SOUTH BEND, IN — Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love, a valuable asset to the team last season, is focused on improving his game and guiding his fellow running backs to new heights in the upcoming season. Despite the Fighting Irish falling short of their championship aspirations last year against Ohio State, Love is determined to make a significant impact this season.
With a challenging schedule that includes matchups against Miami, USC, and Texas A&M, among others, Notre Dame’s offense has the potential to be highly explosive. Love is fully cognizant of that potential.
“My goals for myself is just to be better than I was last year,” Love told the media. “It’s not a specific numerical goal. Just want to be a better player, better person. As a team, you know, I’m going to be better than last year as well. We know what it takes to achieve greatness. It’s here to put in the work every single day, and that’s going to be our key.“
Love explained his explosive rushing technique, that gives opposing defenses nightmares, in a somewhat comprehensive fashion.
“My running style is pretty much the same as it’s always been,” Love said. “I can pretty much be anything I need to be, power back, elusive back, athletic back, to whoever people never need to be. Nothing’s really changed in that perspective. As far as blocking, I’ve gotten significantly better from my first year. I would say more of a physical back. I can hold off bigger defenders, partly because of my weight gain, and work in a weight room. Yeah, pass blocking. Pretty much solid.“
Love also highlighted the aspects of his game he is eager to showcase this season.
“I would say I’m excited to showcase my receiving ability because everybody knows I can run. I’m gonna showcase more of my blocking as well this year,” Love said.
Love takes on a more leadership role in the running back room, and he’s ready to approach and execute his way.
“I see myself as I have to be a leader. I’m not the only leader in the room. I’m in a place where there are many people in this program who might be looking to me to help craft their own game. So I always have to do the right things, make sure I am the best I can be, so that others can see that and follow my example. I’m not that much of a vocal person; I’m more of a just go out there and do it type of person. Just have to go out and do the right things every single day, and make sure I’m not going out there and setting a bad example out there for the freshman and other players as well.”
Love was excited to speak about one of his fellow running backs on the team this season and to learn from everyone in that room.
“We all kind of like build on each other. I would say that I learned from them, like I can say J.D. [Jadarian Price]. He’s very good with his footwork. He does an excellent job of getting his feet on the ground whenever he’s making cuts. I’m more of a bouncy type of guy. I make a cut, I’m in the air for a little bit. What I take from JD’s game is that you need to get your feet on the ground faster so you can make your next move. That’s what I can take from JD.“
