Notre Dame CB Benjamin Morrison named to FWAA Freshman All-American Team
Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison had one final freshman All-American team left to add to his list: The FWAA’s. He can check that box now.
Morrison made the FWAA Freshman All-American team, which came out Thursday. He was one of six defensive backs selected to it. Three of them are true freshmen: Morrison, Georgia safety Malaki Starks and Virginia Tech cornerback Mansoor Delane.
Every notable freshman All-America team to be released since the end of the regular season has included Morrison. Among the other outlets to give him that honor are ESPN, The Athletic, Pro Football Focus, On3 and CollegeFootballNews.
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The 6-foot, 179-pound Morrison played in all 13 games this season, starting 10 of them. He had 33 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 6 interceptions and 4 passes broken up. The interception total placed him in an eight-way tie for third in the FBS and led all freshmen. He grabbed the most interceptions by a Notre Dame player in a single season since Manti Te’o had 7 in 2012.
Morrison had 3 interceptions in Notre Dame’s Nov. 19 win over Boston College, making him one of 15 players in team history to snag 3 in one game. He returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown in a Nov. 5 win over Clemson. His final one came in the Gator Bowl win over South Carolina Dec. 30.
Morrison made his first start Sept. 17 vs. California and started all but one game the rest of the way. The exception was an Oct. 22 win over UNLV, and he still played all but three of Notre Dame’s defensive snaps in that contest.
All told, Morrison is the 10th Notre Dame player to earn a spot on the FWAA Freshman All-American Team since its 2001 creation. The Irish have had at least one player on it in four straight years: tackle Joe Alt (2021), running back Kyren Williams (2020) and safety Kyle Hamilton (2019).
Previous Notre Dame players to make the FWAA’s team are kicker Justin Yoon (2015), linebacker Nyles Morgan (2014), cornerback KeiVarae Russell (2012), defensive end Aaron Lynch (2011), defensive tackle Ian Williams (2007) and offensive lineman Sam Young (2006)
Notre Dame beat out Washington and Alabama to land Morrison, who was a four-star prospect from Phoenix’s Brophy Prep. He was the No. 342 overall player and No. 36 cornerback in the 2022 On3 Consensus. Only five members of Notre Dame’s 22-player signing class that year had a lower overall ranking than him.
