2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team
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The 2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
in the
2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 30, 2007 and ended on De ...
. The team was coached by
Charlie Weis Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator in ...
and played its home games at
Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest co ...
in
South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...
. For the first time in school history, Notre Dame opened the season with five losses (Notre Dame's worst opening prior to 2007 was 0โ€“3). Their nine-loss season was also a school record.


Pre-season


Coaching changes

With the end of the 2006 season, two assistant coaches' contracts came up and were not renewed by the Irish.
Rick Minter Rick Minter (born October 4, 1954) is an American football coach, most recently the defensive coordinator for the Birmingham Iron. He was the linebackers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) from February 2013 to ...
, the defensive coordinator who had been with the Irish since the 2005 season, was replaced by
Corwin Brown Corwin Brown (born April 25, 1970) is an American football coach who was most recently the defensive backs coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Following an eight-year career in the NFL as a safety from 1993โ€ ...
, and
Peter Vaas Peter Vaas (born April 26, 1952) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Allegheny College from 1986 to 1989 and at the College of the Holy Cross from 1992 to 1995, compiling a career college footba ...
, the quarterback coach who had also been with the Irish since 2005 after
David Cutcliffe David Nelson Cutcliffe (born September 16, 1954) is the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations at the Southeastern Conference and former college football coach, most recently head coach of the Duke University Blue Devils. ...
left the position, was replaced by former Irish quarterback,
Ron Powlus Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
. Both Powlus and Brown played college football and had time playing in the NFL. Brown was previously an assistant coach for the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
and Powlus had been Notre Dame's director of personnel development since 2005.


Roster changes

The Irish lost a number of players to graduation and the NFL. Former consensus All-American, and two-year starting wide receiver,
Jeff Samardzija Jeffrey Alan Samardzija (; born January 23, 1985), nicknamed "Shark", is an American professional former baseball pitcher. He played college baseball and football for the University of Notre Dame, and was recognized as a two-time All-American ...
, was signed by Major League Baseball's
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
as a pitcher, while twelve others were signed onto NFL teams. Former offensive starters
Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame, where he won the Maxwell Award, and w ...
, Ryan Harris, and Dan Santucci and defensive starters
Victor Abiamiri Victor Ikechukwu Abiamiri (born January 14, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. He is of Nigerian desce ...
, Derek Landri, Mike Richardson, and
Chinedum Ndukwe Chinedum "Nedu" Ndukwe ( ; born March 4, 1985) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Notre Dame. He also played ...
were taken in the 2007 NFL Draft, while five others, Marcus Freeman, Chris Frome, Travis Leitko,
Rhema McKnight Rhema Lee McKnight (born March 6, 1984 in Inglewood, California) is a former wide receiver for the University of Notre Dame's American Football team and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2007. He was su ...
, and
Darius Walker Darius Adunte Walker (born October 21, 1985) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) and current college football analyst for Fox. He worked as a college football analyst and sideline reporter for Mountain ...
, signed contracts with NFL teams. The team returns three starters on offense and five on defense. Despite the number of high-profile losses, Weis refused to call it a "rebuilding year," citing a number of fifth-year seniors that he owes to try to win.


Recruiting

The Irish added 18 players to its roster with high school recruits. Included in the class were five-star quarterback recruit
Jimmy Clausen James Richard Clausen (born September 21, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 2010 to 2015. He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in t ...
, nine four star recruits on offense, and four on defense. The class was named a top-15 class by most media.


Award candidates

Four players were named to six national awards watch lists in the pre-season: * John Carlson โ€“
Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...
*
Maurice Crum Jr. Maurice Crum Jr. (born May 29, 1986) is a former American football player and was formerly the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Mississippi. Crum was formerly the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach a ...
โ€“
Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...
,
Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ame ...
, and
Lott Trophy The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the ...
*John Sullivan โ€“
Dave Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College F ...
and
Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...
*
Tom Zbikowski Thomas Michael Zbikowski (born May 22, 1985) is a former American football safety. He is also a professional boxer and a firefighter. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round (86th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. He earned All-Ame ...
โ€“ Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, and Lott Trophy


Schedule

The 2007 Notre Dame schedule was ranked the 13th hardest in the country by
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
. The road schedule was ranked as the 10th most difficult.


Roster


Coaching staff


Game summaries


Georgia Tech

While deciding who would be the starting quarterback two weeks before the opener, Weis, wanting to keep the
Yellow Jackets Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera '' Vespula'' and '' Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of th ...
guessing, would only tell the media that the quarterback and his backup knew their roles. Demetrius Jones started the game, with
Evan Sharpley Evan is both an English and Welsh male given name derived from "Iefan", a Welsh form for the name John. In other languages it could be compared to "Ivan", "Ian", and "Juan"; the name John itself is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Yษ™hรดแธฅฤ ...
and
Jimmy Clausen James Richard Clausen (born September 21, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 2010 to 2015. He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in t ...
both seeing action as quarterback. Giving up nine sacks and two fumbles, and having negative 8-yards rushing, the Irish lost 33โ€“3 in their most lopsided season opening loss in the history of the program.


