Notre Dame football teammates marvel at Jeremiyah Love's wild TD run: 'This guy is not real'
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SOUTH BEND — Jeremiyah Love’s 37th career touchdown might have been his most improbable yet for Notre Dame football.
The junior running back raced 48 yards to the end zone four plays into the second half after Navy had pulled within 11 points just before halftime. But that’s hardly the whole story in what became a 49-10 win for Notre Dame.
Love initially appeared trapped in the backfield and then found himself wrapped in a bearhug by Navy defensive end Julien Moutome, a 6-foot-3, 263-pounder. However, Love’s backside landed on the prone Moutome’s belly.
Love’s knee never hit the ground, and the whistle never blew.
As Irish teammates, including Arkansas transfer tight end Ty Washington, held their blocks, Love wriggled out of that bearhug and raced mostly untouched through a phalanx of stunned Midshipmen and down the home sideline.
Junior cornerback Bryce Allen gave valiant chase, but there was no stopping Love.
“I had the best view in the house,” Irish quarterback CJ Carr said. “Honestly, I was like, ‘All right, third down. Let’s get ready for the next play.’ I’m looking over to the sideline, hear the crowd go crazy. I’m like, ‘What just happened?’”
The run was another example of Love’s second and third effort, reminiscent in that regard of his epic 2-yard touchdown run against Penn State in the Orange Bowl semifinal of the College Football Playoff.
“(Saw) him kind of roll over and go,” Carr said. “It was fun to watch. It’s always nice when you can have a guy do something like that. It takes a lot of pressure off you.”
Wide receiver Malachi Fields, the Virginia graduate transfer, mentioned the wild scoring run unprompted after the game.
“The play Jeremiyah had, it was crazy,” Fields said. “Me and CJ were looking at each other like this guy is not real. We thought the play was over and all of a sudden he’s running down the sideline.”
Combined with fellow back Jadarian Price’s 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, the Love-Price combo has now rushed for touchdowns in the same game 12 times, half of those coming this season through nine games.
“We take all the joy in the world from it,” Fields said of blocking for the productive duo. “We talk about it all the time. These guys are going to break a tackle, and we don’t want to let our guy make the play. We’re just going to continue to block until we hear the whistle.”
With Love, as Navy became the latest to learn, playing through the whistle is essential.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football teammates marvel at Jeremiyah Love’s latest feat
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