Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I t's tough to look back at the 2023 season the Notre Dame running backs had and remember anything other than what Audric Estimé ac- complished on his way to leaving South Bend early to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft. He was simply sensational in rushing 210 times for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns in 12 games. If there is any bandwidth remaining for anything else it'd be reserved for love. No, not more admiration for Estimé. Acknowledgment for Jeremiyah Love. Notre Dame's second-highest-rated recruit in the class of 2023, per the On3 Industry Ranking, ran 71 times for 385 yards. The Irish went into the season touting a five-headed monster at run- ning back and came out of it with two of them sticking their necks out ahead of the others. Estimé, of course, was the alpha in that regard. But Love was next in line by a considerable margin; then-sophomore Jadarian Price had the third-most carries on the team with 47. He had a slightly better yards per rush average than that of Love, 5.8 to 5.4, but the differential of 24 opportunities on the ground was not insignificant. Love's usage was higher than Price's. Period. It could forecast what the hier- archy looks like for those two in the up- coming season. A couple looks at Love as a freshman and it's easy to see he's the total package as a running back. "I'm kind of deceptive," he said. "Peo- ple probably think I'm more of a finesse type of guy and that I can't break tackles or anything like that. I take pride in it be- cause I do break a lot of tackles, actually. I take pride in trying to make the first guy miss and not letting one guy take me down and getting yards after contact." Spoken like a true tailback. Here's the kicker. He also wants to play wide receiver. No, seriously. This spring, Notre Dame coaches have opened that door for him. He spent most of the session March 27 at wide- out. That was the first practice the me- dia viewed in about a week. Love said he was lining up out wide even before then. This isn't just an experiment. There is a long-term plan in place. "I'm very good out in space, so put- ting me in the slot, or putting me at re- ceiver and trying to get me the ball in space fits my play style," Love said. "I like that they're doing that, but I also want to play running back at the same time. Spring, I'm going to use this to set my foundation at receiver so that in the season they can put together packages for me so I can go out into the slot and know what I'm doing and be able to run good routes and make plays." Whether he's in the backfield or in the slot, Love is going to be one of the most intriguing Notre Dame sophomores to keep an eye on this year. He did enough last year to warrant the attention. Here's where his classmates from the 2023 re- cruiting cycle stand in that regard. Who's expected to light it up like Love? Who's on a natural path forward? Who's stalling out a bit? Slipping through the cracks? This is a look at the Notre Dame sophomore class. ALREADY ARRIVED Two of Notre Dame's best wide re- ceivers in 2023 — Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse — were true fresh- men. The same duo might be two of the Irish's best yet again in 2024. The competition is going to be stiffer this year. The Irish welcome three grad- uate transfers to campus in addition to three true freshmen, two of which are early enrollees competing for good standing on the totem pole as these words are typed. Micah Gilbert, in par- ticular, has looked the part in spring practices. Faison and Greathouse each took turns sharing the spotlight last fall SUPER SOPHS Running back Jeremiyah Love leads the way for Notre Dame's talented sophomore class Love is one of the most versatile weapons in the Notre Dame offense. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER