Notre Dame Fighting Irish football statistical leaders

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program in various categories,^[1] including passing, rushing, receiving, total offense, defensive stats, and kicking. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. The Fighting Irish represent the University of Notre Dame as an Independent in the NCAA.

Although Notre Dame began competing in intercollegiate football in 1887,^[1] records from the early years are often incomplete and inconsistent and may not appear on this list. Notre Dame's official record book does not list a specific "modern era" beginning in a certain year, and the records listed below can go as far back as 1900, although they may not be complete.

These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:

• Since the 1940s, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
• The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
• Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.^[2] The Fighting Irish have played in 11 bowl games since then, allowing more recent players an extra game to accumulate statistics.

These lists are updated through the end of the 2016 season.

Passing

Passing yards

Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Brady Quinn 11,762 2003 2004 2005 2006 2 Jimmy Clausen 8,148 2007 2008 2009 3 Tommy Rees 7,670 2010 2011 2012 2013 4 Ron Powlus 7,602 1994 1995 1996 1997 5 Steve Beuerlein 6,527 1983 1984 1985 1986 6 Rick Mirer 5,997 1989 1990 1991 1992 7 Everett Golson 5,850 2012 2014 8 DeShone Kizer 5,809[3] 2015 2016 9 Jarious Jackson 4,820 1996 1997 1998 1999 10 Joe Theismann 4,411 1968 1969 1970

Single season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Brady Quinn 3,919 2005 2 Jimmy Clausen 3,722 2009 3 Everett Golson 3,445 2014 4 Brady Quinn 3,426 2006 5 Tommy Rees 3,257 2013 6 Jimmy Clausen 3,172 2008 7 DeShone Kizer 2,925[3] 2016 8 DeShone Kizer 2,884 2015 9 Tommy Rees 2,871 2011 10 Jarious Jackson 2,753 1999

Single game Rank Player Yards Year Opponent 1 Joe Theismann 526 1970 USC 2 Brady Quinn 487 2005 Michigan State 3 DeShone Kizer 471[4] 2016 Syracuse 4 Brady Quinn 467 2005 BYU 5 Jimmy Clausen 452[5] 2009 Navy 6 Everett Golson 446[6] 2014 Arizona State 7 Brady Quinn 440 2005 Purdue 8 Brady Quinn 432 2004 Purdue Brady Quinn 432 2005 Stanford 10 Jimmy Clausen 422[7] 2009 Washington

Passing touchdowns

Career Rank Player TDs Years 1 Brady Quinn 95 2003 2004 2005 2006 2 Tommy Rees 61 2010 2011 2012 2013 3 Jimmy Clausen 60 2007 2008 2009 4 Ron Powlus 52 1994 1995 1996 1997 5 DeShone Kizer 47[3] 2015 2016 6 Rick Mirer 41 1989 1990 1991 1992 7 Everett Golson 41 2012 2014 8 Jarious Jackson 34 1996 1997 1998 1999 9 Joe Theismann 31 1968 1969 1970 10 Angelo Bertelli 28 1941 1942 1943

Single season Rank Player TDs Year 1 Brady Quinn 37 2006 2 Brady Quinn 32 2005 3 Everett Golson 29 2014 4 Jimmy Clausen 28 2009 5 Tommy Rees 27 2013 6 DeShone Kizer 26[3] 2016 7 Jimmy Clausen 25 2008 8 DeShone Kizer 21 2015 9 Tommy Rees 20 2011 10 Ron Powlus 19 1994

Single game Rank Player TDs Year Opponent 1 Brady Quinn 6 2005 BYU 2 Brady Quinn 5 2005 Michigan State Brady Quinn 5[8] 2006 Michigan State Jimmy Clausen 5[9] 2008 Hawaii[10] Jimmy Clausen 5[11] 2009 Stanford Tommy Rees 5[12] 2013 Air Force DeShone Kizer 5[13] 2016 Texas

Rushing

Rushing yards

Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Autry Denson 4,318 1995 1996 1997 1998 2 Allen Pinkett 4,131 1982 1983 1984 1985 3 Vagas Ferguson 3,472 1976 1977 1978 1979 4 Darius Walker 3,249 2004 2005 2006 5 Julius Jones 3,018 1999 2000 2001 2003 6 Jerome Heavens 2,682 1975 1976 1977 1978 7 Cierre Wood 2,447 2009 2010 2011 2012 8 Phil Carter 2,409 1979 1980 1981 1982 9 George Gipp 2,341 1917 1918 1919 1920 10 Randy Kinder 2,295 1993 1994 1995 1996

Single season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Vagas Ferguson 1,437 1979 2 Allen Pinkett 1,394 1983 3 Reggie Brooks 1,343 1992 4 Julius Jones 1,268 2003 5 Autry Denson 1,268 1997 6 Darius Walker 1,267 2006 7 Darius Walker 1,196 2005 8 Vagas Ferguson 1,192 1978 9 Autry Denson 1,179 1996 10 Autry Denson 1,176 1998

Single game Rank Player Yards Year Opponent 1 Julius Jones 262 2003 Pittsburgh 2 Vagas Ferguson 255 1978 Georgia Tech 3 Phil Carter 254 1980 Michigan State 4 Reggie Brooks 227 1992 USC 5 Jim Stone 224 1980 Miami (FL) 6 Julius Jones 221 2003 Navy 7 Vagas Ferguson 219 1978 Navy 8 Julius Jones 218 2003 Stanford 9 Allen Pinkett 217 1983 Penn State 10 Jim Stone 211 1980 Navy

Rushing touchdowns

Career Rank Player TDs Years 1 Allen Pinkett 49 1982 1983 1984 1985 2 Autry Denson 43 1995 1996 1997 1998 3 Louis Salmon 36 1900 1901 1902 1903 4 Vagas Ferguson 32 1976 1977 1978 1979 Anthony Johnson 32 1986 1987 1988 1989 6 Stan Cofall 30 1914 1915 1916 7 Neil Worden 29 1951 1952 1953 8 Jerome Bettis 27 1990 1991 1992 9 Emil Sitko 26 1946 1947 1948 1949 Julius Jones 26 1999 2000 2001 2003

Single season Rank Player TDs Year 1 Vagas Ferguson 17 1979 Allen Pinkett 17 1984 3 Bill Downs 16 1905 Allen Pinkett 16 1983 Jerome Bettis 16 1991 6 Autry Denson 15 1998 7 Bob Gladieux 14 1968 8 Reggie Brooks 13 1992 9 Al Hunter 12 1976 Autry Denson 12 1997 Jonas Gray 12 2011

Single game Rank Player TDs Year Opponent 1 Art Smith 7 1911 Loyola (IL) 2 Bill Downs 6 1905 DePauw 3 Frank Lonergan 4 1903 DePauw Frank Lonergan 4 1903 CPS Larry Conjar 4 1965 USC Allen Pinkett 4 1983 Penn State Allen Pinkett 4 1984 Penn State

Receiving

Receptions

Career Rank Player Rec Years 1 Michael Floyd 271 2008 2009 2010 2011 2 TJ Jones 181 2010 2011 2012 2013 3 Jeff Samardzija 179 2003 2004 2005 2006 4 Rhema McKnight 170 2002 2003 2004 2005 5 Tom Gatewood 157 1969 1970 1971 Golden Tate 157 2007 2008 2009 7 Will Fuller 144 2013 2014 2015 8 Tyler Eifert 140 2009 2010 2011 2012 9 Jim Seymour 138 1966 1967 1968 10 Tim Brown 137 1984 1985 1986 1987

Single season Rank Player Rec Year 1 Michael Floyd 100 2011 2 Golden Tate 93 2009 3 Michael Floyd 79 2010 4 Jeff Samardzija 78 2006 5 Tom Gatewood 77 1970 Jeff Samardzija 77 2005 7 Will Fuller 76 2014 8 TJ Jones 70 2013 9 Maurice Stovall 69 2005 10 Rhema McKnight 67 2006

Single game Rank Player Rec Year Opponent 1 Maurice Stovall 14 2005 BYU 2 Jim Seymour 13 1966 Purdue Michael Floyd 13[14] 2011 Michigan 4 Tom Gatewood 12 1970 Purdue Bobby Brown 12 1999 Pittsburgh Michael Floyd 12[15] 2011 Purdue Michael Floyd 12[16] 2011 South Florida 8 Jim Kelly 11 1962 Pittsburgh Jim Seymour 11 1966 USC Golden Tate 11[17] 2009 Boston College Michael Floyd 11[18] 2010 USC Michael Floyd 11[19] 2010 Tulsa

Receiving yards

Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Michael Floyd 3,686 2008 2009 2010 2011 2 Golden Tate 2,707 2007 2008 2009 3 Jeff Samardzija 2,593 2003 2004 2005 2006 4 Derrick Mayes 2,512 1992 1993 1994 1995 Will Fuller 2,512 2013 2014 2015 6 Tim Brown 2,493 1984 1985 1986 1987 7 TJ Jones 2,429 2010 2011 2012 2013 8 Tom Gatewood 2,283 1969 1970 1971 9 Rhema McKnight 2,277 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 10 Maurice Stovall 2,195 2002 2003 2004 2005

