Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State only 10 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.
Today, with 10 days remaining until kickoff, we look at the Irish career of former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, who wore the number from 2003-06.
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It wasn’t too hard to find a person, place, game or thing for No. 10. Sure, it may be the obvious answer here, but it’s obvious for a reason. It’s well-deserved.
Quinn, a native of the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, grew up in an Ohio State household. The son of a Buckeye graduate, Quinn frequented the downtown campus for both games and football camps. When it came time to seriously consider playing college football, Ohio State was firmly in the mix for the quarterback. So were Michigan and Notre Dame.
You know how this recruitment ended.
Quinn walked into a Notre Dame program largely trending down, although the Irish did go 10-3 the year before in 2002. The Irish had fallen from the glory days of the 1970s, 80s and early 90s with many believing one of college football’s most storied programs was headed for the “has been” category with the likes of the Ivy League. Quinn had something to say about that.
Thrown into the starting role as a true freshman as a result of an injury and making a total of nine starts, Quinn made some initial mistakes. He finished the season with nine touchdown passes and 15 interceptions en route to a 5-7 finish. The following year, the Irish went 6-6, notching wins over top-10 Tennessee and Michigan while getting blown out by No. 15 Purdue and No. 1 USC. What a weird season.
The final two years of Quinn’s career were different. Notre Dame won nine games in 2005 and posted 10 victories in 2006. The Irish notched a number of important wins like a 41-17 drubbing of a ranked Penn State team. Had Notre Dame pulled off the 2005 upset victory over then-No. 1 USC, it would’ve been the program’s biggest victory in more than a decade.
Quinn led the group to back-to-back BCS bowl games, although they lost both of those contests to Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl) and LSU (Sugar Bowl).
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Inconsistency remained; the team’s time under Quinn was far from perfect. But at the very least, Quinn made Notre Dame relevant again, which was what the fans wanted at that time after years of disorderly and maddening football.
Before his time in the blue and gold came to an end, Quinn set 36 school records and was tied for the all-time winningest quarterback in school history at the time (29). He remains tied for the second most wins behind former Irish signal-caller Ian Book (30).
The Ohio native turned Irish defector remains the program leader in the three passing touchdown categories: career (95), single-season (37) and game (six).
Quinn finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2005 and third in 2006. He was drafted No. 22 overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
