Jeremiyah Love gives Notre Dame's bowl opt out his official stamp of approval

Notre Dame football’s 2025 season came to an end with the biggest “what if” maybe in program history. The Irish rattled off 10 straight wins and had one of college football’s best odds to win the College Football Playoffs National Championship after Championship weekend, but the Irish were absolutely gut-wrenched when they dropped out of the playoffs.

After the Irish learned they wouldn’t play in the playoffs, Notre Dame went viral as one of many teams to turn down their bowl game. Notre Dame was invited to play BYU in the 2026 Pop-Tarts Bowl, but after the Irish turned it down and decided to focus on recruiting and the Transfer Portal, after all the CFP drama.

Whether fans and media want to agree or disagree with Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame’s decision, the Irish superstar running back is here to tell everyone it was the right decision.

Jeremiyah Love agrees with Marcus Freeman Pop-Tarts Bowl decision

The Irish star running back was recently interviewed by Yahoo! Sports, and when Love was asked about his reaction to Freeman and Notre Dame ultimately deciding to opt out, the Irish star running back gave his stamp of approval.

“I definitely agree with the decision because going into that game, if we decided to play it, wouldn't have been the right representation of that team of how great that team was, you know, probably a lot of starters would have opted out," Love stated on Notre Dame's decision to opt out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl. "It just wouldn't have been a great representation of that great football team that we built throughout the offseason.”

While media and fans were quick to bash Notre Dame for this, Love is here to quickly tell everyone that the captains and players had input. He later stated it didn’t affect him and agreed with the decision because many players would have opted out, including himself, and the final game wouldn't have been the “right representation” of the 2025 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

“It wasn't  just Coach Freeman. It was kind of an everybody decision,” Love stated. “Our captains had the final say-so, but the captains made sure that they talked to every player and got their input. Our result of that was to not play a Pop-Tarts bowl.”

Love, of course, was one of the faces of this program for the past couple of years as the All-American running back earned 199 carries for 1,372 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns this past season, and the year prior logged 163 rushes for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns. Love is now set to be one of the top picks in the 2026 NFL Draft and is set to make an immediate impact with whatever team elects to draft him.

So, while media, fans, and the outside noise may bash and rip Notre Dame apart for their decision to opt out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Love is sending a clear message that he fully agrees and backs Freeman up. Notre Dame had a special 2025 season, and while the Committee ultimately ended it short, Love didn’t want a different team to represent the 2025 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and he ultimately thought opting out was the right decision.