Single season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Golden Tate 1,496 2009 2 Will Fuller 1,258 2015 3 Jeff Samardzija 1,249 2005 4 Maurice Stovall 1,149 2005 5 Michael Floyd 1,147 2011 6 Tom Gatewood 1,123 1970 7 Jack Snow 1,114 1964 8 TJ Jones 1,108 2013 9 Will Fuller 1,094 2014 10 Golden Tate 1,080 2008

Single game Rank Player Yards Year Opponent 1 Jim Seymour 276 1966 Purdue 2 Golden Tate 244[7] 2009 Washington 3 Jack Snow 217 1964 Wisconsin 4 Jim Morse 208 1955 USC Bobby Brown 208 1999 Pittsburgh 6 Maurice Stovall 207 2005 BYU 7 Golden Tate 201[11] 2009 Stanford 8 Tom Gatewood 192 1970 Purdue 9 Jeff Samardzija 191 2005 Stanford 10 Michael Floyd 189[20] 2009 Nevada

Receiving touchdowns

Career Rank Player TDs Years 1 Michael Floyd 37 2008 2009 2010 2011 2 Will Fuller 30 2013 2014 2015 3 Jeff Samardzija 27 2003 2004 2005 2006 4 Golden Tate 26 2007 2008 2009 5 Derrick Mayes 22 1992 1993 1994 1995 Rhema McKnight 22 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 7 Tom Gatewood 19 1969 1970 1971 TJ Jones 19 2010 2011 2012 2013 9 Maurice Stovall 18 2002 2003 2004 2005 10 Jim Seymour 16 1966 1967 1968

Single season Rank Player TDs Year 1 Will Fuller 15 2014 Golden Tate 15 2009 Rhema McKnight 15 2006 Jeff Samardzija 15 2005 5 Will Fuller 14 2015 6 Michael Floyd 12 2010 Jeff Samardzija 12 2006 8 Maurice Stovall 11 2005 Derrick Mayes 11 1994 Golden Tate 10 2008

Single game Rank Player TDs Year Opponent 1 Maurice Stovall 4 2005 BYU

Total offense

Total offense is the sum of passing and rushing statistics. It does not include receiving or returns.^[21]

Total offense yards

Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Brady Quinn 11,944 2003 2004 2005 2006 2 Jimmy Clausen 7,793 2007 2008 2009 3 Tommy Rees 7,543 2010 2011 2012 2013 4 Ron Powlus 7,479 1994 1995 1996 1997 5 DeShone Kizer 6,801[3] 2015 2016 6 Rick Mirer 6,691 1989 1990 1991 1992 7 Steve Beuerlein 6,459 1983 1984 1985 1986 8 Everett Golson 6,431 2012 2014 9 Jarious Jackson 5,777 1996 1997 1998 1999 10 Joe Theismann 5,432 1968 1969 1970

Single season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Brady Quinn 4,009 2005 2 Everett Golson 3,728 2014 3 Jimmy Clausen 3,627 2009 4 Brady Quinn 3,497 2006 5 DeShone Kizer 3,404 2015 6 DeShone Kizer 3,397[3] 2016 7 Jarious Jackson 3,217 1999 8 Tommy Rees 3,201 2013 9 Jimmy Clausen 3,099 2008 10 Tommy Rees 2,815 2011

Single game Rank Player Yards Year Opponent 1 Joe Theismann 512 1970 USC 2 Brady Quinn 479 2005 Michigan State 3 DeShone Kizer 472[4] 2016 Syracuse 4 Brady Quinn 463 2005 Purdue 5 Brady Quinn 457 2005 BYU 6 Brady Quinn 453 2005 Stanford 7 Jimmy Clausen 447[5] 2009 Navy 8 DeShone Kizer 442[22] 2015 Temple 9 DeShone Kizer 441[23] 2016 Duke 10 Everett Golson 435[6] 2014 Arizona State

Total touchdowns

Career Rank Player TDs Years 1 Brady Quinn 101 2003 2004 2005 2006 2 Jimmy Clausen 65 2007 2008 2009 DeShone Kizer 65[3] 2015 2016 4 Tommy Rees 62 2010 2011 2012 2013 5 Rick Mirer 58 1989 1990 1991 1992 6 Ron Powlus 55 1994 1995 1996 1997 Everett Golson 55 2012 2014 8 Allen Pinkett 54 1982 1983 1984 1985 9 Jarious Jackson 49 1996 1997 1998 1999