Penn State

After the opening loss, Weis named freshman Jimmy Clausen the starting quarterback. Clausen would become the eighth Notre Dame freshman to start at quarterback since 1951 and would be the earliest to start when he faced the 15th ranked
Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...
in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions won the game 31โ€“10. The Irish ended the game with no rushing yards, and had only 144 total yards. They also amassed 97 yards in penalties.


Michigan

With both teams starting the season 0โ€“2, for the first time ever a combined 0โ€“4, the Irish next faced the
Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...
. Michigan played without their starting quarterback
Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan. While there, Henne became only the second true freshman starti ...
due to a leg injury. Michigan senior running back Mike Hart guaranteed a victory over the Irish. Quarterback Demetrius Jones did not board a bus for the trip to Michigan. Charlie Weis issued a statement saying, "At 2:30 today, while boarding the bus to Michigan, I was notified that Demetrius Jones had decided not to make the trip. I have not spoken to Demetrius and can only say that he missed the team bus. Any additional comment would be without all the facts." On game day, it was reported that he had enrolled at
Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...
, however, he later revealed that he was transferring to the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
. Michigan won 38โ€“0, tying their largest-ever win over Notre Dame set during the 2003 season. For only the second time in school history, Notre Dame opened the season with three losses.


Michigan State

Despite scoring their first two offensive touchdowns of the season (the first resulting from a fumble by MSU's quarterback,
Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for seven different ...
, at the 9-yard line), Notre Dame fell to
Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
31โ€“14. For the first time in 119 seasons of Notre Dame football, the Irish had started a season 0โ€“4. Michigan State also became the first opponent to win six in a row at Notre Dame Stadium.


Purdue

Despite outgaining the
Boilermakers A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
in total yards (426โ€“371) and Clausen throwing his first collegiate touchdown, the Irish fell to 0โ€“5 on the season to Purdue by a score of 33โ€“19. Down 23โ€“0 at halftime, the Irish came out in the second half and drove to a 37-yard touchdown drive with Clausen's pass to John Carlson. Clausen left the game afterwards with an undisclosed injury. Evan Sharpley replaced him and threw his first collegiate touchdown in the fourth quarter and later threw another to put the Irish down by a touchdown, but they wouldn't score again. The Irish had much trouble in their kicking game with only one extra point made on three attempts and a blocked field goal.


UCLA

UCLA was without its two starting quarterbacks. UCLA starter
Ben Olson Benjamin James Olson (born February 28, 1983) is a former American football college quarterback. He played four injury-plagued seasons of college football at UCLA, starting 10 games (and appearing in four others) with the club. High school car ...
went out with a knee injury late in the first quarter, which left freshman walkon redshirt
McLeod Bethel-Thompson McLeod John Baltazar Bethel-Thompson (born July 3, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at UCLA and Sacramento State. He is the gran ...
to lead the Bruins. This was the first appearance for the Irish in the Rose Bowl stadium since the 1925 Rose Bowl. The Irish were able to capitalize on Bruin offensive mistakes to recover loose balls. This ended one of the worst slumps in Fighting Irish football, and prevented the Irish from equaling their longest losing streak in their history. In the
1960 NCAA University Division football season The 1960 NCAA University Division football season marked the last time that the University of Minnesota was a national champion on the gridiron. Murray Warmath's Minnesota Gophers were not in the Top 20 in preseason polling, but received the AP ...
, the Irish lost eight straight games. The biggest cheer during the entire game came when the score of the 2007 Stanford vs. Southern California football game was announced. Fighting Irish and Bruins fans, who together are arch-rivals of the Trojans, cheered together.


Boston College

In a battle between the two Catholic schools, the unbeaten Boston College Eagles and Heisman-hopeful Matt Ryan faced off against the struggling Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Faced with constant blitzes from the Irish defense, Ryan used a short passing attack to lead the Eagles to a 20โ€“0 lead early in the third quarter. Just as the game appeared headed for another blowout, Evan Sharpley, replacing an ineffective Jimmy Clausen, threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Robby Parris followed by a pick six of Ryan during the next possession. With the score suddenly 20โ€“14, the Eagles took advantage of good starting field position to answer with their own touchdown for the game's final score of 27โ€“14.


