Newsstand: Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts wins second-straight Defensive Player of the Week award

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•11/01/23•

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For the second game in a row, Notre Dame senior safety Xavier Watts took home national honors. Watts was named Bronco Nagurski National Player of the Week, given weekly to the nation’s best defensive player, for his performance in the 58-7 Irish win over Pittsburgh.

Watts finished third on the team with 3 tackles against the Panthers, including 1 tackle for loss, and picked off 2 passes for the second-straight week. His 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery for a touchdown won him the Nagurski weekly honor in Week 7 against USC.

This is the third week this season a Notre Dame player has been named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week. Graduate defensive tackle Howard Cross III won it for his 13-tackle, 1-sack, 2-forced fumble effort in Week 5 at Duke.

Notre Dame tweets of the day

Sam Hartman: grateful to play for the Irish.

Notre Dame is hitting .800 in appearances on the College Football Playoff rankings so far.

The Irish women’s basketball team is packing for Paris.

Quote of the day

“One, having a commitment to our process of preparing for a road game and with that comes experience for our players and for us to maybe commit to some things that we had to clean up or even change at times. A commitment to what we’ve already been through and then a commitment to who we are to make sure we are for each other and going on the road. You all have been there and you know it’s going to be a very hostile environment with great players and a football team.

“So how do you do that? You better make sure you go down there together and go be ready to fight just like we fought over here last weekend and that’s the type of effort it’s going to take to finish it.”

— Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker on going on the road this season

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