Quinn, turned into a star in `05 and ’06 under Weis’ tutelage, as he set 36 career, single-season, single-game and miscellaneous records after breaking 25 in that ’05 season alone. Quinn qualifies as the Notre Dame career and single-season leader in passing yards (3,919 in ’05; 11,762 in his career), pass completions (292 in ’05; 929 in his career) and touchdown passes (37 in ’06; 95 in his career). He ranked third in the country in ’06 with those 37 TD passes (behind only Hawaii’s Colt Brennan with 58 and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell with 38). He also ranked third in `05 with 32 TD passes (behind only Brennan with 35 and UCLA’s Drew Olson with 34) — and he set an Irish single-game record with his six TD passes versus BYU in ’05. During the middle of the ’06 season, Quinn threw a best-in the-nation 226 consecutive passes without an interception (that streak ended in the 11th game of the season vs. Army). Meanwhile, Samardzija (an ’05 NCAA consensus first-team All-American, based on his selection by The Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America team – then a first-team pick again in ’06 by the FWAA) finished as runnerup for the ’05 NCAA title in TD receptions with 15. He and Rhema McKnight finished one-two on Notre Dame’s career pass reception chart (with 179 and 170, respectively), after both surpassed Tom Gatewood (he’d held the record with 157 since 1971) during the ’06 season. Meanwhile, McKnight’s 15 TD receptions in ’06 tied Samardzija’s single-season Irish mark from ’05 and ranked him tied for second nationally in that category (behind only Rice’s Jarett Dillard with 21). Samardzija’s season total of 78 receptions in ’06 broke the season mark of 77 he tied in ’05 (Gatewood caught 77 in ’70). Weis guided the `05 Irish offense to final national rankings of fourth in passing offense (330.25 yards per game), eighth in scoring (36.67 points per game) and 10th in total offense (477.33 yards per game). Then, in ’06, the Irish finished 13th in passing (264.1 yards per game) and 16th in scoring (31.0 points per game). In ’07, his pass defense ranked second in the nation in average yards allowed per game (161.6), while defensive tackle Trevor Laws led the nation in tackles by a lineman (112). On an individual basis in `05, Quinn ranked fifth nationally in total offense (334.08 yards per game) and seventh in passing efficiency (158.40 rating points), and Samardzija stood fourth in receiving yards per game (104.08). Quinn in ’06 ended up 11th in total offense (269.0 yards per game) and 19th in passing efficiency (146.66 points). Samardzija in ’05 broke the Notre Dame season marks for receiving yardage (1,249) and TD receptions (15) and tied Gatewood’s 35-year-old single-season record of 77 receptions from ’70, before claiming the single-season reception mark for himself in ’06 and the career pass receiving yards record (2,593) and the career TD reception mark (27). Quinn finished 10th all-time among NCAA I-A quarterbacks in passing yards (11,762), 11th in completions (929) and tied for seventh in TD passes (95).