USC

In what was the largest margin victory the Trojans have put forth on the Irish to date, Notre Dame was shut out by USC for the first time since 1998. USC came into this game 5โ€“1, while Notre Dame came in 1โ€“6. Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis announced during that summer that his team would wear throwback green jerseys for the matchup, signifying the 30-year anniversary of the Irish beating the Trojans in their green jerseys in 1977, when Weis was a senior at Notre Dame. Because of
John David Booty John David Booty (born January 3, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at USC and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Booty also played for the Tennessee Titans a ...
's injured finger, USC back-up quarterback,
Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was draft ...
, was the starter. In his second game as a starter, Sanchez managed to complete 21 of 38 passes with a combined total of 235 yards and 4 touchdown passes. This was the Trojans' 6th consecutive victory over the Irish, and in the process they became only the third team to accomplish this feat (Michigan and Michigan State share the record with eight straight wins in non consecutive years).


Navy

Notre Dame came into the game with 43 consecutive wins against Navy since the last loss in 1963. In triple overtime, Navy (5โ€“4) scored a touchdown and successful
two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...
on their possession. Notre Dame (1โ€“8) likewise scored a touchdown, but failed to make their own two-point conversion on a rush attempt.


Air Force

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
reported, "A week after the Midshipmen eked out a triple overtime victory against the Fighting Irish for the first time since 1963, Air Force beat Notre Dame 41โ€“24 for its worst loss to a service academy since that Navy victory 44 years ago...It was the largest margin of victory for Air Force in six wins over the Irish and the biggest by a military academy since Navy beat the Irish 35โ€“14 in 1963 behind
Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...
." With the loss to Air Force, the Fighting Irish have lost nine games in one season for the first time in school history.


Duke

Notre Dame garnered its second win of the season in a game between what ESPN's
Lee Corso Lee Richard Corso (born August 7, 1935) is an American sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN and a former coach. He has been a featured analyst on ESPN's '' College GameDay'' program since its inception in 1987. Corso served as the he ...
called the two worst teams in major college football. Notre Dame was led with three Jimmy Clausen touchdown passes of 25, 25 and 9 yards each. Freshman running back Robert Hughes also added a touchdown in the 3rd quarter. The win would be the Irish's only home win of the season, avoiding what would have been its first winless season at home in 74 years. The Irish gained 220 yards rushing behind the hard running of freshman tailbacks Robert Hughes and Armando Allen. After a scoreless first quarter, Notre Dame managed to capitalize on two forced fumbles in the final 1:12 of the 2nd quarter to take a 14โ€“0 half time lead. Clausen was 16-for-32 for 194 yards and had his second straight three-touchdown game.


Stanford

The Irish concluded their season on a high note, winning its second straight game and its second win on the road. Robert Hughes ran for 136 yards and the go-ahead 6-yard touchdown with 6:06 remaining in the 4th quarter to help the Irish beat Stanford 21โ€“14. Jimmy Clausen went 19โ€“32 for 196 yards and one touchdown. The game was one of missed field goals, turnovers and controversial calls against the Irish. The Cardinal missed 4 field goals and turned the ball over twice. Notre Dame, meanwhile, committed 4 turnovers, including 3 fumbles and an interception. Notre Dame would have added a score in the 3rd quarter, but a touchdown pass from Clausen to David Grimes was overturned on inconclusive evidence, despite the ruling on the field of a touchdown. Notre Dame almost added another score on what would have been a spectacular finish to the half. David Bruton intercepted Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard's last-play heave at the 3-yard line and began a three-lateral return to the end zone that was called back on a personal foul on Notre Dame defensive lineman Trevor Laws. Safety Tom Zbikowski ran the final 30 yards after a lateral from Darrin Walls.


Post season


Awards

Upon the conclusion of the 2007 season, several players won All-American honors. Freshman standout Ian Williams was named to the 2007 AON Insurance Freshman All-America Team, the Football Writers Association of America announced during their annual banquet. He was one of six true freshmen named to the defensive unit on the FWAA Freshman All-America Team and was one of 13 of the 28 freshman All-America selections who was a true freshman this season. Williams was also named to the CollegeFootballNews.com all-freshman third team and was an honorable mention member of The Sporting News all-freshman team. Seniors John Carlson and Trevor Laws also picked up second team Academic All-American honors from ESPN The Magazine and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).


NFL Draft

Four Notre Dame players were drafted in the
2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...
. Senior tight end John Carlson went 38th overall to the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
. Later in the second round, DE
Trevor Laws Trevor David Laws (born June 14, 1985) is a former American football defensive tackle. After playing college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He pl ...
was selected by the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
at 47th overall. In the third round, safety Tom Zibikowski was the 86th selection, going to the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
. Center John Sullivan was the final Notre Dame draftee, going to the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round. Three players that were not drafted quickly signed with NFL teams as free agents following the NFL Draft: linebacker Joe Brockington signed with the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
, long snapper J.J. Jansen signed with the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
, while running back
Travis Thomas Travis John Thomas (born December 3, 1984) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Notre Dame. Early years Thomas graduated from Washingt ...
joined former teammate and co-captain
Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame, where he won the Maxwell Award, and w ...
in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.


References

{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...