Xavier Watts
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish – No. 0 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Safety |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | November 22, 2001 |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 203 lb (92 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Harry A. Burke (Omaha) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Xavier Watts (born November 22, 2001) is an American college football safety for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 2023 after leading the FBS with seven interceptions.
High school career
[edit]Watts attended Omaha Burke High School in Omaha, Nebraska. In his career, he hauled in 163 receptions for 2,978 yards and 36 touchdowns, while also rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown. On defense Watts notched 136 tackles with 7.5 being for a loss, 13 pass deflections, nine interceptions, and one touchdown.[1] He was ranked as the number two recruit in the state of Nebraska in the 2019 class.[2] Watts committed to play college football at the University of Notre Dame as a wide receiver.[3][4]
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xavier Watts WR |
Omaha, Nebraska | Harry A. Burke | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jul 5, 2019 | |
Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80
| ||||||
College career
[edit]2020 season
[edit]In the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Watts was given a redshirt after appearing in two games and recording no statistics.[5]
2021 season
[edit]During the start of the 2021 season, injuries to the linebacker position made it possible for Watts to switch from receiver to defense. He saw snaps at the "rover" position, a mix between safety and linebacker.[6] Watts made his first defensive contribution against Virginia Tech, making three total tackles (one solo), in route to a 32–29 win. He also saw time at strong safety when Kyle Hamilton went down with a knee injury. Over 11 games, Watts had 15 total tackles (11 solo).[7]
2022 season
[edit]Watts entered the 2022 season as the backup safety to Brandon Joseph. In the Irish's game against Stanford, he had a career-high seven total tackles. In Week 11, Watts got his first career start against Navy where he recorded a career-high eight tackles. Two weeks later, he set a new career-high in tackles making nine against USC.[8] Watts played in 13 games with four starts in 2022 finishing the season with 39 total tackles (24 solo) and four pass deflections.
2023 season
[edit]In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Watts recorded his first career interception in a win over NC State, 45–24.[9] In Week 5, he recorded another big interception that helped Notre Dame beat Duke, 21–14.[10] In Week 7, Watts intercepted Caleb Williams on the first series of the game to help set up Notre Dame.[11] Watts finished his career performance with seven tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown, as he helped the Fighting Irish upset No. 10 USC, 48–20.[12] Watts finished the regular season with 47 total tackles (28 solo), four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a defensive touchdown. He also had an NCAA-leading seven interceptions, which helped him win the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy.[13] Following the season, College Football Network named Watts to the All-Independent first team and Independent Safety of the Year.[14] He was also selected as a Unanimous All-American along with teammate Joe Alt.[15]
2024 season
[edit]Ahead of the 2024 season, Watts was named preseason All-American by the Associated Press, ESPN, The Sporting News, and USA Today. He was also named one of the five Fighting Irish team captains. During the season opener, Watts collected his first interception of the season to help Notre Dame beat No. 20 Texas A&M. Against No. 15 Louisville, he returned an interception 34 yards and forced a quarterback hurry that made the Cardinals turn the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter, sealing the 31–24 victory. On the final game of the season, Christian Gray intercepted one of USC quarterback Jayden Maiava's passes and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown, breaking Notre Dame's record for longest interception return. On the next drive, Watts picked off Maiava at the goal line, returning it for 100 yards and breaking Gray's record to help Notre Dame win 49–35. After losing to Northern Illinois on September 7, Notre Dame won 10 straight games to make the College Football Playoff as the No. 7 seed, hosting No. 10 Indiana in the first round.
Watts gained Consensus All-American status after he was selected to the first team by four of the five selectors. The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) snubbed him from Unanimous All-American status by naming him to the second team.
College statistics
[edit]| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | |
| Led the NCAA | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
| GP | GS | Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | FF | TD | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 |  Redshirt
| ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 13 | 4 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 22 | 52 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 7 | 137 | 19.6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | 13 | 13 | 35 | 24 | 59 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 6 | 136 | 22.7 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 52 | 30 | 100 | 65 | 165 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 13 | 273 | 21.0 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Xavier Watts's Stats". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved October 16, 2023. [better source needed]
- ^ Sampson, Pete (July 20, 2019). "Shaped by his father's example, Xavier Watts carved his own path to Notre Dame". The Athletic. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Gray, Tim. "Omaha Burke's Xavier Watts looking forward to the grind at Notre Dame". Lincoln Journal-Star. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Sautter, Mike. "Ex-Burke star Xavier Watts got a first taste of Notre Dame football, now he can't wait to get back". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Shald, Matt. "Xavier Watts' Road to Notre Dame". Nebraska News Service. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ "Notre Dame WR Xavier Watts Moves to ROVER LB". UHND.com. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Farmer, Douglas. "Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 0 Xavier Watts, senior safety, likely starter". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Stires, Sean. "Xavier Watts At Home Playing Safety For Notre Dame". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Sanchez Cordova, Jose. "Xavier Watts, Irish safeties lead with experience". The Observer. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Levitan, Jonathan. "5 observations and more from Duke football's first half against Notre Dame". Duke Chronicle. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Skiver, Kevin. "Notre Dame vs. Southern Cal final score, highlights: Xavier Watts powers Irish to 48–20 win". South Bend-Tribune. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Burlage, Todd. "USC vs. Notre Dame game balls". On3.com. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Berardino, Mike. "Dream season continues for Xavier Watts of Notre Dame football with Nagurski Trophy". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- ^ Mellor, Cam. "2023 All-Independent College Football Team and Individual Honors". College Football Network. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
- ^ "Joe Alt And Xavier Watts Earn Unanimous All-America Status". Notre Dame Athletics. December 14, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.