Howard Cross III Earns Two More All-American Honors
Notre Dame veteran defensive tackle Howard Cross III had a breakout season for the Irish in 2023, and he continues to be rewarded for it with postseason honors. Cross earned second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and the Football Writers Association of America.
Cross has also been named a second-team All-American by Walter Camp and Pro Football Focus after his outstanding 2023 season.
The New Jersey native was a key rotation player for the Fighting Irish in the two previous seasons, but he emerged as a top playmaker for the defense this season. He got off to a strong start, registered 15 tackles in the first three games of the season.
He had a good performance in the loss to Ohio State, but Cross's national breakout came in the 21-14 come-from-behind victory over Duke. Cross registered career highs with 13 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. His sack late in the game forced a fumble the Irish recovered, which sealed the win. A week later, Cross registered seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Louisville.
Cross finished the 2023 regular season with 64 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and a sack. He also broke up a pair of passes and forced two fumbles, both of which came against Duke.
Cross only registered one sack on the season, but he was still disruptive as a pass rusher. According to Pro Football Focus, Cross led the Irish defense with 36 quarterback hurries, which was more than Isaiah Foskey had in each of the two previous seasons. He also led the defense with 32 run stops on the season, which also led the defense. It was the most stops in a season by an interior defensive lineman since Sheldon Day registered 33 back in 2015.
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