Can Miami Shut Down Notre Dame’s High-Powered Run Game?

Will Moten jump offsides on Sunday? That’s the main question.

Love and Price are very good RBs. They have homerun ability. No question. However, without the production of Riley Leonard who accounted for 906 yards rushing and 17 TDs, their running game was a facade in my opinion.

Against top 40 run defenses, Love and Price had ONLY 3 runs of over 10+ yards. Love had a 98 yard run against Indiana. Price had a 20 yard run against Indiana and a 12 yard run against Penn State.

Love rushed for more than 3.2 yards per play against only 2 top 40 run defenses. He had 108 yards on 8 carries against Indiana. 98 on his TD run and 10 yards his other 7 carries. He has 46 yards on 11 carries against Penn State. Those were his best stats of their games against Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State, Georgia, FSU (not a top 40 run defense), GT, and Louisville. Love performed better against Penn State and Indiana than he did against FSU, GT, or Louisville where he averaged 2.1, 2.6, and 3.1 yards per attempt.

The teams not included in my analysis were Northern Illinois, Miami (OHP, Army, Navy, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia and USC. All had run defenses outside of the top 40.

ND played 4 G5 teams and 3 other P4 teams that were terrible. USC was a decent team, but a horrible defense.

It's no wonder Love and Price averaged 7 yards per carry. They had 7 cupcake games. 8 if you include USC and there bad defense.

I'm not saying Love and Price aren't good RBs. They are. They have homerun ability. However, their production was not consistent against top 40 run defenses. Love averaged 70 yards per game despite 7 games that were wins before a snap was even taken.

I really think the stars aligned for ND last year in the CFP. ND had very good secondary. You could say they were elite. They played a much less talented team in Indiana. Then they played a Georgia team with no Carson Beck that had the 102nd rated rushing offense. Penn State had no WRs making them one dimensional. Then they got exposed against Ohio State.

ND08Fan said:

It's interesting people focus on this. Yes, Riley had a lot of designed runs which took a huge load off Love and Riley wasn't a huge pass threat. I think Denbrock is going to run 20+ personnel and split out Love 10-15 snaps and take a defender with him. Creates a stronger advantage in the run game and if it's a pass, you have a huge mismatch in the slot.

Love is special because he's an elite swiss army knife - he can impact a game so significantly without touching the ball. Let's at least give credit where it's due - kid is a stud. Not many RBs go in the first round anymore, and there's a reason he's projected there. It's also rumored he's going to be on KR too.

Click to expand...

You talking about Love as if he’s Reggie Bush or something. Love coo but he’s not like that

With Carr starting at QB Miami will have the advantage defensively against the run.

2024 Notre Dame rushing yards per game:
With Riley Leonard - Ranked 14th gaining 210 rushing yards per game
Without Riley Leonard - Would have ranked 77th gaining 154 rushing yards per game

These numbers show how important Riley Leonard was to their offense and their rushing game was pretty much boom or bust without him. As @OrangeBowlMagic stated, Love only had 5 games were he rushed for 100 yards or more and Price only had 1. All of those 100 yard games were the result of 1 explosive run, then they were pretty much bottled up. Stop the explosive run and they are done.

The other side of Jeremiyah Love:
VS Ohio State - 4 carries, 3 yards, 0 touchdowns
VS Penn State - 11 carries, 42 yards, 1 touchdowns
VS Georgia - 6 carries, 19 yards, 0 touchdowns
VS FSU - 9 carries, 19 yards, 1 touchdowns
VS Georgia Tech - 14 carries, 36 yards, 1 touchdowns
VS Louisville - 11 carries, 34 yards, 1 touchdowns

The other side of Jadarian Price:
VS Ohio State - 3 carries, 13 yards, 0 touchdowns
VS Penn State - 7 carries, 13 yards, 0 touchdowns
VS Georgia - 10 carries, 37 yards, 0 touchdowns
VS Indiana - 11 carries, 32 yards, 0 touchdowns
VS Navy - 5 carries, 19 yards, 1 touchdowns
VS Stanford - 12 carries, 49 yards, 1 touchdowns

In the final 3 games in the playoffs vs Georgia, Penn State, and Ohio State, Love and Price combined 41 carries 131 yards, 3.1 yards per carry, and 1 touchdown. Miami stops the explosive plays, these are the running backs we should expect to see.

2024 Defensive rushing yards allowed per game:
Miami ranked 20th, giving up 112 rushing yards per game.
Minnesota ranked 12th, giving up 109 rushing yards per game.

Corey Hetherman as a defensive coordinator consistently held teams below their rushing average in 2024, with only Iowa and USC rushing above their season rushing average.

Minnesota 2024 — Rushing Defense vs Each Opponent
North Carolina — Averaged 182.3 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 147 yards (–35.3)
Rhode Island (FCS) — Averaged 123.4 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 18 yards (–105.4)
Nevada — Averaged 163.5 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 58 yards (–105.5)
Iowa — Averaged 197.2 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 272 yards (+74.8)
Michigan — Averaged 165 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 155 yards (–10)
USC — Averaged 145 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 173 yards (+28)
UCLA — Averaged 178 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 36 yards (–142)
Maryland — Averaged 145 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 104 yards (–41)
Illinois — Averaged 173 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 126 yards (–47)
Rutgers — Averaged 166 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 109 yards (–57)
Penn State — Averaged 180 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 117 yards (–63)
Wisconsin — Averaged 153.7 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 36 yards (–117.7)
Virginia Tech (Bowl) — Averaged 178.4 RYPG. vs Minnesota: 74 yards (–104.4)

Miami was not a bad defense against the run last season and now they have a coordinator in Hetherman, who has been very good against the run. On the other hand Notre Dame is a vastly different team without a rushing QB. With Carr at QB, I fully expect Miami to load the box and stop the run.