Last season, Notre Dame had one of the best rushing attacks in college football and there should be no surprise that it would be among the best in 2025. Of course, the star of this attack is running back Jeremiyah Love who ran for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns. It also helped that the Irish had multiple players use their legs heavily to make life difficult for run-defenses.
They also have players like Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams who can do some damage in addition to Love. Even though Riley Leonard’s rushing production being gone may hurt Notre Dame’s rushing attack numbers, it shouldn’t affect the production overall.
Notre Dame is a power house program going into 2025 and the running game should be the ultimate X-factor for the offense.
CBS Sports gives high praise for Notre Dame's rushing attack
Tom Fornelli from CBS Sports ranked the nation’s top running back rooms heading into the 2025 season and Notre Dame got a lot of love from Fornelli. Not only is Notre Dame in the top five on Fornelli’s list, they are at No. 2 right behind Penn State. Fornelli talked about how he is still on the Jeremyiah Love bandwagon even though the Irish are absolutely loaded in the backfield.
Here’s what Fornelli said about the overall backfield and how Love doesn’t need to be the star in the backfield: "The reason Love doesn't need to be a workhorse is because the Irish have Jadarian Price, who rushed for 746 yards and seven touchdowns last season. They also share the load with Aneyas Williams and Kedren Young, who both impressed as freshmen last season. It's a deep and talented room."
While Notre Dame is still looking for their starter for Week 1 at quarterback, the rushing attack is so strong that it will be a perfect situation for whoever goes under center. C.J. Carr is the expected starter and he will have to pick up where Notre Dame left off last season. So, it would make sense for the offense to rely heavily on the run which can be great for Carr as far as not facing a lot of pressure.