Establishing The Run Is Top Of Mind For Notre Dame Coaches
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Notre Dame's offense has been off to an interesting start to kick off the 2026 season. As a team, they've scored 41 points and 52 points respectively in each of their first two contests. The defense scored in both the Wisconsin season opener and the Rice home opener, but the offense has still showcased the ability to move the ball up and down the field, but it's been fueled mostly by the passing attack and junior quarterback CJ Carr.
The rushing offense is off to a slow start. Through two games, they've rushed for a combined 229 yards against the Badgers and the Owls. They're averaging 114.5 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry which both ranks No. 116 in the country on offense. This was the outlook of their ground game last season. But unlike last season, the Irish don't have Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price waiting in the backfield.
Their room remains talented, but there's things that have to be improved upon. Head coach Marcus Freeman is aware that this is a facet of the offense that has to improve and with a rivalry renewed against Michigan State up next on their schedule, establishing the run will be of the utmost importance this week. The coaching staff is putting in the work to get this component of the offense in rhythm.
"We want to be more explosive," Freeman said bluntly. "We want to find ways to create some big plays out of our run game, which we've done in the past. There's some really good things that they're doing. I want to make sure we say it. But sometimes it takes going through seeing a different opponent, two different opponents, and saying ‘hey, how can we enhance this?’ And that's going to be the objective for our run game and we'll be intentional about trying to find ways to continue to make those big, explosive gains.”
The running back room itself is still exceptionally talented despite what some of the rushing numbers through the first two games might indicate. Juniors Aneyas Williams and Kedren Young, sophomore Nolan James Jr. and freshman Jonaz Walton have already made their presence felt. Running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider believes he has the right group to do it, but for players like Williams, it's going to be a process.
"His leadership has been outstanding for a young room," Seider shared about the Missouri native. "That's the thing that nobody talks about. All summer, he's been the one that got the guys together, doing the extra film and basically being a coach in that room. So for me, that was the biggest thing we needed because we're so young. We're not afraid to hold each other accountable, right? But he'd also be the first one to tell you that there's fault where he did something wrong, and that's where your growth is."
Last season, the Notre Dame run game got off to a slow start despite having players like Love and Price in the backfield. It wasn't until their third game of the season that things really started to roll, and this Saturday night is their third game of this season. The offensive line is going to have to be tone setters in this installment of the battle for the Megaphone Trophy. But both Freeman and Seider are confident and understand the importance of creating explosives in the run game.
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