Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 SEPT. 21, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I f anybody from the Notre Dame of- fense knew exactly what to do and exactly when to do it in the first two games of a season that otherwise largely began with indecision, uncer- tainty and fruitless labor, it was sopho- more running back Jeremiyah Love. The Irish were trailing Northern Illi- nois 13-7 in the third quarter of the home opener, for instance, when Love made a play that probably planted a seed in the minds of many Notre Dame fans that despite offensive ineptitude following an opening-drive score, the home team was going to be OK and pull out a win. That's what you're supposed to be- lieve when you see your star running back jump over a defensive player, stay on his feet and run 20 more yards for a go-ahead touchdown. "Pretty much the whole game they were coming at me low and trying to hit me in my knees and go low in gen- eral," Love said. "Coming into the sec- ond half, I knew if I got in open space somebody's going to try to hit me at my knees. Once I came through the hole, I knew what he was going to do. So, I just jumped over him." Simple as that. Everything else for the Irish offense, however, was complicated through Week 2, including, apparently, how often it's advisable to give Love the football. The answer is as much as pos- sible. The reality was far fewer times than that. His hurtling touchdown mad dash of 34 yards was only one of 11 carries he had in the Irish's 16-14 loss to the Huskies. Would, say, a handful more have re- sulted in a different outcome? Who knows. Impossible to say. Would it have hurt if someone averaging 6.8 yards per carry had a few more opportunities to create magic moments? Arriving at that answer is much easier. No. Everyone sees it. "He's probably one of the most gifted athletes I've ever seen," Notre Dame sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry said. "The way he cuts, the way he runs, his vision, his strength, everything. I really think he's one of the best backs in the nation, if not the best." Ausberry might not be able to defini- tively say the same about junior Jadar- ian Price, but he made sure to mention him later in his rundown about what makes Love so good. Price, whose 47- yard touchdown against Texas A&M couldn't have been any more massive, got loose for a strong gain of 15 against NIU. It was only one of 4 carries he had all day. If Love deserves more than 11 then Price surely needs more than 4. "The run game on any team can help out the pass game a lot," Love said. "If you establish a good running game, that's going to open up the passing. In that game we had some pretty good runs." About that Notre Dame passing game. Fewer people would be clamoring for Love and Price to touch the ball if senior quarterback Riley Leonard and his pass catchers were lighting it up. They're not. Quite the opposite. Zero touchdown passes in the first two games of the season, one of just five FBS teams to face that reality. The worst pass-efficiency rating (96.77) through two games of any power program. Only five non-power conference programs had a number worse than that. Any oodles of optimism that area of Notre Dame's offense carried from fall camp into the season were snuffed out by a pack of Huskies from DeKalb, Ill., and tossed into the St. Joseph River be- fore mid-September. "Confidence is a fragile thing," offen- sive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. "It's something you've got to continue to build on. Where you build on it is right out there on those practice fields." Love disproved that to a degree. He took on some confidence mid-game, on the playing field instead of the practice field, and used it to his advantage. Any good player or coach has a knack for knowing what's coming before it's right in front of them. Love did. Not enough people by his side could say the same. SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS Notre Dame was left speechless on offense with some of the worst statistics in the country through Week 2 Junior running back Jeremiyah Love was undeniably Notre Dame's best offensive player in the first two games of the 2024 season with 25 carries for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER