Brady Quinn's 10 Best Games at Notre Dame

Countdown 10 days until Notre Dame football returns with No. 10's, 10 best performances

Sep. 2, 2006; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback (10) Brady Quinn celebrates the 14-10 Notre Dame win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

We've reached the stretch run of summer as just 10 days now remain before Notre Dame football returns for the 2024 season.

We thought, what better way to celebrate the 10-day mark than by counting down the 10 best from the best to ever wear No. 10 at Notre Dame?

Brady Quinn holds pretty much every Notre Dame career passing record and his 2005-2006 seasons were nothing short of insane. Starring in Charlie Weis' offense, Quinn became a marquee name in college football and a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist.

Quinn started for three-and-a-half seasons at Notre Dame and was quite the "comeback kid" in blue and gold.

Of those 46 career starts, which 10 were his best?

Here's what we came up with:

Just Missed the List: 2004 vs. Washington, 2006 vs. Penn State

Quinn had a couple of close calls we left off the list, including the 2004 win over Washington which was his first career four-touchdown game, and the 2006 destruction of Penn State when he threw for 287-yards and three touchdowns in front of Joe Paterno and company.

No. 10: 2005 at Stanford

Quinn and Notre Dame were playing to clinch a BCS berth in the regular season finale. Despite throwing two first half interceptions, Quinn led Notre Dame on a go-ahead touchdown drive with under two minutes to play to secure the victory. Quinn was perfect on that final drive, completing three passes for 63-yards, and rushing for five more in setting up a Darius Walker go-ahead touchdown run.

No. 9: 2005 at Michigan

Notre Dame went on the road in Week 2 of the memorable 2005 season to No. 3 Michigan. Although Quinn's numbers didn't jump off the page, it was a clean performance in a place Notre Dame hadn't won in a dozen years. Quinn led a game-opening touchdown drive which was topped off by a short touchdown pass to Rhema McKnight and went on to manage the game nearly flawlessly in the upset victory.

No. 8: 2005 vs. Tennessee

Tennessee didn't bring a marquee record to Notre Dame Stadium in 2005 but did have a top-notch defense. Quinn and Notre Dame started hot, jumping out to a 21-3 lead. Tennessee came back to tie things up however before Quinn helped guide Notre Dame back in front. The game is remembered for Tom Zbikowski having two returns for touchdowns (one punt, one interception), but Quinn had a strong and clean showing, throwing for 295-yards and three touchdowns while not turning the ball over in the 41-21 victory.

No. 7: 2006 vs. UCLA

Like the Stanford game, it wasn't Quinn's most complete game but perhaps his most memorable possession. Quinn completed all three pass attempts on the final drive to go 80-yards and score the go-ahead touchdown.

Why not higher? The moment was perhaps his finest at Notre Dame, but entering the drive Quinn had thrown 42 passes and averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt.

No. 6: 2005 at Pittsburgh

Quinn had been decent his first two years but had a coming out party in his first showing under Charlie Weis. Quinn threw for 227-yards and two touchdowns as Notre Dame's offense announced its arrival under the new head coach and veteran quarterback.

No. 5: 2005 vs. Michigan State

Trailing 38-17 late in the third quarter, Notre Dame looked done for against annual foe Michigan State. Quinn led Notre Dame on a comeback for the ages, tossing three touchdown passes in the final 17 minutes of regulation to force overtime. Although the Irish didn't get the job done, Quinn's 487-yards and five touchdowns played a major role in the comeback.

No. 4: 2005 vs. BYU

It wasn't against the stiffest of competition but one week after the game of the year against USC, Quinn returned to Notre Dame Stadium and set a program record by tossing six touchdown passes, four of which went to Maurice Stovall in the 49-23 victory.

No. 3: 2005 vs. USC

Quinn didn't play perfect in Notre Dame's upset bid of USC in 2005 but he was still really good. Quinn's stats weren't amazing, completing just 54.3% of his pass attempts but he managed the game nearly perfectly. The 264-yards he threw for came against no slouch of a USC defense and Quinn used his strength to help convert multiple quarterback sneaks in short yardage to extend drives and help play the necessary ball possession game. If only the last two minutes would have had the Hollywood type ending this would easily be number one and dare I say - Brady Quinn, not Reggie Bush or Vince Young, would have been your 2005 Heisman Trophy winner.

No. 2: 2005 at Purdue

Purdue had been a thorn in Quinn's paw his first two years as a starter and he extracted revenge in a big way in 2005. Quinn and Notre Dame's offense erupted for four first half touchdowns and a 28-0 advantage. In all, Quinn threw for 440 yards and three touchdowns while completing over 80% of his pass attempts in the dominating win.

No. 1: 2006 at Michigan State

As is the theme with many of these games, a comeback was on the mind of Notre Dame at Michigan State in 2006. One week after getting leveled at home by Michigan, Notre Dame started slow and was down by 17 for much of the first half, as Quinn threw a pick-six early on.

Quinn found John Carlson for a long touchdown early in the third quarter but Notre Dame still trailed 37-21 entering the final frame. Quinn led a pair of touchdown drives to cut the deficit to 37-33 before a Terrail Lambert pick-six gave Notre Dame the lead with 2:53 to play.

Quinn ended the night with 319 passing yards and five touchdowns while averaging a over 10 yards per attempt in the memorable comeback victory.

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