Howard Cross III: DL · Notre Dame · #56.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Howard Cross III
Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Played for two head coaches in six seasons at Notre Dame. One game to point at: 4 tackles against Navy — Week 9, 2024.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
27 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 4.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Yahoo Sports Oct 27Yahoo Sports Oct 18Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Notre Dame | 27 | 13 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 1 |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | 65 | 27 | 7.0 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | 34 | 13 | 3.0 | 2.5 | -- |
| 2021 | Notre Dame | 22 | 13 | 4.5 | 3.0 | -- |
| 2020 | Notre Dame | 12 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2019 | Notre Dame | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 167 | 76 | 19.0 | 11.5 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 11 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 23-13@ No. 20 Texas A&M | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-16vs Northern Illinois | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 28-3vs Miami (OH) | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 31-24vs No. 15 Louisville | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 49-7vs Stanford | 4 | 4 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 8 | W 31-13vs Georgia Tech | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 51-14vs No. 24 Navy | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 52-3vs Florida State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 27-17vs No. 9 Indiana | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | W 27-24vs No. 5 Penn State | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 23-34vs No. 6 Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 13 | 4.5 | 4.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
17%4 TFLSack rate
15%4 sacksHurry rate
11%3 hurries27 tackles · 4.5 for loss · 4 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Road1g | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Marcus Freeman
Pass share
44.3%
442 pass / 555 run
Plays / game
62.3
16 games
Team sack rate
4.7%
469 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #334 at the position.
How it ended
Six seasons at Notre Dame, 12 sacks — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2024
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Brian Kelly → Marcus Freeman. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
