Notre Dame football is on a historic rise for a once troubling weakness, and has forced us to answer an unfamiliar question
It wasn’t too long ago that Notre Dame was viewed as a physical defensive team whose secondary was solid but nothing spectacular. The safety position has been pretty good for a while now, but cornerback has been an issue in the not too distant past. Just go back and look at the depth chart from […]
It wasn’t too long ago that Notre Dame was viewed as a physical defensive team whose secondary was solid but nothing spectacular. The safety position has been pretty good for a while now, but cornerback has been an issue in the not too distant past. Just go back and look at the depth chart from 2020.
What a difference a few years, and effort has made. A big reason for that is Mike Mickens, who is now fully in charge of the secondary after coaching cornerbacks since 2020. Of course all of these conversations need to also be centered around head coach Marcus Freeman, who has helped to upgrade every spot on the defensive side of the football.
During the team’s most recent 35 to 14 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, we once again saw just how talented that defensive back group truly is. After 10 games into the season, there is a legitimate argument that the Irish have the best secondary in all of college football. Being able to say that without any hesitation is a crazy reality, and one this fan base is not at all used to.
The last two seasons, Irish fans have come to expect nothing but spectacular plays from All-American safety Xavier Watts. We routinely marvel at teams opting to test Watts on the back end, and shake our heads when it doesn’t work out for them. That happened again on Saturday when Watts recorded his fourth interception of the season.
He finished the day with three tackles, and another pass breakup as well. Even if his stats don’t back it up, Watts has been even better than he was in 2023. There is a real argument that he is the best safety in all of college football.
While Watts is the known commodity of that group, it was expected for the secondary to take a step back once cornerback Benjamin Morrison injured his hip, which put him out for the rest of the 2024 season. Somehow this team has barely skipped a beat, and the cornerback position continues to play on an elite level. That’s a testament to Coach Mickens and the recruiting of this staff.
Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray is becoming the player in the secondary that teams rarely ever test. And he also doesn’t get much up, unless you count a long catch that clearly hit the ground, and would have been overturned by replay. Gray ended the day with three total tackles and a pass breakup but for those who watched, they understand how stingy No. 29 has been when healthy.
Pressed to fill in for Morrison, freshman Leonard Moore has been nothing short of fantastic. It didn’t take Irish fans long to see that the talented cover man belonged, but he’s playing at a level that most wouldn't have predicted this early on. Moore continued his stellar play against Virginia, nabbing his second interception of the season.
Often overlooked because of Watts, sophomore safety Adon Shuler also recorded his third interception of the season on Saturday. He did so while also finishing tied for the team lead with four total tackles. Shuler looks like the next great safety after Watts leaves. He has been quietly tremendous in his first year as a starter.
Even up until the end of the game, we continued to see the future of that secondary. The field was littered with young talent like Kennedy Urlacher, Karson Hobbs, Luke Talich, and Brauntae Johnson. The depth of that group is at a level we just haven’t seen in a very long time.
Even with the injury to Morrison, it hasn’t slowed this secondary down. The pass defense came into the game against Virginia surrendering just 148.6 yards per game through the air and a 47.8 completion percentage. As a unit, they had given up just six touchdowns passes all year. The Cavaliers continued to strengthen those numbers, throwing for just 172 yards and three interceptions, completing a mere 47 percent of their passes.
What this secondary has accomplished is almost unbelievable. Here’s the real question, do the Irish have the secondary in college football. And an even better question, when’s the last time that Notre Dame has even been in that conversation?
