to Darius Walker and he ran it in 10 - yds for the Touchdown making it 7 - 3 Notre Dame . After a Defensive stop by the Irish they got the ball back and on 9 plays drove down field topping it off with Quinn throwing a 13 - yd pass to Jeff Samardzija for the Irish ' s 2nd TD , but Gioia missed the PAT making the score 13 - 3 Notre Dame . With just over a minute left in the 1st half Brady Quinn hooked up with Rhema McKnight for a 8 - yd TD reception and this time Carl Gioia hit the PAT giving Notre Dame a 20 - 3 lead going into halftime . The Irish kept up the offensive onslaught to start off the 2nd half , scoring a touchdown when receiver David Grimes recovered teammate Darius Walker ' s fumble in the endzone to give Notre Dame a 27 - 3 lead . The next Black Knights drive saw an interception by the Irish which led to a 24 - yd pass from Quinn to McKnight for a TD extending their lead to 34 - 3 . 4 minutes into the 4th quarter Notre Dame struck again with Darius Walker taking it in from 8 - yds out to make it a 41 - 3 lead for Notre Dame . The drive started out with great field position due to Michael Richardson ' s 2nd pick of the day . On the last play of the game with no time left on the clock Army was finally able to make it into the endzone on a 12 - yd pass from David Pevoto to Tim Dunn to make it a 41 - 9 final . Southern California . Pregame Line : USC - 7 Notre Dame visited the Coliseum with a four - game losing streak to the Trojans . After the epic 2005 game , the Irish were hopeful that they could end their losing streak . The Trojans , however , knew that with a win they would still be in the national title hunt . The game started with the Irish receiving the ball and Brady Quinn throwing a quick 38 - yard pass to Rhema McKnight . The Irish drive stalled afterwards and turned the ball over after Quinn ' s fourth down pass flew errantly into the endzone . The Trojans took over and quarterback John David Booty led them on a 61 - yard drive that ended with a 9 - yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett . After the next Irish drive ended with a punt and a return by the Trojans to the Irish 26 , Booty completed another touchdown pass to Jarrett to put the Trojans ahead 14 - 0 . On the ensuing Irish drive , Quinn and Darius Walker brought the Irish downfield , allowing Carl Gioia to kick a field goal . The first quarter ended with the Trojans winning 14 - 3 . In the first drive of the second quarter , Booty led the Trojans to the Irish 1 - yard line where he sneaked the ball in for USC ' s third touchdown of the game . On the ensuing drive for the Irish , on a third down , Quinn scrambled for 59 - yards , Notre Dame ' s longest run of the season , to bring the Irish to the USC 17 - yard line . Four plays later , a Darius Walker fumble was recovered by the Trojans giving them the ball back . The Irish defense , however , held the Trojans for the first time forcing a punt . The punt was partially blocked giving the Irish the ball back on the 7 - yard line . On the next play , Quinn threw a touchdown to Marcus Freeman . The next two drives by the Trojans both ended when Booty threw an interception , but the Irish couldn ' t capitalize on either , turning the ball over on downs two more times . The half ended with the Trojans leading 21 - 10 . The second half began with a Trojan drive of 65 - yards capped with a Chauncey Washington 2 - yard touchdown run . The only other score of the third quarter came on Notre Dame ' s second drive of 58 - yards , when Quinn hit Rhema McKnight for a 2 - yard touchdown pass on fourth down . The fourth quarter began with the Trojans driving to an eventual 32 - yard field goal by Mario Danelo . After the Irish were held , Booty threw a 43 - yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett to give the Trojans a 37 - 17 lead ( Danelo missed the extra point ) . Quinn drove the Irish 78 - yards and threw a 2 - yard touchdown pass to Jeff Samardzija to put the Irish deficit to 13 points . However , the onside kick attempt , was recovered by Brian Cushing , who ran it back to give the Trojans a 20 - point lead again . Notre Dame ' s last drive would end on another failed fourth down attempt , giving the Trojans the 44 - 24 win . Post - season . Awards . After the season , a four Irish players were nominated for or won postseason awards . Geoff Price , was named as a Ray Guy Award semi - finalist , Tom Zbikowski was named as a Jim Thorpe Award semi - finalist , and John Carlson was named as a John Mackey Award finalist . Brady Quinn , after finishing third in balloting for the Heisman Trophy , was named a finalist to two top quarterbacking awards , the Johnny Unitas Award and the Davey O ' Brien Award , and won two player of the year awards , the Maxwell Award and the Cingular All - American Player of the Year . Along with the award winners , six Irish players were named to All - American lists . Sam Young was named by The Sporting News as a first team freshman All - American . Five players were named by Sports Illustrated , including Quinn on the second team , and Jeff Samardzija , Rhema McKnight , John Carlson , and Geoff Price as honorable mentions . The AP named Quinn and Samardzija on their second team and Tom Zbikowski on their third team , while Samardzija and Zbikowski were named by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on their second team . Finally , Samardzija was named by the Football Writers Association of America on their first team as well as being named , for the second time , as a Consensus All - American by the NCAA . NFL Draft . In the 2007 NFL Draft seven players were taken , including offensive starters Quinn , Ryan Harris and Dan Santucci and defensive starters Victor Abiamiri , Derek Landri , Mike Richardson and Chinedum Ndukwe . Five others also signed contracts with NFL teams , while Samardzija signed a deal with the Chicago Cubs as a baseball pitcher .