Brady Quinn Shares Favorite Road Environment from Notre Dame Days

When you list the best quarterbacks to ever play at Notre Dame, a few names come to mind very quickly, but few compare to what Brady Quinn did with the Fighting Irish.

Quinn took over the starting quarterback role his freshman season and never looked back, eventually leading the Fighting Irish to back-to-back BCS appearances under head coach Charlie Weis in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

When you look back at Quinn's Notre Dame career, plenty of big games were played, both at home and on the road.

The Coliseum at USC, Neyland Stadium in Tennessee, and the Big House in Michigan were all places Quinn played road games. The environment of all fell short of one other place though, according to Quinn.

Brady Quinn Names Michigan State His Favorite Road Venue

Without hesitation, Quinn named Michigan State his favorite college football stadium to play in other than Notre Dame Stadium when he appeared on The JustiInTime_Podcast.

"Just a nasty fan base," said Quinn. "I always say this, it's just something different up there at East Lansing."

"I compare them to the Raiders fan base of the NFL - that was my experience...there's something about Michigan State, something about that cold weather up there. They're extra hostile and like, everything that they do."

"When they're in the thick of it, they've got some crazy fans!"

Brady Quinn played in Knoxville, the Sugar Bowl, and plenty of big road environments.

His favorite road stadium outside Notre Dame? Michigan State.
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Brady Quinn's Career at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing

Although Notre Dame football wasn't at a level with Brady Quinn that it is today under Marcus Freeman, and knocking on the door of a national championship, it was still much brighter days than what came right before and right after his time in South Bend.

Quinn replaced a struggling Carlyle Holiday at quarterback in the third game of his freshman season and never looked back. Notre Dame went 29-17 in Quinn's 46 career starts, with two of his biggest wins coming at Michigan State.

Notre Dame's 2004 Win at Michigan State

Fresh off an upset win over a top 10 Michigan team the week prior, Quinn led Notre Dame into East Lansing in Week 3 of his sophomore year.

Although 2004 was a trying year for Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish went just 6-6 overall, it did include a 31-24 win in East Lansing.

Quinn was far from his best yet, completing just 11 of 24 pass attempts for 215 yards and a touchown and interception.

Notre Dame's Epic 2006 Comeback Win at Michigan State

A week after getting blown out at home by Michigan, things started horribly for Notre Dame at Michigan State. Trailing 31-14 at halftime, Quinn helped lead the Fighting Irish on an epic comeback that kickstarted what was ultimately a run back to the BCS.

He completed 20 of 36 passes on the night, totaling 319 yards, while tossing five touchdown passes in the 40-37 comeback victory.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thought

I appreciate Quinn sharing a different answer than what most would expect.

The 100,000-plus in Tennessee, where he helped Notre Dame win in 2004 would have been simple, as would the games he played at Michigan or USC.

Instead, he went with a place that hasn't seen the brightest of days lately, but gave Notre Dame fits for a very long time.

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