CBS Sports Named Notre Dame's Running Back Room One Of The Best In The Country

There's been an ongoing debate this offseason between fan bases for Notre Dame and Penn State as to who is home to the best running back room in the country. In their latest rankings, CBS Sports agrees that Notre Dame and Penn State have the two best backfields entering the 2025 season. At the top of the depth chart for both schools, an argument could be made either way, but what sets Ja'Juan Seider's room apart from Penn State's is the overall depth.

According to CBS Sports, the top running back rooms in the country are as follows: 

No. 1 Penn State
No. 2 Notre Dame
No. 3 Oregon
No. 4 Texas 
No. 5 Louisville

Here is what CBS Sports had to say about the Fighting Irish backfield:

"Speaking of things I caught heat for: last year I also said Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love was the best running back in the country at a time when Ashton Jeanty was en route to a second-place finish in the Heisman race. I stand by it still. He wasn't the same workhorse in the Notre Dame offense because he didn't have to be, but it's his skill and talent that excite me so much.

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. The room may be too deep to allow Love to garner serious Heisman consideration, but I still won't rule it out." - Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports

The debate between the Irish and the Nittany Lions is a fair discussion. Notre Dame returns the best running back in the country in Jeremiyah Love, which is a common consensus between both fanbases and almost every major outlet due to his 1,125 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns amassed from a season ago. Love is joined in the backfield once again by Jadarian Price who tallied 120 att., 746 yards, 6.2 yards per carry and seven touchdowns last season. 

The Nittany Lions return both of their 1,000 yard running backs from last season in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. In 2024, the two backs combined for 392 rushing attempts, 2,207 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. Both running backs averaged at least 5.0 yards a carry with Singleton leading the way at 6.4. However, both Notre Dame running backs averaged over 6.1 yards per carry with Love leading the way at 6.9 yards per carry . 

The debate at the top is ongoing, but the difference truly lies in the depth of the rooms. The Irish have sophomores Aneyas Williams and Kedren Young who are both poised for breakout seasons. Senior Gi'Bran Payne is back from injury and ready to contribute this season and true freshman Nolan James Jr. is an electric playmaker in both the pass game and run game. 

Each team has a sound argument for the No. 1 spot on this list, but the biggest snub of them all is the backfield down in College Station. CBS Sports had the Texas A&M Aggies backfield that consists of Le'Veon Moss, Amari Daniels and a now healthy Rueben Owens listed as an honorable mention but has the Oregon Ducks backfield ranked as the No. 3 best backfield in college football ahead of the 2025 season. It's an interesting take to say the least, and definitely the highest I've seen Oregon ranked on one of these projected rankings. 

The other honorable mention schools include Georgia, Minnesota and Oklahoma.