Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 NOV. 18, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME When you talked to Notre Dame defensive players and coaches during fall camp, you started to sense a theme in what the Irish hoped to accomplish this season. Ball disruption. Ball disruption. Ball disruption. Notre Dame didn't force enough turnovers in 2022. The team made it a consistent focus throughout the offseason and into the 2023 campaign. It worked; through Week 9, the Irish were tied for third in the country with 18 turnovers forced, a number that could easily be higher if their percentage of fumbles recovered was higher (5 of 18, 27.8 percent). Just don't tell that to Al Golden. "Look, I'm glad we're moving forward, but I hate talking about stats," the second-year Notre Dame defensive coordinator said. "I think what the kids are doing is they're developing great habits and they're having fun with it." Where fans and reporters see the stats — 5 forced turnovers in two consecutive games against USC and Pittsburgh — Golden sees what's causing them. The Irish are converting more on their opportunities to force fumbles and pick passes, which is some- thing they didn't do last season. For one example: Notre Dame had USC freshman running back Quinten Joyner wrapped up late in the fourth quarter against the Trojans Oct. 14. Senior safety Xavier Watts saw his chance to make a play and took it, reaching his left hand into Joyner's midsec- tion and stripping the ball from his hands. "There were a lot of times that we had a running back held up in the pile in my however many games here," Golden said. "But now we have the wherewithal to go for the ball." On one of the other Watts-involved takeaways against USC, graduate student cornerback Cam Hart punched the ball out of junior Trojans wide receiver Mario Williams' grasp. Watts picked it up and ran for a walk-in touchdown, but Golden saw Hart's effort as a great indication that the Irish are buying what the coaching staff is selling. "There have been a lot of times that we've been on the pe- rimeter, where we're closing in on a tackle, where we've just got the tackle," Golden said. "But now we're seeing the ball, and that's what Cam did against SC." Plays like that are big reasons why Notre Dame has already surpassed its takeaway number from last season (15) with four games to go. Regarding the interceptions — Watts has 4 in his past two games and a nation-leading 6 through Week 9 — the converted wide receiver didn't enter those games thinking, "I'm going to get the ball today." At least, no more than he did in the previous seven contests. For the most part, Watts said, he's put himself in a position to make the right play at the right time. "Just kind of just doing my job," Watts said. "Credit to my teammates, too. They're the ones in coverage and getting the pressure. They're helping me get in position to make those plays, too. I've just kind of been in the right spot." The pick that deserved to make highlight reels the most: freshman cornerback Christian Gray's spectacular, one-handed interception against Pitt. Irish pressure forced Panthers redshirt sophomore quarterback Christian Veilleux outside the pocket, where he lofted an off-balance throw to a receiver he thought was open. He was, until Gray leaped into the air and stopped the ball's flight path with his right hand, cor- ralling it as he fell to the ground. Gray's natural talents are evident, as was his readiness to play when Hart's upper-body injury forced him into extended action. "Yeah, [Gray] did a great job, and he does have length — and reach," Golden said. "I mean, length without the reach is just, you're tall. But you have the reach and his ability, the catch radius to make the play the other day." When Gray came down with the football, his teammates mobbed him. Gray is young, even for his freshman class (he turned 18 on May 26), and he said many of the older Irish consider him the team's little brother. He only had one thing in mind, though: his grandmother, who passed away over the summer. "I wanted to tear up, but everybody was holding me," Gray said, laughing. "It was a lot, and I love the family, love how everybody came to me, like the whole team, saying, 'Yeah Christian! Congratulations!' "I was ready to cry on the sideline. I was just like, 'My granny was here.' I was thanking God so many times." Notre Dame featuring Gray as its No. 4 cornerback reflects personnel that fosters turnover creation better than almost any team in the country. While only 4 of the 13 interceptions have come via the outside cornerback group, their ability to lock down receivers frees up safeties like Watts, as Watts him- self said, to make plays on the ball. Still, Watts and the rest have to finish those plays. And they are. Golden's offseason mantra is paying off. — Jack Soble Notre Dame Is A Top-Five Takeaway Team In 2023 The Notre Dame defense is one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers. That's been a point of emphasis from defensive coordina- tor Al Golden. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER