Jeremiyah Love’s 98-Yard Touchdown Sets Tone As Notre Dame Advances In College Football Playoff

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love wasn’t about to let anyone catch him. It didn’t matter that he had sustained a knee injury in the second half of the regular season finale against USC and was still not fully healed. Or that he was battling an undisclosed illness.

When Love took a handoff from quarterback Riley Leonard early in Friday night’s game, the sophomore ran between the left guard and tackle and up the sideline, sprinting past multiple Indiana defenders for a 98-yard touchdown. Love’s score set the tone in No. 7 seed Notre Dame’s 27-17 victory over No. 10 seed Indiana in the College Football Playoff opener at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish (12-1) won their 11th consecutive game and advanced to face No. 2 seed Georgia in the quarterfinals on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.

Love’s touchdown was the longest run of the year in the Football Bowl Subdivision and the longest run in a CFP game since the playoff began in 2014. And it took a herculean effort from Love.

“I was just out of breath (at the end of the 98-yard run),” said Love, laughing. “I was gassed.”

Love only ran the ball seven more times for 10 yards. Still, his teammates and coaches knew how much he has meant all season and how much he has dealt with in recent weeks.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Love’s touchdown was “huge,” as Leonard had thrown an interception on the first drive and the Fighting Irish were on the 2-yard line in a 0-0 game.

“We know (Love’s) not 100%,” said Freeman, who signed a lucrative contract extension earlier this week. “We’re just going to keep getting him healthy. But he showed on that play, at whatever percent he is, once he breaks through that third level, it’s hard to catch Jeremiyah Love.”

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Said offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: “(Love) is the engine that kind of sparks this thing to go in a real positive direction. Every week he seems to find a way to make an explosive play, hurdle somebody, run for 98 yards. What do you want? It’s kind of a dealer’s choice. I’m honored to have him around.”

Leonard is appreciative of Love, too. At his postgame press conference, Leonard wore a t-shirt featuring Love’s name and photo and spoke glowingly of Love, who has gained 1,057 yards on 142 carries (7.4 yards per carry) and 16 touchdowns. He has run for a touchdown in 13 consecutive games, setting a Notre Dame record.

“I’ve got the best view in the house,” Leonard said. “Every time I hand him the ball, I’m just watching like, ‘What’s he going to do now?’ He just continues to impress me. It’s just the little things. It’s that second or third down where he’s stiff arming guys and getting first downs for us. It’s these little plays that might be five yard gains but for anybody else would be a five yard loss. I mean, he’s a freak athlete.”

Leonard added that if he wasn’t the quarterback, Love would have likely scored several more touchdowns and gained more national acclaim. Instead, because Leonard is such a talented runner himself, Denbrock often calls on him to run in goal-line situations. On Friday, Leonard ran for 30 yards and a one-yard touchdown with 4:50 remaining, setting a Notre Dame quarterback record with his 15th rushing touchdown this season, one more than Brandon Wimbush had in 2017.

“I think people are starting to see how special (Love) is,” Leonard said.

On Friday night, a national television audience had a chance to see Notre Dame perform on a big stage, as well. It was the first time a CFP game had been held at an on-campus stadium, as the format changed this year with the field expanding to 12 teams and having the fifth through eighth seeds hosting first round games. Since losing to Northern Illinois in early September, Notre Dame had won the last 10 games of the regular season by more than 30 points per game, but it had done so against a weak schedule, leading some to question how prepared the Fighting Irish were for the postseason. They answered with another decisive victory.

During the regular season, Indiana (11-2) ranked second in the nation averaging 43.3 points per game and had scored at least 31 points in all but two of its games. The only exceptions occurred on Nov. 9 when the Hoosiers defeated Michigan, 20-15, at home and two weeks later when they lost, 38-15, at Ohio State.

On Friday night, the Hoosiers trailed 27-3 before quarterback Kurtis Rourke threw a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 1:27 remaining. After the Hoosiers recovered the onside kick, Rourke threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to make the score look respectable.

Indiana gained 278 yards, well below its average of 438.8 yards per game. Rourke struggled most of the night, including throwing an interception in the red zone in the first quarter. He finished 20 of 33 for 215 yards, but those numbers were skewed as he completed his final six passes for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Rourke, a transfer from Ohio, had entered the game completing 70.4% of his passes for 2,827 yards, 27 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Asked about Indiana moving the ball on its final two possessions, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden didn’t seem too concerned.

“We had the game in control the whole game, so I’m not worried about the end of the game,” Golden said. “There’s things that we can learn from it. Obviously, we’ve got to finish better and I’ve got to make some calls there, but at that point, I didn’t think continuing to show elaborate pressures in that situation was to our benefit, to be quite honest with you. I could have called a better game at the end there for the guys and helped them out.”

On offense, Notre Dame had a balanced attack, attempting 32 passes and running 35 times. The Fighting Irish gained 193 yards on the ground against an Indiana defense that was first in the nation allowing just 70.8 rushing yards per game. And kicker Mitch Jeter, who had missed half of his 12 field goal attempts and battled injuries this season, made two of his three kicks on Friday, including a 49-yarder with seven seconds remaining in the first half that put Notre Dame ahead 17-3 at halftime.

Notre Dame’s next game comes on Jan. 1 against Georgia, which in recent years has been arguably the best program in the country. The Bulldogs won national titles in the 2021 and 2022 seasons and only lost one game last season. This season, they lost at Alabama and Ole Miss, but they’re on a four-game winning streak, including a 22-19 victory two weeks ago over Texas in the SEC championship game.

Multiple reports have indicated Georgia quarterback Carson Beck may miss the Notre Dame game. Still, the Fighting Irish know they will be facing a tough opponent and know it will take a full team effort to advance.

“You have a lot of good from all three phases tonight,” said Freeman, referring to the offense, defense and special teams. “No one phase was perfect, and that’s what we strive for is perfection. No one phase was perfect, but what happens was when one phase isn’t getting the job done, another phase picks it up. We’ll need that as we continue to move throughout these playoffs.”