Single season Rank Player TDs Year 1 Brady Quinn 39 2006 2 Everett Golson 37 2014 3 DeShone Kizer 34[3] 2016 4 Brady Quinn 33 2005 5 Jimmy Clausen 31 2009 DeShone Kizer 31 2015 7 Rick Mirer 27 1991 Tommy Rees 27 2013 9 Jimmy Clausen 25 2008 10 Jarious Jackson 24 1999

Single game Rank Player TDs Year Opponent 1 Art Smith 7 1911 Loyola (IL) 2 Bill Downs 6 1905 DePauw Brady Quinn 6 2005 BYU Everett Golson 6[24] 2014 Navy DeShone Kizer 6[25] 2015 Pittsburgh DeShone Kizer 6[13] 2016 Texas

Defense

Interceptions

Career Rank Player Ints Years 1 Luther Bradley 17 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 2 Tom MacDonald 15 1961 1962 1963 3 John Lattner 13 1951 1952 1953 4 Clarence Ellis 13 1969 1970 1971 5 Ralph Stepaniak 13 1969 1970 1971 6 Mike Townsend 13 1971 1972 1973 7 Joe Restic 13 1975 1976 1977 1978 8 Dave Duerson 12 1979 1980 1981 1982 9 Todd Lyght 11 1987 1988 1989 1990 10 Shane Walton 11 1999 2000 2001 2002

Single season Rank Player Ints Year 1 Mike Townsend 10 1972 2 Tom MacDonald 9 1962 3 Todd Lyght 8 1942 Tony Carey 8 1964 Angelo Bertelli 8 1989 6 Tom Schoen 7 1966 Clarence Ellis 7 1970 Dave Duerson 7 1982 Shane Walton 7 2002 Harrison Smith 7 2010 Manti Te'o 7 2012

Tackles

Career Rank Player Tackles Years 1 Bob Crable 521 1978 1979 1980 1981 2 Bob Golic 479 1975 1976 1977 1978 3 Manti Te'o 437 2009 2010 2011 2012 4 Steve Heimkreiter 398 1975 1976 1977 1978 5 Bob Olson 369 1967 1968 1969 6 Tony Furjanic 361 1982 1983 1984 1985 7 Mike Kovaleski 353 1983 1984 1985 1986 8 Ross Browner 340 1973 1975 1976 1977 9 Mark Zavagnin 332 1979 1980 1981 1982 10 Harrison Smith 309 2008 2009 2010 2011

Single season Rank Player Tackles Year 1 Bob Crable 187 1979 2 Bob Crable 167 1981 3 Steve Heimkreiter 160 1978 4 Bob Crable 154 1980 5 Bob Golic 152 1978 6 Tony Furjanic 147 1985 7 Bob Golic 146 1977 8 Greg Collins 144 1974 9 Tony Furjanic 142 1983 10 Jim Carroll 140 1964

Single game Rank Player Tackles Year Opponent 1 Bob Golic 26 1978 Michigan Bob Crable 26 1979 Clemson 3 Jeff Weston 22 1975 Navy Bob Golic 22 1978 Pittsburgh Chinedum Ndukwe 22 2006 Air Force 6 Manti Te'o 21 2010 Stanford 7 Bob Crable 20 1981 Michigan 8 Bob Golic 19 1978 Purdue Bob Crable 19 1980 Michigan Bob Crable 19 1980 Georgia Tech Bob Crable 19 1980 Alabama Bob Crable 19 1981 Florida State

Sacks

Career Rank Player Sacks Years 1 Justin Tuck 24.5 2002 2003 2004 2 Kory Minor 22.5 1995 1996 1997 1998 3 Victor Abiamiri 21.5 2003 2004 2005 2006 Stephon Tuitt 21.5 2011 2012 2013 5 Mike Gann 21.0 1981 1982 1983 1984 6 Renaldo Wynn 19.5 1993 1994 1995 1996 Prince Shembo 19.5 2010 2011 2012 2013 8 Ryan Roberts 19.0 1999 2000 2001 2002 9 Bryant Young 18.0 1990 1991 1992 1993 10 Anthony Weaver 17.0 1998 1999 2000 2001

Single season Rank Player Sacks Year 1 Justin Tuck 13.5 2003 2 Stephon Tuitt 12.0 2012 3 Victor Abiamiri 10.5 2006 4 Mike Gann 10.0 1984 Bert Berry 10.0 1996 6 Renaldo Wynn 9.0 1996 Romeo Okwara 9.0 2015 8 Kory Minor 8.0 1996 Anthony Weaver 8.0 2000 Ryan Roberts 8.0 2002 Victor Abiamiri 8.0 2005

