Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2025 23 Love, though, is different. Notre Dame has as dependable of a second option as any in senior Jadarian Price, a home run hitter whose 7 touch- downs last season came from an average of 35 yards away from the end zone, but Love is a home run hitter in his own right. He started the Irish's College Football Playoff march with a 98-yard touch- down sprint versus Indiana, after all. To round out an even 100 yards worth of scores, his 2-yard touchdown two games later in the Orange Bowl was the exact opposite of his explosive run against the Hoosiers; he plowed through multiple Penn State players, includ- ing No. 3 overall NFL Draft pick Abdul Carter, to extend the ball over the goal line. Somehow, it was even more elec- trifying than the 98-yarder considering the setting, circumstances and stakes. It was also a display of Love's duality — he can do both. He can win footraces and he can win throw downs. "J-Love, pretty much he can do it all," Notre Dame running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider said. Again, Notre Dame would be fine if Price was its top back. Maybe even just as much of a national championship contender as it was in 2024. A playoff team at the very least. But when you have someone like Love, who could be a first-round NFL Draft pick in 2026 after just three years in college ball, you squeeze every ounce of production out of him that you can for the time that you've got him. Every hurdle. Every missed tackle forced. Every broken tackle. Every long touchdown run. Every hard-fought touchdown. Every first down when he should have lost yards. Every time he gets back to the line of scrimmage when he had no business doing so. There will be countless instances of all those for Love in what will likely be his swan song at Notre Dame. Irish fans should savor all of them. This guy is truly one of a kind. He's living in the moment and his supporters should, too. "I'm just someone who loves to play football and happens to be good at it," Love said. DEFENSIVE STARTERS When Notre Dame lines up in a base 4-3 look, four of 11 defensive starters are from the recruiting class of 2023. All four of those players — lineback- ers Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry, and defensive backs Christian Gray and Adon Shuler — made multiple starts as sophomores. That's a heck of a hit rate in terms of turning high school pros- pects into every-down staples within two years. They didn't just make multiple starts; they made multiple plays. All of them. Bowen had 3 tackles for loss in the first two games of the College Football Playoff. He was third on the team in to- tal tackles behind Jack Kiser and Xavier Watts, who were both selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Before long, Bowen could be a draft pick in his own right. He's tracking that well midway through his career, coming in second among Notre Dame defensive players with his 2024 Pro Football Focus tackling grade of 89.3. He trailed only, you guessed it, Kiser's mark of 90.5. Bowen might not be the new Kiser, but he's going to make sure the Irish don't miss the longtime mainstay of the defense too much. "I hold myself to a high standard," Bowen said. "In the linebacker room we certainly hold ourselves to a high standard. So, making sure that nobody's playing below that standard and be- ing more vocal within the defense and the linebacker room. Making sure that we're doing everything the right way." Ausberry was fifth on the team in total tackles. He recovered 2 fumbles, tied with Kiser and defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka for the team lead. Gray returned an interception for a touchdown to seal Notre Dame's win at USC in the regular-season finale. He also came up with the interception that set up Notre Dame's game-winning field goal in the Orange Bowl. Shuler had a pick six of his own to complete a workmanlike victory over Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Sta- dium in Atlanta. He was tied for second on the team in interceptions, tied for fourth in passes defended and fifth in total tackles. Shuler is to the Notre Dame second- ary what Bowen is to the Notre Dame linebacking corps, making sure the ship is sailing forward without any hitches in the process. "Just leading by example," Shuler said. "I feel that's the best way you can be a leader. That's what [Xavier Watts] did every day. He came in and led by example. Everybody followed what he did. That's what I want to do. I want to be the standard for the young guys com- ing in, for the recruits — 'All right, who's Notre Dame and what it stands for?' I want to be that guy." A NO. 1 WIDE RECEIVER? Rico Flores Jr. left via the transfer por- tal. So did Braylon James. KK Smith got bit by the injury bug multiple times in his Running back Jeremiyah Love is coming off a season in which he ran for 1,125 yards on 6.9 yards per carry. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER