Tag: Howard Cross

Howard Cross returning to Notre Dame gives them one of Pro Football Focus’ best

Cross in the middle has been elite

Although the stats don’t jump off the sheet, Notre Dame football defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross[/autotag] had a big season in 2023.

He may not be the most hyped returning Irish star, but he may be one of the most important. Cross has seen his production increase each season in South Bend, this past year being his best.

Cross had 66 total tackles, 28 solo, along with 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. That was enough for him to rank as Pro Football Focus’ No. 4 highest graded defensive during this past season in Power Five play. Having a disruptive and productive force in the middle of a defensive line is going to be a massive advantage for the Irish in 2024.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame statistical leaders through 11 games

Hopefully, these players can end the regular season on a high note.

Notre Dame has one game left in the regular season against Stanford. Good luck finding a way to watch it on the Pac-12 Network, but that’s a topic for another day. Right now, let’s focus on who is most likely to help the Irish beat the Cardinal.

Statistically, here’s who is likely to factor in whether the Irish can get revenge for last year’s defeat in South Bend:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through 10 games

Here’s who to look for against Wake Forest.

Notre Dame has two games left to improve the quality of the bowl it will play in. That might not mean much given that the New Year’s Six bowls are out of play, but it still is something to shoot for. The first of these contests comes against Wake Forest.

Here are the players statistically leading the Irish going into their home finale, one of which knows the Demon Deacons very well:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through nine games

Here’s who to watch for in the next game.

Notre Dame is riding high after winning its past couple of games. Now, it will visit a Clemson team that looks nothing like it did the past few years. The Irish have to feel pretty good about their chances. Wouldn’t you?

Here are the statistical leaders for the Irish heading into November:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through eight games

In case you forgot after the week off.

Notre Dame has had an extra week to enjoy the blow it dealt to USC’s season. Now, it’s back to business with Pittsburgh coming to South Bend. With the gauntlet portion of the schedule behind the Irish, this hopefully will be the easiest game they’ve had to look forward to in a month.

For those who need refreshing after the week off, here are the Irish’s major statistical leaders:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through seven games

Having lost two of its past three, Notre Dame officially has little left to play for. Before it can enjoy its first of two bye weeks, it must first deal with yet another ranked undefeated in USC. This could get worse before it gets better. Alas, the …

Having lost two of its past three, Notre Dame officially has little left to play for. Before it can enjoy its first of two bye weeks, it must first deal with yet another ranked undefeated in USC. This could get worse before it gets better. Alas, the Irish must carry on because the schedule dictates such.

Here’s who leads the major statistical categories for the Irish:

Triple-(Howard)Cross: Notre Dame’s defensive tackle get’s two more national awards

Thrice as nice for Cross this week

It was quite a weekend for [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross[/autotag], as he terrorized the Duke offense on Saturday night.

The senior was dominant, racking up 13 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack and two forced fumbles, which already earned him the Reese’s Senior Bowl defensive player of the week.

It didn’t end there for Cross, as on Tuesday we found out that two more outlets named him as their defensive player of the week.

The [autotag]Chuck Bednarik Award[/autotag] also named Cross their top defensive player from the past week making it two big time collegiate awards giving the Irish defense tackle some recognition.

It didn’t end there, however, as Cross was also named the [autotag]Walter Camp Award[/autotag] defensive player of the week.

It was a week that Cross won’t forget and hopefully the start of a huge finish to his Notre Dame football career.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame football’s Howard Cross earns national recognition for play vs. Duke

What a weekend for Cross!

If you had [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross[/autotag] on your 2023 Irish bingo card to win a weekly national award, you might as well just go home with your prize now.

After a game against Duke where Cross completely dominated to the tune of 13 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack and 2 forced fumbles, it shouldn’t be surprising at all that he was named the [autotag]Reese’s Senior Bowl defensive player of the week[/autotag].

The fifth-year player is making a name for himself in his final go-around with the Irish. It would not surprise me one bit for Cross to hear his name getting called in the [autotag]2024 NFL draft[/autotag].

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame statistical leaders through six games

Who’s most likely to help defeat the Cardinals?

Notre Dame is getting ready to face another surging program, this time in Louisville. It probably would prefer to have an easier time than it did against Duke, which it barely escaped against. The road atmosphere the Cardinals fans will provide unlikely will be anymore forgiving though. That’s why the Irish must prepare for any and all possibilities.

Here are the statistical leaders for the Irish at the midway point of the season:

5 stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s comeback win at Duke

That was fun but things went well and some didn’t for Notre Dame

[autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] is riding the roller coaster that we all love, college football.For the second week in a row, the Irish were in a 60 minute battle, but this time on the road against [autotag]Duke[/autotag], Notre Dame found a way to win.

Quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag], with his 6 years of experience found a way to drive the Irish 95-yards for the game winning drive.Running back [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] put the exclamation point on the win with his 30-yard touchdown run, to provide the go-ahead score.

Like always, there was good, 5-stars, and not so good, 1-star, performances for the Irish tonight. Find out below what went well and didn’t in Notre Dame’s 21-14 road win over Duke.