Tag: howard cross iii

Notre Dame DT Howard Cross III takes home a national award after Week 5

Congrats Howard!

One of the unsung heroes of Notre Dame football’s defense is tackle [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag].

While he did have a monster season in 2023, most don’t often credit a defensive tackle for their play. That’s not the case with the All-American as Cross was named the [autotag]Outland Trophy[/autotag] National Player of the Week after his play against Louisville.

Cross has picked up where he left off last year, as they pointed out that he had a 88.2 grade by Pro Football Focus against the Cardinals. He garnered 5 quarterback pressures to go along with “four ‘wins’against Louisville offensive lineman,” according to Outland’s release.

Not only that, Cross dominated against the run game, getting 18 pass rush ‘wins’ according to PFF’s metrics. That is the kind of performance that we are getting used to from the senior. He’s never going to fill up a box score, but his impact is felt way beyond that.

Congrats Howard on the national recognition.

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Notre Dame statistical leaders through four games

Who’s on the board going into the next game?

The great thing about Notre Dame’s dominant win over Miami (Ohio) is that a few more players got a chance to shine. Consequently, we have a few new names popping up in our weekly statistical leaders listicle heading into the game against Louisville. That should force the Cardinals to be a little more aware of the players they’ll be going up against.

This goes without saying, but the Irish always can benefit from new players appearing in these categories. It highlights just how deep the team’s talent is, and anyone can step in at any point. It might take some players longer to crack the leaders lists than others, but that’s the beauty of a regular season that runs through the end of November.

So who are the players standing out the most going into the Irish’s last game before their first bye week? Take a look for yourself here:

Previewing Notre Dame’s defense ahead of Week 1 vs. Texas A&M

Here’s what to expect from Notre Dame’s defense on Saturday night

Notre Dame’s identity this season starts and ends on defense. The Fighting Irish return three of the top defenders in the country, led by senior defensive lineman Howard Cross III.

In the secondary, junior defensive back Benjamin Morrison looks like one of the top cornerbacks in the country. At the same time, senior safety Xavier Watts led the team with seven interceptions last season and looks to become a versatile defender in the box this season.

Cross, who recorded 66 tackles and two sacks last season, will pair up with senior DL Rylie Mills. Mills readily utilizes his 6-5 frame and recorded 47 tackles and 2.5 sacks a year ago.

As a team, Notre Dame recorded 31 sacks and 75 tackles for loss while ranking 5th in total defense after allowing just 276 yards per contest. Many of us believe Saturday’s season opener vs. Texas A&M will be a low-scoring contest won in the trenches.

If A&M’s run game fails to find consistency, this will force starting quarterback Conner Weigman to drop back and deliver strikes in tight windows, as he will likely target sophomore corner Christian Gray. At the same time, Morrison will likely cover junior Aggie WR Noah Thomas throughout the night.

This could be the toughest defense Mike Elko’s team will face throughout the season, so the main goal continues to be squeaking out a tough win with limited turnovers.

No. 20 Texas A&M will host No. 7 Notre Dame on Saturday, August 31, at 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will air on ABC.

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Three Notre Dame players named to Lombardi Award Watch List

Think any of them has a shot to win it?

Blockers are the unsung heroes of both sides of the line in football. Without them, none of the players on the other units would be allowed to do what they can do. It only makes sense that college football gives out the Lombardi Award for the best lineman every year.

The watch list for the 2024 season has come out, and three Notre Dame players are on it. Two of them of defensive tackles [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] and [autotag]Rylie Mills[/autotag]. The other is [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag], one of two tight ends to make the watch list. A tight end has never won this award, so Evans would make history if he went home with the hardware.

Notre Dame has had five players win this award, tied for the second most of any school. [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] was the last player to win it in 2012. That being the case, the Irish are overdue for another winner, so let’s watch one of these gentlemen be the next one for them.

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Three Notre Dame players make Pro Football Focus’ college football top-50 in 2024

The Irish continue to see its players on top lists

All-American lists, preseason watch lists and now top player lists have had plenty of Notre Dame football flavor to them.

Pro Football Focus has joined in the fun, as they ranked the top-50 players in college football for the 2024 season. Three Irish stars made the list, but there is an argument for more, like there have been with others.

Cornerback [autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag] was the top Notre Dame player, checking in at No. 7. Defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] was next at No. 20, while tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evan[/autotag]s came in at No. 47.

The omission of safety Xavier Watts is questionable, as he is clearly one of the best players in the country.

My guess is that he just missed the cut, but it’s still surprising to see yet another list not naming him. Either way, having three players is still impressive, which shows that Notre Dame has some star power in 2024.

