'All You Need Is Love’ Jeremiyah Love Dominates Bronx Showdown With Army
BRONX, N.Y. — Yankee Stadium may be more familiar with Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” but Saturday night the speakers were blaring a lot more of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love,” as Jeremiyah Love took over the latest edition of the Notre Dame-Army series with 136 total yards and three touchdowns.
Love has been the consistent, workhorse running back every team dreams of having. But for Notre Dame he’s also been so much more, and his elite playmaking was in full effect during the Irish’s 49-14 win over Army here.
“I’m just doing whatever’s best for the team,” Love said. “This is a team sport, as long as we are working together things are going to pop.”
Love was spectacular in all facets of Saturday’s matchup from the jump, getting warmed up with two rushes tallying 21 yards in the Irish’s first drive that ultimately finished with Jordan Faison finding the endzone.
But Love got his turn to eat on the next Notre Dame drive — through the air. The sophomore running back caught Riley Leonard’s throw out in the left flat, sprinting to the pylon before hurdling over a Black Knight defender and into the endzone for a highlight score.
“Our offensive line trains hard every single day,” Love said. “So once we get into the game and into our flow, the o-line is doing their thing and executing every single play. That just helps me and all the other backs shine.”
The St. Louis native almost found the endzone once again in the second quarter, but the Army defense stood tall. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, Leonard handed the ball to Love in the backfield, but he wasn’t able to show off any of his elite playmaking abilities after getting stuffed behind the line of scrimmage.
After getting denied at the goaline, Love showed off what may be Notre Dame’s biggest strength this season — growth.
“Everybody on our offense is dogs,” Love said. “Coach (Marcus Freeman) calls us savages and that’s what we really are. We’re just continuing to grow every single week.”
After the Irish defense pinned the Black Knight offense deep in their own territory, it put the offense in prime position to add to their double-digit lead.
For Love, it doesn’t matter how far he has to go. He’ll find a way into the endzone, and on Notre Dame’s fourth drive of the game, he did it all himself. After lining up at Army’s 41-yard line, Love had carries of 21, six and 14 before he broke through the goaline — his 11th straight game with a rushing touchdown.
With the score, Love matches Wayne Bullock’s school record of 11 straight games with a rushing touchdown.
“The thing I love about Jeremiyah Love is he is protecting the football and not causing turnovers, but it’s almost like he is anticipating what the defense is going to do,” Freeman said. “When he breaks through the second level, I don’t see many people that can catch him.”
Before fans could even get back to their seats at the start of the second half — Love exploded again. The running back took the first play through the line and up the field, sprinting for a 68-yard touchdown — his third score of the game.
And in a game with plenty of highlights — that run was his favorite.
“Man, that play was beautiful,” Love said. “The line executed perfectly, receivers did their job as well … that’s team glory right there.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, Army had only allowed one run over 20 yards, Love buried that stat multiple times.
“(Army) was top three in the country against rushing going into this game,” Freeman said. “We had to find ways to run the ball versus a really good rushing defense. It’s not like we had a secret. We were able to run the ball efficiently versus a really good run defense.”
It wasn’t just Love dominating on the ground, as the Irish finished with 273 rushing as a team. Both Jadarian Price (two touchdowns) and Aneyas Williams (one touchdown) found the end zone as Notre Dame’s tough and explosive run game spelled serious problems for the Black Knights.
“Aneyas, that’s my guy,” Love said. “Seeing him break off that touchdown…it was great. I’m proud of him, he works hard every day. He deserves it.”
The running back depth the Irish showed Saturday is a key factor in Love still being fresh and explosive this late into the season. The sophomore leads the team with 114 rushes.
“Everybody in the running back room trusts in the plan Coach (Deland) McCullough has for us,” Love said. “He’s a great coach. He’s going to do what is best for us. He cares for us on and off the field. We’re fresher. Everybody in our running back room is dogs so we just come out and perform.”
But Love is still the guy Freeman is going to call upon as the moments get bigger to make the big plays when the need for elite talent rises.
And he’s ready for it.
“We're just coming out every week trying to reach our full potential,” Love said. “Job's not finished at all.”
And while he may not be in contention for the Heisman in 2024, Love gave college football a preview of what a possible 2025 Heisman campaign could look like.
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