June 22, 2006

As the `dog days' of summer settle in, und.com is looking forward to the beginning of Notre Dame football in 2006. A large contingent of student-athletes have arrived on campus already to begin their summer work out routines and knock out a few classes during Notre Dame's two sessions of summer school.

With the NBA Finals a memory, the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs over and the United States eliminated from the World Cup - non-baseball fans do not have much to look forward to over the next two months before football begins.

Keeping that in mind, und.com is going to take one final look back at the 2005 Irish football season. Today (Thursday, June 22) we look back at the '05 season in pictures. Over the next two months before the season begins, und.com will periodically bring back several articles and features that ran in last season's football programs - articles which may have been lost in the clutter of information during the fall.

Seventy-two days and counting down until kickoff against Georgia Tech on Sept. 2 (see the countdown ticker on the right side of the front page from und.com for the exact hour and minutes until kickoff). Forty-five days and counting down until Football Media Day on Sunday, Aug. 6.

The day it all began, Dec. 12, 2004, when Charlie Weis is announced as the 28th head football coach at the University of Notre Dame. Weis returned to the Patriots for the remainder of the NFL playoffs, helping the team claim the Super Bowl XXXVIII title - his fourth Super Bowl ring earned as an assistant coach in the NFL. Some memorable quotes from Coach Weis' first Notre Dame press conference - You are what you are, folks, and right now you're a 6-5 football team. And guess what, that's just not good enough. That's not good enough for you, and it's certainly not going to be good enough for me. So, if you think they hired me here to go .500, you've got the wrong guy. You are going to have a hard-working, intelligent, nasty football team that goes on the field because the attitude of the head coach will be permeated through the players. This is not a stepping stone. This is an end-all for our family. We come to Notre Dame, it's with the intent of retiring here. That's why we're coming here. We don't come here to bounce somewhere else. If that's what I was going to be doing, I would not be taking this job and I would be waiting till the season ended in the NFL and try to get one of those jobs. I'm here because I want to be here. I'll proud to be here. The day it all began, part two. The first quarterback drill of the first spring practice under the direction of Coach Weis. He kept a close eye on Brady Quinn's development during spring practice. The outcome? Let's just say for now that some records were broken. Notre Dame fans did not know what to expect when the team walked into Heinz Field to face highly-regarded Pittsburgh for the 2005 season opener. National pundits had predicted an 0-4 start for the Irish. The critics were quickly quieted in the second quarter of the contest when Notre Dame exploded for 28 points - began with a two-yard run by Darius Walker (pictured) with no Pittsburgh defenders in the frame.

The catch that thrust Jeff Samardzija into the national spotlight. Though Samardzija was already enjoying a solid season, this one-handed grab on a great throw from quarterback Brady Quinn announced Samardzija's arrival on the national scene. He ended up with seven catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns against the Boilermakers, who found themselves blitzed 28-0 in the first half by the Irish. The Purdue contest was perhaps the turning point of the season for the Notre Dame team. The Irish would return home and battle #1 USC in a classic matchup, falling in the final seconds to the Trojans. After the loss to MSU and a somewhat uneven performance at Washington, the Purdue contest showed exactly what the Irish were able to put together against a nationally-ranked team (the Boilermakers were ranked 22nd in the nation before the game). Here, Corey Mays celebrates post-game with the Irish faithful who made the trip to West Lafayette, Ind. Notre Dame's dismantling of Purdue thrust the Irish into the top 10 (#9) for the huge showdown with Southern Cal. The Notre Dame campus was the place to be that weekend and the Friday night pep rally was one of the most memorable in recent seasons. Over 50,000 fans packed into Notre Dame Stadium to welcome back former players Joe Montana, Tim Brown and Chris Zorich.

Derek Landri (#66) helped bottle up USC's rushing attack during the Irish - Trojans matchup. Though future Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush would gain 160 yards on the ground, Notre Dame completely shut down Len Dale White (#21), who ended up with just 26 yards on 10 carries. Jeff Samardzija continued his outstanding string of performances during '05 against the Trojans, nabbing six catches for 99 yards and this 32-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. The high-water mark for the Irish against USC on Oct. 15 - Tom Zbikowski finishes off his scintillating 60-yard punt return during which he ran through, around and past the USC punt coverage team. Zbikowski's big play gave the Irish a 21-14 lead going into halftime.

Darius Walker posted an outstanding season running and catching the ball for the Irish in 2005. Helped by a vastly improved offensive line (#74 Dan Stevenson on the left, #76 Bob Morton on the right) Walker rushed for over 100 yards in seven games and set a Notre Dame record for receptions by a running back with 43 for 351 yards. Trevor Laws introduces himself to BYU's John Beck in Notre Dame's 49-23 victory over the Cougars. Navy, who ended up going to a bowl game in 2005, entered the contest with Notre Dame leading the nation in rushing with a 282.6 average. The Irish held them under that average to 239 yards, led by Corey Mays (middle, #46) with a career-best 14 tackles.

Brady Quinn's performance in 2005 might never be duplicated by another Irish player. Not only did Quinn break the single-season records for attempts, completions, yards and touchdown passes, he also eclipsed the career marks in all of those categories. Overall, Quinn owns 30 Notre Dame records - nine career, nine single-season, four single-game and eight others. Jeff Samardzija and Maurice Stovall engage in what would develop into their traditional touchdown celebration during the 2005 season. Stovall and Samardzija had the opportunity to practice the timing of the jump plenty of times, as they combined for 26 touchdown receptions in '05. While Maurice Stovall will be making outstanding catches for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL this season, it is never too late to look back at his memorable catches as a senior with Notre Dame in 2005. Here, Stovall nabs a 50-yard pass from Brady Quinn as part of his 176 receiving yards against Michigan State.

Stovall jumps and makes a catch against Washington - he finished the game with three catches for 34 yards. Stovall reaches out and nabs a reception versus USC, one of his three catches for 30 yards in the game. Stovall goes up in the air again and grabs a 25-yard scoring toss from Brady Quinn against Syracuse.

Charlie Weis designed an offense that allowed Brady Quinn to throw for 3,919 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2005. With a berth in the Bowl Championship Series on the line, Notre Dame headed to Stanford for the final game of the regular season on Thanksgiving weekend. Notre Dame quickly put a number on the scoreboard when Jeff Samardzija turned a short crossing pattern reception into an 80-yard touchdown jaunt. Stanford would not go quietly, however. Playing in the final game in Stanford Stadium, the Cardinal rallied to hold a 31-30 lead with 1:46 remaining. The Irish quickly answered, scoring in 51 seconds when a six-yard run up the middle off a direct snap to Darius Walker capped an efficient six-play drive. The timely play call earned a celebration on the Notre Dame sidelines, led by head coach Charlie Weis.

Photos by Matt Cashore, Marcus Snowden and Alan Wasielewski.