Setting the Record Straight

On Saturday, Jeff Samardzija caught his 23rd career touchdown pass to break the school record set by Derrick Mayes in 1995. It was only the latest offensive record to fall since Charlie Weis took over at Notre Dame. Since last year, Brady Quinn has pretty much owned the real estate at the top of the Irish passing records and John Carlson is all of a sudden on track to capture his own place in the record books.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about these records is the length of time they are likely to stand. With Weis at the helm for at least the next nine seasons, these records will probably have a very short shelf life. After all, when you consider that Samardzija was able to break the career touchdown reception record in well under two seasons, there is no reason to believe that a talented receiver won’t be able to top the Shark’s mark with three or four.

This is something that is new to Notre Dame. The record broken on Saturday by Samardzija had stood for eleven years and before that hadn’t been broken since 1971. Carlson, currently with 45 receptions, will almost certainly break Ken MacAfee’s record of 54 catches in a single season by a tight end set in 1977.

Many of Notre Dame’s passing and reception records have grown old in a period in which the pass has become king in college football. Suddenly, under Weis, Notre Dame has become one of the very best programs in the country for skill position recruits, particularly tight ends, quarterbacks, and wide receivers.

Certainly, this status has been reflected in the talent that Notre Dame has attracted at quarterback and tight end. Unless there is an earthshaking change in fortune, by February the Irish will have recruited three of the nation’s top quarterbacks and three of the nation’s top tight ends over the last two years.

And last year, the Irish did a very respectable job recruiting wide receivers as well. Many recruiting analysts expected the Irish to follow that up this year by cleaning house with wide receivers in the class of 2007.

Early on, it looked as if this was inevitable. In late April, Jimmy Clausen committed to the Irish and vowed to help bring in the year’s number one recruiting class. A few weeks later Duval Kamara, a 6-foot-5 stud out of Hoboken, N.J., became Notre Dame’s first wide receiver of the class.

Over the summer and early autumn, Irish recruiting watchers treated Arrelious Benn as somewhat of a gimme, while Greg Little was also widely assumed to end up in blue and gold. After all, the competition was Illinois and North Carolina. I mean, c’mon!

Closer to the wire, things are far less certain.

Little’s desire to stay close to home was apparently much stronger than many anticipated. However, the uncertain coaching situation in Chapel Hill may play in Notre Dame’s favor. Little was in South Bend at Saturday’s game against North Carolina. This is big news considering he has already taken an official visit. Hopefully, he left more impressed than many of the Tar Heels. (Linebacker Durell Mapp was quoted in SI.com as saying of the Irish, “they really aren't different from what we see from week to week . . . Actually, they are a little slower than most teams in the ACC.”).

As for Benn, he is set to announce his commitment on Tuesday. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess as to where he will go, though few believe it will be South Bend. Perhaps he was swayed away by negative recruiting, or perhaps he was taken in by Ron Zook’s (more than likely to be empty) claims that he is building a championship team in Champaign. (After all, he didn’t succeed at Florida where the talent was much higher). If Benn does select Illinois, even those who now expect it will be left scratching their heads.

Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, Notre Dame’s future remains bright. The Irish now employ an offense that is high powered enough, and have a coach that is a good enough teacher to ensure that the records set by Brady, Samardzija, and Carlson will soon be challenged.