NEWPORT BEACH, CA. – Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts is the Lott IMPACT Trophy Player of the Week for week 7 of the 2023 college football season. Watts had two interceptions, returned a fumble for a touchdown, and forced a fumble, to go with 7 tackles, 6 solo, as the Fighting Irish beat #10 USC 48-20.
A junior from Omaha, Nebraska, Watts was also named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week and Bronco Nagurski National Player of the Week for his performance against the Trojans.
On the season, Watts leads the Fighting Irish in interceptions on the season with four, to go with as many pass breakups.
The Lott IMPACT® Trophy player of the week is determined in part by a panel of Lott Trophy board members, former players and coaches, as well as members of the media. That panel represents sixty percent of votes, while an online fan vote is used to determine the other forty percent.
The Lott IMPACT® Trophy is awarded annually to individuals who demonstrate excellence in the field of athletics and recognizes college football’s Defensive Player of the Year who best exemplifies the IMPACT acronym: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.
The mission of The Pacific Club IMPACT® Foundation is to recognize and support both national and local charities that serve the youth of America with a focus on education and have a positive IMPACT® on the lives of young men and women.
Other nominees for the Lott IMPACT® Trophy Player of the Week in Week 7:
EDEFUAN ULOFOSHIO, LB, Washington, Sr. – Game high 11 tackles, 9 solo, with a sack in the Huskies 36-33 win over #8 Oregon.
GABE JEUDY-LALLY, DB, Tennessee, Gr. – Had a late 4th quarter interception and broke up 2 passes in Volunteers 20-13 win over Texas A&M.
AKILI ARNOLD, DB, Oregon St., Jr. – Broke up two passes and had an interception to go with 10 tackles in the Beavers 36-24 win over #18 UCLA.
Previous Winners of the Lott IMPACT® Trophy
2004 – David Pollack, Georgia
2005 – DeMeco Ryans, Alabama
2006 – Dante Hughes, Cal
2007 – Glenn Dorsey, LSU
2008 – James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
2009 – Jerry Hughes, TCU
2010 – J.J. Watt, Wisconsin
2011 – Luke Kuechly, Boston College
2012 – Manti Te’o, Notre Dame
2013 – Anthony Barr, UCLA
2014 – Eric Kendricks, UCLA
2015 – Carl Nassib, Penn State
2016 – Jabrill Peppers, Michigan
2017 – Josey Jewell, Iowa
2018 – Josh Allen, Kentucky
2019 – Derek Brown, Auburn
2020 – Paddy Fisher, Northwestern
2021 – Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
2022 – Will Anderson Jr., Alabama
The 20th Annual Lott IMPACT® Trophy Award Presentation will be held December 10th at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. To purchase tickets for the event, click here or for more information on The Lott Trophy visit: www.LottImpactTrophy.org