Release from the FWAA:

DALLAS (FWAA) – Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts ascended to the top spot among FBS interceptions leaders with two picks during last week’s 58-7 win over Pitt. Now with six interceptions on the season and for maintaining a high standard in the Irish defensive backfield, Watts has earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Oct. 28, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Watts was also the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for games the weekend of Oct. 14 following another two-interception game against USC. He is the only FBS player to have two multi-interception games this season.

Each week during the regular season, the FWAA has selected a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week since 2001. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 15. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2023 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 4 at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Players may be added or removed from the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list during the season. Watts was already a member from his Oct. 17 selection. Each week’s honored player is added at that time. Already on the watch list from Notre Dame are linebacker JD Bertrand and cornerback Benjamin Morrison.

Watts, a 5-11, 200-pound senior safety but with junior eligibility from Omaha, Neb., has been a point-producer for Notre Dame (7-2) despite playing defense. His six interceptions have led to 30 points for the Irish – including a pick-six by Watts – just short of 10 percent of Notre Dame’s (345) scoring this season. Watts gained 31 yards on his two interception returns against Pitt and also had three tackles, one of them a TFL.

Notre Dame held Pitt’s passing game in check due in part to Watts’ efforts. Pitt entered the game averaging 320.9 yards of total offense per game, but the Irish held them to just 255 yards. The Irish snagged four interceptions against Pitt quarterbacks who had only thrown five coming into the game. Irish teammates Christian Gray and Jaden Mickey also had interceptions.

Watts’ six interceptions account for almost half of Notre Dame’s 13 total interceptions, a team figure that ranks third among all FBS teams. Watts has 39 tackles this season to lead the Notre Dame defensive backs and list fourth on the team. Notre Dame’s four defensive touchdowns

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 2012. He is Notre Dame’s lone previous winner. Fellow linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was a finalist for the award in 2020, as was cornerback Shane Walton in 2002. The Fighting Irish have had a defensive back earn FWAA All-America status in three of the past five seasons – two-time first-team All-America safety Kyle Hamilton did it in 2020 and 2021, and cornerback Julian Love earned it in 2018, also on the first team.

The Irish play one of the country’s feature games on Saturday, traveling to Clemson for a Noon ET kickoff on ABC.

The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the five finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.

The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

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Twelve teams make the New Year's 6 bowl games (trust me on this, I majored in math). Notre Dame is likely to need to end the season ranked within the top 10 to make it in. The reason is that one spot is reserved for a G5 champion that is not likely to be ranked in the top 12 (though Air Force could conceivably end up there) and one Orange Bowl slot must go to an ACC team, which is not likely to be ranked in the top 12 if Florida State makes the playoff.

Notre Dame is currently ranked 14th. The path to the top 10 would require:

1) The Irish need to win out (obviously)

2) Need to jump over at least four teams, knowing that ND does not play any ranked teams where a win could jump the Irish over anybody who doesn't lose.

These teams almost certainly drop below ND with one more loss. Remaining ranked opponents listed.

13 Utah - vs 8 Oregon on 10/28, at 5 Washington on 11/11, PAC-12 Championship on 12/2 if they win both of those
12 Mississippi - at 1 Georgia on 11/11
11 Oregon State - vs 5 Washington on 11/18, at 8 Oregon on 11/25, PAC-12 Championship on 12/2 if they win both of those

These teams might drop below ND with one more loss but it might take 2 losses:

10 Penn State - vs 2 Michigan on 11/11
9 Alabama - vs 15 LSU on 11/4, SEC Championship on 12/2 if they win that
8 Oregon - at 13 Utah on 10/28, vs 24 USC on 11/11, vs 11 Oregon St on 11/25, PAC-12 Championship on 12/2 if they win all of those
7 Texas - no ranked opponents except Big 12 Championship on 12/2 if they don't lose to an unranked team

The key games in all of this are Mississippi/Georgia and Penn State/Michigan. An upset in either of these games makes it nearly impossible for the Irish to crack the top 10.
The PAC-12 should sort itself out with at least two out of Oregon, Utah and Oregon State ending up with 2+ losses.

