University of Notre Dame juniors Joe Alt and Xavier Watts were named to the 2023 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America First Team on Thursday, December 14, securing Unanimous All-America honors for the two Fighting Irish standouts.
The AFCA is one of the five All-America teams that are utilized to determine both Consensus and Unanimous All-America honors. Alt and Watts earned first-team honors from Walter Camp, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), the Associated Press, The Sporting News and the AFCA to earn the designation as Unanimous All-Americans.
Alt and Watts are the 109th and 110th Consensus All-Americans in Notre Dame football history and the 35th and 36th unanimous selections. The 2023 season marks the first since 1990 that the Irish have seen two student-athletes earn unanimous honors in the same year. College Football Hall of Fame inductees Raghib Ismail, Michael Stonebreaker and Chris Zorich were all unanimous selections in 1990.
Notre Dame has seen at least one player earn Consensus All-America honors in four consecutive seasons (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in 2020, Kyle Hamilton in 2021, Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey in 2022, followed by Alt and Watts this season). That four-year run of consensus honors the best for the program since the eight-year stretch from 1987 through 1994.
Joe Alt
- FWAA All-American – First Team
- Walter Camp All-American – First Team
- Associated Press All-American – First Team
- The Sporting News – First Team
- American Football Coaches Association – First Team
Alt, who was a finalist for the 2023 Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy, served as the bedrock of Notre Dame’s offensive line from the left tackle position. The North Oaks, Minnesota, native helped the Irish offense finish the regular season ranked ninth in the FBS for scoring offense (39.1 points per game), 12th in team passing efficiency (161.49) and 16th in passing yards per completion (14.02).
3️⃣5️⃣
Unanimous.
Joe Alt finishes up his tremendous Irish career earning Unanimous All-America honors, marking the 35th time in program history an Irish player has been named an Unanimous All-American.
Congrats, @JoeAlt7#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/7Osx4O8I3a
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 14, 2023
Notre Dame’s 39.1 points per game this season is the best average for the program since 1912, and would rank second all-time in the school record book. The Irish were in goal-line situations of five yards or less 18 times this season and converted each time, including 12 rushing touchdowns, four passing touchdowns and two field goals (one of which was forced by the end of a half).
Notre Dame held seven of 12 opponents to their lowest sack totals of the year, including sixth-ranked Ohio State and 10th-ranked Southern Cal. The Irish offensive line helped their side of the ball rank eighth in the nation in tackles for loss allowed (3.75/game) and 13th in sacks allowed (1.17).
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Alt allowed just five pressures and a single sack in 368 pass block sets this season. PFF ranks Alt as the second overall offensive tackle in the nation and is the only offensive tackle rated by the service in the top-eight in run blocking and pass blocking. He started all 13 games for the Irish in 2023 and since assuming the starting left tackle position during the 2021 season has made 33 consecutive starts.
3️⃣6️⃣
Unanimous.
After already being named the best defensive player in college football, Xavier Watts earns Unanimous All-America honors, marking the 36th time in program history an Irish player has been named an Unanimous All-American.
Congrats, @xavierwatts6#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/81GjGBet7d
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 14, 2023
Xavier Watts
- FWAA All-American – First Team
- Walter Camp All-American – First Team
- Associated Press All-American – First Team
- The Sporting News – First Team
- American Football Coaches Association – First Team
The 2023 Bronko Nagurski Awardwinner as the nation’s best defensive player, Watts led the nation in interceptions this year with seven and established himself as one of the best playmaking safeties in the country. He is the first Notre Dame player to post back-to-back games with multiple interceptions and just the fifth FBS player to do so in the last five seasons. Watts also became the first Notre Dame player to intercept a pass in three consecutive games this year.
A two-time national defensive player of the week in 2023, Watts earned his first award after dominating the game against No. 6 Southern Cal on October 14. He piled up seven tackles, intercepted reigning Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Caleb Williams two times, forced a fumble and also recovered a different fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
He followed up the Southern Cal performance with two more interceptions in the victory over Pittsburgh. All seven of Watts’ interceptions this season have led directly to Notre Dame points including five touchdowns.
Watts finished the season fifth on the Notre Dame team with 47 tackles, which included 2.5 TFL, four passes broken up, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. His 137 interception return yards are the second-most at Notre Dame since 1996 (Julian Love, 2017, 153).
