SOUTH BEND – It didn’t take long for Notre Dame’s running backs to realize they could have a big day against Purdue on Saturday.
After Jeremiyah Love barreled his way up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Irish up 14-7 midway through the first quarter, he and fellow tailback Jadarian Price were fired up on the sideline.
“At the beginning of the game, we started rolling on offense and I was like, ‘JD, shoot, we might (expletive) score six touchdowns today,’” Love said Tuesday. “That was the goal we set for ourselves that game.”
Love word’s proved prophetic. The pair of standout backs notched exactly six TDs against the Boilermakers, four for Price (one on a 100-yard kickoff return). That disparity came about somewhat accidentally – with Price leading the TD race 3-2 in the third quarter and the Irish on the 1-yard line, the redshirt junior motioned for Love to take his place to get his third.
“I was … tired as hell, so you got it, you go get your fourth,” Love said, smiling. “I’m just playing. The reason I didn’t go in was because I didn’t have my helmet on. Coach didn’t put me in because I didn’t have my helmet on, so that was on me.”
Price immediately powered his way through two tacklers for the score, marking his first 4-TD game since high school. Love settled for a career-high 157 rushing yards on 19 carries.
The whole performance was typical of what has emerged as maybe the best backfield tandem in the country over the last two seasons. The combination of the talent to rack up six touchdowns in a game and the unselfishness to care so little about who scores them and who gets the credit has made Love and Price an elite group.
Price summed up the pair’s philosophy.
“That’s just what we do here at Notre Dame,” he said. “The team comes first. Whatever we need to do to get our first win of the season, everything for team glory. Whatever I need to do, whether that’s score six touchdowns or score zero. It doesn’t matter to me, whatever’s going to help our team win.”
Both have been instrumental to No. 22 Notre Dame’s success. Love has more than 360 yards of total offense in three games on 6.1 yards per touch with four TDs while Price is gaining 6.9 yards per carry and has scored five times after notching seven touchdowns last season.
Love says they have a symbiotic relationship, constantly making each other better, even down to down during a game.
“Say I see a specific look in a game and I happen to not hit the hole when I’m supposed to or I don’t make this guy miss,” Love said. “JD comes in and I relay that information to him and he takes that knowledge and he does what I didn’t do the last play. That’s how we help each other get better. … JD, we feed off of each other.”
There was no guarantee that dynamic would hold this season. With Love a potential first-round NFL draft pick, Price, who ran for nearly 750 yards on 6.2 yards per carry last season, could have gone almost anywhere and been the featured back.
Instead, he decided to stick with the Irish and share the spotlight with Love again. Why? It comes back to unselfishness.
“I’ll say this every time you ask about JD,” Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. “Yes, he is talented but he’s the most unselfish individual. … That’s what I want to point out. Not his great play. Not his touchdowns.
“But that guy, that individual could have the ball be on the field every single play. What does he do? He says, ‘Coach, if you want J-Love in there, put him in there. When I get my opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it.’ ”
And while Love is the star of the show, he has no doubt how good his fellow back is.
“People don’t realize, JD’s one of the best running backs in the country,” Love said. “JD’s that guy to me and I look up to him and I’ve looked up to him ever since I’ve been at Notre Dame.”
But Price isn’t the only unselfish one. Love, who had more than 1,300 total yards last season, is a Heisman Trophy hopeful. He could demand 25 carries a game and all the goal-line touches.
That’s not his style, either.
“They’re unselfish about touches, they’re unselfish about who’s in the game, they’re unselfish about all of it,” Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. “ They just want the team to be successful and they want each other to be successful.”
If that’s the case, few players in college football have gotten more of what they’ve wanted this season.
Faison honored
Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison was named the Walk-On of the Week by the Burlsworth Trophy after catching five passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in the win over Purdue. All five receptions resulted in a first down except his 48-yard TD catch.
The Burlsworth Trophy is given annually to the best player in college football who began his career as a walk-on. Faison was a walk-on for the Irish as a true freshman in 2023 and was put on scholarship in October of that year.