Notre Dame All-American Xavier Watts Ready for Sugar Bowl Business Trip

Xavier Watts has made a lot of plays over the last two years. In fact, it’d be hard to find another player who has made as many impact plays. 

The Nebraska native did it once again last week as he made 10 tackles and came up with a huge interception to allow Notre Dame to bounce back from an early turnover. 

What’s allowed Watts to show up in big moments? A mindset. 

“It’s just business,” explained Watts. “You never know when you’re going to be called upon, so just go out there, get your cleats in the ground and just play. Luckily, I was able to get it back, but it was just those things where you go play. Sudden change situation is ‘just go play.’”

Watts, who has 13 interceptions in the last two years, has not only played with his cleats in the ground, but he’s spent hours in the film room to allow himself to play faster. In addition to his interception, Watts also made two key stops at the line of scrimmage on the same drive to show his growth as a player. 

“It was seeing something (from film),” stated Watts. “I just knew it was coming and I was trusting what I see and what I feel. Then just the feel that they flashed a guy—you know which guys they flash, which guys they’ll flash and run the wheel route. Just having that in the back of my head, playing fast and trusting what I see.” 

Notre Dame’s defense will have a challenge on Wednesday as Georgia is not only one of the finest teams in the country, but the Bulldogs will be starting a new quarterback in Gunner Stockton. The film study can only go so far as Stockton has 80 plays to his name in 2024. 

“You have to go off what you see, base it off that,” Watts said. “At the end of the day, go out there and play. That’s what we’ll have to do and see what happens.” 

There might not be a ton of film on Stockton, but there is a ton of film on the Georgia offense and Notre Dame has all the time in the world to watch film and prepare as classes are done for the semester, so it’s all ball for the program from here on out. 

“There’s so much more time, so you need to take advantage of it,” stated Watts. “A lot more time for film study, a lot more recovery for the body. Just much more time, so you can’t waste it.” 

“Just reiterate what we’ve done all season and continue to want to improve. We have so much more to get better at. Each week is one more opportunity that’s guaranteed to go display how much better we’ve gotten. It’s exciting to see how much better we can get and what we can display on Wednesday.” 

Now, it also doesn’t mean it’s football 24-7 for Watts. The All-American safety will take time to clear his mind and get away from football to keep his mind fresh. 

“I definitely sit in my room and listen to music,” said Watts. “I like watching videos on YouTube. I like watching videos of brand new buildings of houses and stuff like that, different car videos and food reviewers eat food. Those are kind of my things to get my mind off football.” 

Watts might be on top of the world as he’s an All-American safety playing in the Sugar Bowl and leading one of the best defenses in the country. Yet, there is still a part of him that wonders how special this defense could have been without the run of injuries to key players on his defense. 

“It kind of hurts,” Watts explained. “We’ve definitely been really good, but those are impact players, those are good football players. Not having them has been ‘what could’ve been’ being even better than it’s been so far, but it’s the next man up mentality. You have to be ready to go, you never know when your chance is going to happen. But it does kinda sting.”

The injuries aren’t changing the mindset of the program heading into the Sugar Bowl as the Irish program knows it’s a huge opportunity to show the growth of the program. 

“It’s a big-time game playing in New Orleans in a playoff game against a really good opponent,” said Watts. “It’s an exciting opportunity for this team.” 

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