Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 JANUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Morrison was the 17th-highest rated of them, at No. 342 overall in the On3 Con- sensus. It didn't appear too likely during spring practice either, when fellow fresh- man cornerback Jaden Mickey put on a strong opening act while Morrison was still in his final semester of high school. Morrison arrived in June and quickly changed the tune, though. He drew positive reviews in summer workouts and won a rotation spot in preseason camp. He started Notre Dame's third game. By the end of the regular season, he had more interceptions (5) than any Irish player since linebacker Manti Te'o grabbed 7 in 2012. He's not a future star. He's a current one. 2. Xavier Watts Watts' emergence at safety late in the 2021 season evoked visions of a down- the-road starter. That chance seemed like it might not arrive until 2023, though, when he opened camp as the fifth safety. But Watts ended the regular season third among Notre Dame safeties in snaps (304). He made his first two starts when senior Brandon Joseph was inac- tive due to an ankle sprain. He started alongside Joseph in the regular-season finale. In two of those starts, he either led or co-led Notre Dame in tackles. He will head into the offseason with an inside track to a starting spot in 2023. 3. Jon Sot Notre Dame's addition of Sot as walk- on graduate transfer from Harvard went largely unnoticed. He was, after all, a walk-on. The Irish had signed highly ranked scholarship punter Bryce McFer- son in the 2022 class, presumably to step in for the departed Jay Bramblett. But special teams coordinator Brian Mason wanted depth. He pitted Sot and McFerson in a competition for the job. Sot won it and averaged 43.24 yards per punt, which ranks 39th nationally. His precision was more impressive than his raw distance. Only eight of his 45 punts were returned, and 21 went inside the 20-yard line. He kicked just two touch- backs and uncorked a 75-yard punt ver- sus Ohio State. MOST UNDERRATED 1. JD Bertrand At some point, you have to believe the numbers. Bertrand has led Notre Dame in tackles the last two seasons, and it has not been close. In 2021, he had 102 total takedowns. The next closest Irish player had 55. This fall, the senior line- backer recorded 74 stops despite miss- ing a game to injury and two full halves because of targeting infractions. The next closest player had 54 total tackles. Bertrand isn't ever going to be billed as the most athletic player on the field. But he's a smart one, and he often gets to the right spot at the right time. Give credit where credit is due. Bertrand is a tackling machine. Yes, he led the team with 10 missed tackles. But doesn't a team-high 74 make up for most, if not all, of those? It should. 2. Drew Pyne Put respect on the man's name who threw 22 touchdown passes with just 6 interceptions. Pyne, a junior, had a passer rating of 155.3, which was good for No. 20 nationally and the fourth- best single-season mark ever posted by a Fighting Irish signal-caller. Pyne held an 8-2 record as a starter. If it was 9-1 without a loss to Stanford, per- haps people would be giving him his due. He did not play well in that game, for sure. But he played well in enough other games to warrant appreciation from the fan base. It's not an easy undertaking to take over a 0-2 team as a backup. Pyne navigated choppy waters without wrecking the ship. 3. Cam Hart There might not have been a better indicator to how valuable the senior cor- nerback was than when he was not able to play versus Southern Cal and was re- placed by true freshman Jaden Mickey. Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams threw at Mickey more than any other Notre Dame defensive back, and Mickey surrendered a catch on every target. The 4 receptions amounted to 71 yards. Hart has started 20 games in the last two seasons. He announced he will return for a graduate campaign in 2023. That's good news for the Irish. Hart is a stable presence in the Notre Dame secondary. His percentage of targets caught (50 per- cent) was second among regularly rotated defensive backs with only Benjamin Mor- rison's mark of 40.4 percent being better. BEST 'NEXT OPTION' 1. Drew Pyne Take yourself back to Sept. 10, when Notre Dame had to pick up the pieces after a loss to Marshall, starting 0-2 and losing quarterback Tyler Buchner to a Senior linebacker JD Bertrand was Notre Dame's leading tackler (74) for the second straight season. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER