Jeremiyah Love: The Best Notre Dame Running Back Of My Lifetime
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Last night was the Heisman Trophy ceremony where Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love finished 3rd in overall voting behind Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Heisman winner and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. While I disagree with the overall result, that doesn't take away from the impact Love had during his time in South Bend. He was unequivocally the best running back I've seen play in the blue and gold in my lifetime, and I know I'm not alone in saying that.
The St. Louis native finished the year with 1,372 rushing yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, 280 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. Are these the most gaudy stats we've seen from a previous Heisman winner? No, but when you look deeper into what Love did this season, it makes it all the more impressive. Six players at the FBS level rushed for over 1,300 yards similar to Love, but they didn't shared a backfield with another running back who had at least 600 rushing yards and 113 carries.
In his career, Love finished with 2,882 rushing yards, 36 rushing touchdowns, averaged 6.7 yards per carry, 594 receiving yards, 9.4 yards per catch and six receiving touchdowns. He burst onto the scene last year as the premier back rushing for 91 yards and a touchdown against Texas A&M on the road in his first career start in the regular season. There was no looking back from that point on and Love proceeded to rush for 1,125 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns in his first season as the starter.
In the last two seasons Love had 11 runs of at least 40 yards including two rushing touchdowns over 90 yards, one in each of the last two seasons. To open up the first ever College Football Playoff game played on a collegiate campus, Love opened up the scoring with a 98-yard rushing touchdown against a stout Indiana rush defense. This past season, he ripped off a 94-yard touchdown run against Boston College on their way to a 25-10 victory over the Eagles. Love also finished his career with 11 games with at least two total touchdowns.
This season, Love has his best performance when the lights were the brightest. He rushed for 94 yards, one rushing touchdown, 53 receiving yards including a one-handed snag on a wheel route for a touchdown against Texas A&M. Love had four total touchdowns, including a season high 70 receiving yards against Arkansas on the road when the Irish played the Razorbacks for the first time in program history. And to cap it all off, he rushed for 228 yards, one touchdown and caught five passes for 37 yards under the lights against arch rival USC. Love finished the Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh averaging 9.5 yards per carry.
The 6-0, 214-pound running back was the only player in the country to rank in the Top 3 in scoring, total touchdowns and total scrimmage yards to finish the regular season. Love was also amongst six players in the FBS that rushed for at least 1,300 rushing yards this season, however, he was the only player on that list who shared a backfield with another running back, Jadarian Price, who rushed for at least 600 yards. His performance this season was truly special. Many, myself included, can say that they got to witness one of the best running backs in Notre Dame history line up in the backfield for two straight years.
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