Notre Dame Backfield Ranks Among The Nation's Best Per Lindy's Sports

The rushing attack for Notre Dame in 2024 was the strength of the offense, no doubt about it. Many believe that will be the case this upcoming season and it wouldn't surprise me one bit. In 2025, the Irish return one of the best backfields in the country; Lindy's Sports agrees and ranks the Notre Dame backfield the No. 3 returning backfield in college football for this upcoming season.

Offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, returns his four leading rushers from the running back room heading into this season. Junior Jeremiyah Love, redshirt junior Jadarian Price, sophomore Aneyas Williams and redshirt freshman Kedren Young. As a team, the Irish ranked No. 19 in the country in rushing yards per game, No. 3 in the country in rushing touchdowns scored and No. 7 in the country in yards per attempt in 2024.

Love and Price burst onto the scene last year, and as we know by know, Love is being considered the best running back in the country ahead of the 2025 season. As a unit, these four backs combined for 338 carries, 2,206 yards, averaged 6.3 yards per carry and tallied 27 touchdowns on the ground. Williams and Love combined for 48 receptions, 409 receiving yards and two touchdowns as well. This was an extremely productive and impactful group a season ago and they're expected to be the same this upcoming season.

Obviously, the duo of Love and Price is arguably the best one-two punch in college football, but what sets this room apart from others is their depth. New running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider has a spoil of riches at the running back position and has six players who can all step in and play in big moments. Senior Gi'Bran Payne returned from his ACL injury this spring and is back to 100% while true freshman Nolan James Jr. is an explosive playmaker in the run and pass game.

Each back possesses a unique skillset that makes them a lethal unit. Love will see the bulk of the touches this upcoming season, especially with the departure of quarterback Riley Leonard who accounted for 184 carries, 906 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. It's likely Price will continue to rotate in the same fashion he did a season ago. Williams is slated to be their third down running back again; he's their best pass blocker and took over that role midway through his true freshman season. Young, at 5-11 235 pounds, will likely see a lot of short yardage and goal line carries, replacing what Leonard did in those situations.

With Notre Dame breaking in a new starting quarterback for the fifth year in a row as well as starting their season on the road for the fifth season in a row, the Irish backfield will have to be as dominant as ever to help the inexperienced starter get through the first two quarters of the season. If this backfield can live up to expectations this season, the Notre Dame offense will be hard to stop once again.