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Three Notre Dame players on the Chuck Bednarik Award preseason watch list

This trio will lead the Irish defense this fall

The [autotag]Chuck Bednarik Award[/autotag] is given out annually to the top defensive player in college football, and Notre Dame defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] almost made it as a finalist last year.

As for the 2024 season, the award committee believes that three Irish players are worthy enough to take home the award as the season is set to start: Cross, cornerback [autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag] and safety [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag].

All three of them recently were named onto the USA TODAY preseason All-American teams, so this inclusion should not surprise anyone. It’s the latest preseason honor for the trio of Notre Dame players, as each of one them have been named to other watch lists as well.

Cross made multiple second-team All-American lists last year, while Morrison was a Thorpe Award semifinalist. Watts is the most decorated of the three, taking home the Bronko Nagurski Trophy while being a unanimous All-American.

The top three Irish defenders will once again be in the mix for a variety of national awards.

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Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts named third-best safety in college football

Time for him to go out and prove it.

Notre Dame figures to rely on its defense once again to win football games in 2024. It’s hard to dispute that given that there’s some future NFL talent on that side of the ball. Among that talent is safety [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag], who many currently project to be taken as high as the third round in the 2025 draft.

Big Game Boomer, college football’s list aficionado on social media, has released his list of the top 50 safeties in college football entering the upcoming season. Let’s just say Watts will be the best safety on either side of the ball at least during every regular-season game for the Irish this year:

Big Game Boomer already had reserved spots on his respective position lists for [autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag], [autotag]Jack Kiser[/autotag], [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag], [autotag]Rylie Mills[/autotag] and [autotag]RJ Oben[/autotag]. Most recently, he has put transfer Jordan Clark on his nickel/slot corners list:

So yeah, this defense is gonna be good. Let’s hope the offense can support it.

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Athlon Sports Names Notre Dame’s Team MVP Ahead of 2024 Season

Who do you think is Notre Dame’s team MVP ahead of 2024?

Notre Dame enters the 2024 college football season with extremely high expectations.

The Fighting Irish are coming off a 10-3 campaign that saw them demolish Oregon State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl last December, but also saw them put out a couple of major road duds in losses to Louisville and Clemson.

If Notre Dame is going to reach their potential and not just make the College Football Playoff and make some noise when they get there, they’ll need their stars to play like stars.

Athlon Sports has their annual college football preview magazine out and broke down the Fighting Irish for 2024 and named defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] their MVP ahead of the season.

Despite lacking typical stature for a nose tackle (he’s 6-1, 284 – a typical defensive tackle in about 1975), Cross makes plays all over the field.  His 66 stops were second on the team in ’23 and his 99 tackles over the 2022 and ’23 seasons ranks third among Irish players in that span.  Over the past two years he also had 12 quarterback hurries and six passes broken up. – Athlon Sports

You can debate who Notre Dame’s biggest star is ahead of 2024 as cornerback Benjamin Morrison projects as a future first round NFL draft pick.  However, with Cross playing in the middle of the defensive line and having a bigger impact on more plays than Morrison makes me agree with this call.

Notre Dame should have an improved offense in 2024 but they’ll ultimately go as far as their defense can take them and that starts up front, with Cross being a big reason they’re thought so highly of.

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Two Notre Dame players named to Lott Trophy Watch List

Watch list season has begun.

June officially is upon us, which means we’re one step closer to college football returning. That also means award watch lists are starting to come out, and plenty of Notre Dame players will be on them considering the Irish are expected to be College Football Playoff contenders. We have our first such instance now.

[autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag] and [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] have been named to the watch list for the Lott Trophy, which is given annually the best defensive IMPACT player. It considers character as well as play, the only major college football award to do so. [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] is the lone previous winner for the Irish, taking the award in 2012.

The initial list consists of 42 names, so that obviously means a lot of competition for both players. Hopefully, at least one of them somehow stand out above the rest when the winner is announced during the ceremony Dec. 8 in Newport Beach, California.

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Notre Dame football has two of the top returning defensive tackles according to PFF

The Irish are set in the middle of their defensive line

One unit that Notre Dame football shouldn’t have many worries about this coming season is at defensive tackle.

The Irish saw two major contributors at the position return, [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] and [autotag]Rylie Mills[/autotag], solidifying the middle of the defensive line. Both players were named by Pro Football Focus in their top 10 returning defensive tackles for the 2024 season.

Cross III has been a consistent force for Notre Dame, having his best season in 2023 with 66 total tackles, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Mills tackle numbers weren’t as big, with 47, but he also had 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Due to their positions, neither will ever put up massive stats, but they obviously get the job done.

With Cross III and Mills in the middle, it frees up the ends along with linebacker to make plays. Expect more of the same in the fall.

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