***All rankings are AP rankings as there are no playoff rankings yet***

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Notre Dame women's basketball began its 2023-24 season with a 110-48 exhibition win against Purdue Northwest on Monday.

Head coach Niele Ivey started Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Citron and Anna DeWolfe at the three guard positions and Maddy Westbeld and Kylee Watson at the forward positions. Cassandre Prosper, Becky Obnima and Natal Marshall were the first substitutes off the bench during the first quarter.

The Irish got off to a 21-0 start before Purdue Northwest scored its first point from the free-throw line at the 4:17 mark of the first quarter.

Hidalgo, a true freshman, led the Irish in scoring with 23 points. She also added a team-high seven assists and five steals in 25 minutes. She finished 8-of-9 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Citron, Notre Dame's returning leading scorer, paced the Irish behind Hidalgo with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. She also had a team-high two blocks and six assists, which were second behind Hidalgo/

Four other players scored in double-digits: Westbeld with 17, Prosper with 15, Obinma with 12 and Marshall with 11. Kylee Watson scored six points while DeWolfe added four points. Sarah Cernugel did not score in three minutes of game action.

Obinma also brought down a team-high 12 rebounds which notched a double-double. Citron had nine rebounds and was one shy of recording her own double-double.

Although the Irish scored consistently, they only shot 3-of-17 from the 3-point line. DeWolfe, Prosper and Westbeld combined to go 0-for-9.

On the pregame radio broadcast, Ivey said she wanted to see the Irish play hard and with effort. Notre Dame won the rebounding margin 51-23 and forced 31 turnovers, which it scored 43 points off of.

Olivia Miles did not play due to her injury. Jenna Brown and KK Bransford were also not in uniform.

Notre Dame, ranked No. 10, opens its season in Paris next Monday, Nov. 6 against No. 6 South Carolina. Tip off is 1 p.m. ET.

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Notre Dame is pushing for 2025 safety target Ivan Taylor and got him on a visit last Saturday for the Pittsburgh game. Taylor is out of Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange, the same school that former Irish running back Dexter Williams attended. He visited Notre Dame in June and July, and has now visited the Irish more than any other teams in his recruitment.

Taylor holds 14 total offers including Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Tennessee and USC.

Inside ND Sports caught up with the four-star safety on Monday evening to learn his thoughts on the game, bond with the coaching staff and interest level in Irish moving forward.

On what he got to learn more of on his third visit (first trip not in the summer):

"The campus was amazing, the school is a great school to attend. You're going to get the major off the field, abilities on the field and the fan base was electric."

On the game performance:

"I mean, I don’t have to say anything we all saw how they performed all of them got picks and [a] pick-6," Taylor said. "They played a great game. [Safeties] Coach [Chris] O'Leary and [defensive coordinator] coach [Al] Golden, they are both amazing coaches calling great plays and letting everyone eat."

On why his interest is so high in Notre Dame:

"I would say the impression they left of on me would be their very loving and welcoming. The reason there so high in my mind is because really our connection."

Link to full story:


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Inside ND Sports looks at the top performances of Notre Dame commits last week including one 2024 running back that went down in the record books at his high school.

Players highlighted include:

2024 four-star QB CJ Carr

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2024 four-star RB Kedren Young

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2024 four-star WR Micah Gilbert

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2024 three-star LB commit Teddy Rezac

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Link to full story:

https://sports.yahoo.com/first-female-notre-dame-leprechaun-224515260.html

She is really thrilled. Good for her!

@Clint Cosgrove has Notre Dame as a winner this October.

A group of Notre Dame football 2024 commits and 2025 targets just walked into Notre Dame Stadium.

The group was led by director of recruiting Chad Bowden. Players included:

2024 TE commit Jack Larsen

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2024 S commit Taebron Bennie-Powell

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2024 DE commit Loghan Thomas

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2025 CB target Cree Thomas

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2025 WR target Derek Meadows

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2025 S target Ivan Taylor

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See video below.

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@Eric Hansen and I will go live on YouTube at 7 p.m. EDT for the next edition of "Football Never Sleeps." Throughout the season, we will plan to be live every Monday at 7 p.m.

We'll discuss head coach Marcus Freeman's Monday press conference, look ahead at Saturday's matchup with Clemson and answer questions from viewers.