Single game Rank Player Sacks Year Opponent 1 Justin Tuck 4.0 2002 Pittsburgh Justin Tuck 4.0 2003 Stanford Victor Abiamiri 4.0 2005 Stanford 4 Justin Tuck 3.5 2003 Pittsburgh

Kicking

Field goals made

Career Rank Player FGs Years 1 Kyle Brindza 57 2011 2012 2013 2014 2 John Carney 51 1984 1985 1986 3 Nicholas Setta 46 2000 2001 2002 2003 4 Dave Reeve 39 1974 1975 1976 1977 Craig Hentrich 39 1989 1990 1991 1992

Single season Rank Player FGs Year 1 Kyle Brindza 23 2012 2 John Carney 21 1986 3 Kyle Brindza 20 2013 4 Mike Johnson 19 1982 5 Harry Oliver 18 1980 John Carney 18 1985 David Ruffer 18 2010 8 Justin Yoon 15 2015

Single game Rank Player FGs Year Opponent 1 Craig Hentrich 5 1990 Miami (FL) Nicholas Setta 5 2002 Maryland Nicholas Setta 5 2003 Washington State Nick Tausch 5[7] 2009 Washington Kyle Brindza 5[26] 2012 USC Kyle Brindza 5[27] 2013 Rutgers[28]

Field goal percentage

Career Rank Player FG% Years 1 Justin Yoon 82.4%[29] 2015 2016 2 John Carney 73.9% 1984 1985 1986 3 Kyle Brindza 70.4% 2011 2012 2013 2014

Single season Rank Player FG% Year 1 David Ruffer 94.7% 2010 2 John Carney 89.5% 1984 3 Justin Yoon 88.2% 2015

References

1. "2015 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Media Guide" (PDF). und.com. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
2. "NCAA changes policy on football stats". ESPN.com. AP. 2002-08-28. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
3. "DeShone Kizer". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
4. "Kizer covers for shaky D as Notre Dame beats Syracuse 50-33". ESPN.com. 2016-10-01.
5. "Navy scores second straight victory in South Bend". ESPN.com. 2009-11-07.
6. "No. 9 Arizona State holds off late rally, defeats No. 10 Notre Dame". ESPN.com. 2014-11-08.
7. "Notre Dame ends OT curse, improves record vs. Washington to 8-0". ESPN.com. 2009-10-03.
8. "A season saved? ND comes back from 17 down to topple MSU". ESPN.com. 2006-09-23.
9. "Clausen's 401 yards passing, 5 TDs lead way as Irish end bowl skid". ESPN.com. 2008-12-24.
10. Hawaii Bowl
11. "Weis' future hangs in limbo after Irish lose to Stanford". ESPN.com. 2009-11-28.
12. "Rees leads Notre Dame to 45-10 win over Air Force". ESPN.com. 2013-10-26.
13. "Texas edges No. 10 Notre Dame in 2OT thriller". ESPN.com. 2016-09-04.
14. "Michigan scores with 2 seconds left, stuns Irish". ESPN.com. 2011-09-10.
15. "Michael Floyd powers Notre Dame past Purdue". ESPN.com. 2011-10-01.
16. "South Florida upsets Notre Dame after long weather delays". ESPN.com. 2011-09-03.
17. "Notre Dame ends 6-game skid to Boston College". ESPN.com. 2009-10-24.
18. "Robert Hughes' TD run sends ND past USC for first time since '01". ESPN.com. 2010-11-27.
19. "Tulsa stuns Notre Dame; Irish QB Dayne Crist injures knee". ESPN.com. 2010-10-30.
20. "Clausen tosses four TDs as Notre Dame overwhelms Nevada". ESPN.com. 2009-09-05.
21. "Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Record Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
22. "DeShone Kizer's late TD pass helps Notre Dame escape No. 21 Temple". ESPN.com. 2015-10-31.
23. "Reed kicks game-winning field goal as Duke beats Notre Dame". ESPN.com. 2016-09-24.
24. "Everett Golson's six TDs guide No. 10 Notre Dame past Navy". ESPN.com. 2014-11-01.
25. "Kizer throws for 5 TDs, No. 5 Notre Dame tops Pitt". ESPN.com. 2015-11-07.
26. "Notre Dame beats USC to secure spot in BCS title game". ESPN.com. 2012-11-24.
27. "Notre Dame controls 2nd half to beat Rutgers in Pinstripe Bowl". ESPN.com. 2013-12-28.
28. Pinstripe Bowl
29. "Justin Yoon". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-12-03.