Notre Dame Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans
| Year | Name | Unanimous |
| 1913 | Gus Dorais, B | |
| 1917 | Frank Rydzewski, C | |
| 1920 | George Gipp, B | |
| 1921 | Eddie Anderson, E | |
| 1924 | Jimmy Crowley, B | |
| 1924 | Elmer Layden, B | |
| 1924 | Harry Stuhldreher, B | |
| 1926 | Bud Boeringer, C | |
| 1927 | John Smith, G | |
| 1929 | Frank Carideo, B | * |
| 1929 | Jack Cannon, G | |
| 1930 | Frank Carideo, B | * |
| 1930 | Marchy Schwartz, B | |
| 1931 | Marchy Schwartz, B | |
| 1931 | Tommy Yarr, C | |
| 1932 | Joe Kurth, T | * |
| 1934 | Jack Robinson, C | |
| 1935 | Wayne Millner, E | |
| 1937 | Chuck Sweeney, E | |
| 1938 | Ed Beinor, T | * |
| 1941 | Bob Dove, E | |
| 1942 | Bob Dove, E | |
| 1943 | Angelo Bertelli, B | |
| 1943 | Pat Filley, G | |
| 1943 | Creighton Miller, B | |
| 1943 | Jim White, T | |
| 1943 | John Yonakor, E | |
| 1946 | John Lujack, B | * |
| 1946 | George Connor, T | |
| 1947 | John Lujack, B | * |
| 1947 | George Connor, T | |
| 1947 | Bill Fischer, G | |
| 1948 | Bill Fischer, G | |
| 1948 | Leon Hart, E | |
| 1948 | Emil Sitko, B | |
| 1949 | Leon Hart, E | * |
| 1949 | Emil Sitko, B | * |
| 1949 | Bob Williams, B | |
| 1950 | Jerry Groom, C | |
| 1952 | Johnny Lattner, B | * |
| 1953 | Johnny Lattner, B | * |
| 1953 | Art Hunter, T | |
| 1954 | Ralph Guglielmi, B | * |
| 1955 | Paul Hornung, B | |
| 1957 | Al Ecuyer, G | |
| 1959 | Monty Stickles, E | |
| 1964 | John Huarte, B | |
| 1964 | Jack Snow, E | |
| 1965 | Dick Arrington, G | * |
| 1965 | Nick Rassas, B | |
| 1966 | Nick Eddy, B | * |
| 1966 | Jim Lynch, LB | * |
| 1966 | Alan Page, DE | |
| 1966 | Tom Regner, G | |
| 1967 | Tom Schoen, DB | |
| 1968 | Terry Hanratty, QB | |
| 1968 | George Kunz, T | |
| 1969 | Mike McCoy, DT | * |
| 1970 | Larry DiNardo, G | |
| 1970 | Tom Gatewood, E | |
| 1971 | Walt Patulski, DE | * |
| 1971 | Clarence Ellis, DB | |
| 1972 | Greg Marx, DT | * |
| 1973 | Dave Casper, TE | |
| 1973 | Mike Townsend, DB | |
| 1974 | Pete Demmerle, WR | |
| 1974 | Gerry DiNardo, G | |
| 1975 | Steve Niehaus, DT | * |
| 1976 | Ross Browner, DE | * |
| 1976 | Ken MacAfee, TE | |
| 1977 | Ross Browner, DL | * |
| 1977 | Ken MacAfee, TE | * |
| 1977 | Luther Bradley, DB | |
| 1978 | Bob Golic, LB | * |
| 1978 | Dave Huffman, C | |
| 1979 | Vagas Ferguson, RB | |
| 1980 | John Scully, C | * |
| 1980 | Bob Crable, LB | |
| 1981 | Bob Crable, LB | |
| 1987 | Tim Brown, WR | * |
| 1988 | Frank Stams, DL | |
| 1988 | Michael Stonebreaker, LB | |
| 1989 | Todd Lyght, DB | * |
| 1989 | Chris Zorich, DL | |
| 1990 | Raghib Ismail, WR | * |
| 1990 | Michael Stonebreaker, LB | * |
| 1990 | Chris Zorich, DL | * |
| 1990 | Todd Lyght, DB | |
| 1991 | Mirko Jurkovic, OL | |
| 1992 | Aaron Taylor, OL | |
| 1993 | Aaron Taylor, OL | * |
| 1993 | Jeff Burris, DB | |
| 1994 | Bobby Taylor, DB | |
| 2002 | Shane Walton, DB | * |
| 2005 | Jeff Samardzija, WR | |
| 2009 | Golden Tate, WR | * |
| 2012 | Manti Te’o, LB | * |
| 2015 | Ronnie Stanley, OL | |
| 2015 | Jaylon Smith, LB | |
| 2017 | Quenton Nelson, OL | * |
| 2017 | Mike McGlinchey, OL | |
| 2018 | Julian Love, DB | |
| 2020 | Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB | * |
| 2020 | Aaron Banks, OL | |
| 2020 | Liam Eichenberg, OL | |
| 2021 | Kyle Hamilton, S | |
| 2022 | Isaiah Foskey, DE | |
| 2022 | Michael Mayer, TE | |
| 2023 | Joe Alt, OT | * |
| 2023 | Xavier Watts, S | * |