16 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED
BY JACK SOBLE
A
don Shuler put his head in his
hands during the third quarter
of Notre Dame's Week 2 loss to
Northern Illinois. He couldn't
believe it.
NIU redshirt junior quarterback
Ethan Hampton was under pressure and
he opted to throw it away, but he didn't
throw it far enough into the Notre Dame
bench. Not when graduate student Irish
safety Xavier Watts was lurking.
Watts leaped as high as he could, and
when he realized mid-air that he wasn't
going to land with his feet inbounds, he
alley-ooped the ball in Shuler's direc-
tion. The sophomore safety, moving in
the direction of the throw, couldn't re-
adjust and watched it fall incomplete.
Shuler had no idea what Watts was
trying to do. How could he? No one in
college football has seen the game like
No. 0 this season.
"Man, X is different," Shuler said.
"Every week, I just say, 'What crazy
plays are you going to make this week?'"
Watts made the decision to return to
Notre Dame for his fifth and final sea-
son, despite the NFL being a real option
for him after he intercepted 7 passes and
won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the
nation's best defensive player in 2023.
It's a choice that has and will pay off.
Piling up 7 picks again was always un-
likely, although Watts does have 3 so far.
But his body of work — the complete
package of safety play — has dramati-
cally improved.
It's easy for those who regularly watch
STEPPING IT UP
Xavier Watts won the Nagurski
Award in 2023 — and he's been
'markedly' better in 2024
