Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State is 37 days away

To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.

This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football. 

Thirty-seven days remaining until kickoff calls for a look back at 2008-11 wide receiver Michael Floyd’s 37 career touchdown catches, a program record.

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He found the end zone on his first catch and set records from the jump.

Michael Floyd scored his first Notre Dame touchdown in his college debut, hauling in a 22-yard pass in the first quarter of the Irish’s 2008 season opener against San Diego State. He went on to grab 36 more receiving touchdowns, placing him atop the program’s leaderboard in that category. He remains there today.

The career touchdown mark might be the most impressive of all Floyd’s receiving records. He needed just 43 career games to do it. It’s hardly the only record and accolade he owns, though.

That 22-yard score gave Notre Dame its first points of the season. A freshman had never scored a touchdown for the Irish’s first points of a campaign.

They found a star amid a frustrating 7-6 year. He ended it with 48 catches for 719 yards and seven touchdowns, setting Notre Dame freshman records in all three categories. No one has surpassed him in any since. He set a single-game record for catches by a freshman, with 10 in a loss to Pitt. He eclipsed 100 yards four times. He passed the century mark in consecutive weeks, making him the first Irish freshman to do so since 1981.

A broken clavicle limited Floyd to seven games in 2009, but he still caught nine touchdowns and cleared 100 yards in five of those contests. He hauled in scores of 24, 70 and 88 yards in the opener against Nevada. No Notre Dame played had caught two passes of at least 70 yards before.

Golden Tate’s departure after 2009 made Floyd the clear top target as a junior. He responded with his first 1,000-yard season, totaling 79 catches for 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns. He had four multi-touchdown games. He caught two touchdowns in a road loss at Michigan State and the Sun Bowl win over Miami. The second one against the Hurricanes pushed him pass Jeff Samardzija for the program’s career receiving touchdown record, with 28.

Floyd upped that mark to 37 during his senior year. He totaled a program single-season 100 catches that season, to go with 1,147 yards and nine touchdowns.

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Floyd ended his four-year college career with 271 receptions, 3,686 yards and those 37 scores. All three are still Notre Dame records. He also remains the highest-ranked Irish wide receiver signee in the history of the On3 Consenus, which was back-dated to 2004. The Minneapolis, Minn. native was the No. 25 player in the 2008 class and a five-star recruit.

Floyd caught a pass in all but one of his 43 games. His lone reception-less outing was in 2008 against Navy, when he left in the first quarter due to injury and did not return.

Twenty-four of those 37 touchdowns came against then-BCS opponents. He victimized Stanford and Michigan State four times each, tied for the most against any opponent. He burned Nevada, Western Michigan and Pitt three times. He did all that damage against the Wolf Pack and Broncos in one game. He’s the only receiver in program history with multiple receiving touchdowns of at least 80 yards.

Jimmy Clausen was most frequently on the passing end of Floyd’s touchdowns, connecting with him 16 times. Tommy Rees found him for 14 scores, Dayne Crist six and Andrew Hendrix one. He scored one rushing touchdown, a 10-yarder in a 2011 win over Navy.

Floyd was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, going to the Arizona Cardinals. He totaled 3,959 yards and 25 touchdowns in seven professional seasons and won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in 2016.