Notre Dame Stars Joe Alt and Xavier Watts Earn Unanimous All-America Honors

Notre Dame star offensive tackle Joe Alt and standout safety Xavier Watts have earned unanimous All-America honors after both were named to the American Football Coaches Association first-team All-America squad.

To be a unanimous All-American player must be on the first-team list for the AFCA, the Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News, the Associated Press and Walter Camp.

Watts and Alt become the 35th and 36th players in Notre Dame history to earn unanimous All-American honors, and the first since linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah earned the honor in 2020, and before that offensive lineman Quenton Nelson earned that honor.

In fact, from 2010 to 2022 the Irish had just three players earn unanimous All-American honors. Those three players were Manti Te'o (2012), Nelson and Owusu-Koramoah. Notre Dame has not had two unanimous All-Americans in the same season since 1990, when College Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail and College Football Hall of Fame linebacker Michael Stonebreaker both earned unanimous honors.

Alt has been arguably the nation's best offensive tackle in the last two seasons. He earned multiple All-American honors last season as a true sophomore, and he was a freshman All-American in 2021. Over the last two seasons Alt has allowed just one sack, and his dominant all-around play has allowed him to become the latest All-American left tackle for the Irish.

Watts was a breakout star for Notre Dame this season, registering 47 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, but he led the nation with seven interceptions. Watts had two games with multiple interceptions, and his turnovers were impactful. Not only did he force turnovers, but each turnover he forced resulted in a score for Notre Dame.

Five of his interceptions were immediately followed by touchdowns by the Irish offense, and his two other interceptions were followed by field goals. Watts recovered just one fumble this season, but he returned it for a touchdown.

Watts also won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which goes annually to the best defensive player in college football.

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