nd is good team so no shade ... but to act as if they're gonna easily replace riley leonard is a stretch ... he was their offense ... oline look better when you have a mobile qb ... they're now faced with a more traditional approach ... with a guy that hasn't taken a college snap ... cmon now
1000%. I got tired of the rhetoric from the media and ND fans about their running game. Leonard was the 2nd leading rusher on the team with 906 yards. ND fans think those yards are going to be absorbed by their 2 RBs Love and Price. The carries, yes The results, maybe not.
I looked at ND's running game against top 40 run defenses. I didn't want to waste time at irrelevant stats against Army, Navy, Miami(OH), Northern Illinois, etc.
This is what I found: In the CFP, Love and Price had 29 and 31 carries each for a total of 60 carries in 4 games. Of those 60 carries, they had ONLY 3 runs of 10 yards or more. Love had a 98 yard TD against Indiana. Price had a 20-yard run against Indiana and a 12-yard run against Penn State. That's it for their post season. They were basically shut down outside of those 3 runs for the entire CFP.
Indiana, Ohio State, and Penn State were top 10 run defenses. Georgia was 36th.
Against ACC foes FSU, GT, and Louisville, Love averaged 2.1, 2.6, and 3.1 yards per attempt. FSU was 106th against the run. GT 30th, and Louisville 40th. For reference, Miami was 19th.
Love had only 1 run of 10 yards or more against top 40 defenses. Price had a few more. What the stats tell you is that, although they are explosive RBs, the big runs are rare against to 40 run defenses and their 7 yrd/att averages were padded against weaker run defenses outside of the top 40.
The 2025 NCAAF season stats per game for Jeremiyah Love of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.
www.espn.com
The 2025 NCAAF season stats per game for Jadarian Price of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.
www.espn.com
Leonard really was a huge part in the ND run game. They are not going to be able to replace that production simply by giving Love and Price more carries. It's a different dynamic with the QB run. You have one less defender to account for and the read option makes defenders play slower with deception of who has the ball. That all goes away.
By all indications, Minchey actually won the QB battle and the coaches were torn on who they wanted as the starter. It's been said that Freeman wanted Minchey, but OC Denbrock wanted Carr because Carr has the vertical passing game and a higher ceiling.
We know Carr has been named the starter. It's clear what ND wants to do with their offense. They want the vertical passing game to keep safeties out of the box to open up their running game. Without safety help, they expect to have more explosive runs and larger gaines in general. It may work, but I expect some growing pains. They could see more turnovers and a lot of 3rd and longs from incomplete vertical passes on 1st and 2nd downs. I don't expect much of a vertical passing game against Miami unless Denbrock really trusts Carr. they will take a few shots, but I think they will script some easy throws and rely on their running game to create 3rd and short situations. Miami's job is to put ND in 3rd & long and make Carr uncomfortable.
I think Minchey will play with certain packages and if Carr struggles.