Football Never Sleeps is sponsored by Legacy Heating & Air.

We hope you join us live with questions or submit some ahead of time. Hit the bell to set a reminder to get notified when we go live.

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If you'd like to submit questions, make sure you click through so you're watching on YouTube's site or in the YouTube app if you're on mobile. You can do so by clicking the headline at the top of the embedded video above. So where it says "Football Never Sleeps: ..." Or there should be spot that says "Watch on YouTube" in the bottom left.

Then to submit questions, there's a chat box to the right of the video on desktop or below the video on mobile.

Click here to subscribe to Inside ND Sports on YouTube.

Also items on CBs coach Mike Mickens readiness to become a defensive coordinator ... why Marcus Freeman doesn't want the ND offense 'majoring' in tempo ... and comparing the Irish 2021 running back recruiting targets three seasons into their careers.

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Notre Dame hosted 2026 defensive end prospect Jake Kreul on a visit Saturday for its game against Pittsburgh.

Kreul is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound strongside defensive end. The Orlando (Fla.) Bishop Moore recruit had a standout performance at Irish Invasion in June.

Inside ND Sports spoke with Kreul on Sunday evening to learn about his visit, time with defensive line coach Al Washington and more.

On his visit:

"It was awesome," Kreul said. "It was definitely a great time. I got to talk to coach Washington who I hadn't seen in a long time since the summer. I got to talk to him about my year so far and how they're doing so far."

On his takeaways from the defense:

“In my opinion, all the interceptions, they were all caused by the collapsing of the pocket that the all the rushers had. I really liked how the edge rushers got into it. Rushing the passer and also stopping the run. I like the front that they used and how they were filling the gaps and everything. It just looked it looked really fundamentally sound.”

On what an offer would mean:

"I think the offer would mean the world to me because not only is it an offer of Notre Dame, but it would also boost my recruitment because I feel like Notre Dame is a very well respected school by every other school in the country. It also would kind of astound me as a person because I'd be really blessed to be able to say I had the chance to go to Notre Dame."

Kreul has 11 total offers including Duke, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Purdue, UCF, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.

Link to full story:


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0 Navy
3 TSU
7 NCSU
14 CMU
3 tOSU
0 Duke
7 Louisville
6 USC
0 Pitt
40 points or 4.44 points average per first half through 9 games

Let’s face it Brian Kelly should be ashamed of himself

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is expected to speak at his Monday press conference at 12 p.m. ET to begin Clemson week.

Inside ND Sports plans to be in attendance and bring have live updates below in this thread. You can also watch the press conference live using the link below.

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The Clapper was so right about overbleeding the clock.

We're not playing Oregon.. Pitt is not a big threat to go the field in 20 seconds. There is no harm to leave an extra 10-15 ticks there.

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While I expect to speak with a few 2025 targets that visited Notre Dame on Saturday later on Monday, I had the chance to speak with Notre Dame 2026 tight end prospect Jack Janda on Sunday evening.

Janda, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound tight end, attends Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary's and camped at Irish Invasion in June. He returned on Saturday for the Pittsburgh game.

On his visit:

"It was a great trip," Janda told Inside ND Sports. "Everyone greeted me there. Everyone treated me nicely. The environment ... I mean, they were winning by like 40 and fans were all still going crazy. Notre Dame's a special place."

On his interaction with the coaching staff:

"Yeah, it was nice. It was good to talk to coach Parker for a little bit before the game and coach Gino a for little. They asked me how everything was going and we just caught up a little bit."

On Notre Dame's tight end usage:

"It's great how much they involve their tight ends in the game. You have a guy like Mitchell Evans that can beat anyone in one-on-one with his size, speed and strength. They use their tight ends really good."

This summer, Janda told me exchanged direct messages with Notre Dame 2024 quarterback commit CJ Carr through X/Twitter and spoke highly of the future Irish signal caller in our conversation.

Janda is not currently rated or ranked by Rivals but has nine total offers including Illinois, Louisville and West Virginia. He also has interest from Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

Janda said he wants to visit Notre Dame soon and is looking at the winter or spring of 2024.

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