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Notre Dame's dominant duo completely destroys Navy as Irish look primed for College Football Playoff run

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated Oct 26, 2024 6:29 PM ET

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are not the same team they were when they lost to Northern Illinois in early September. They are just entirely demoralizing opponents every single week. Since that early season disappointing performance Notre Dame's running game has taken over, crushing opponents for 60 minutes a week, leading to ridiculous margins of victory.

Their six scores since Week 2? 66-7. 28-3. 31-24 (against Louisville). 49-7. 31-13. And now 51-14 against Navy. Just utter annihilation each and every week. How are they doing that? It really comes down to one dominant duo that cannot be stopped: Riley Leonard and Jeremiyah Love.

While Riley Leonard has struggled finding rhythm as a passer this season, he's completely made up for it as a dynamic, efficient rushing threat. When you pair Leonard's running threat at quarterback with the perfect feature running back in true sophomore Jeremiyah Love it leads to consistent weekly destruction of defenses.

Jeremiyah Love has already been a stud all year long and today was no exception. He destroyed Navy with 100+ yards from scrimmage on the day, including this huge touchdown run early in the game to extend Notre Dame's lead to two scores.

Jeremiyah Love is a STUD☘️

pic.twitter.com/HmZRKbNKfB
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 26, 2024

Love has posted at least 61 yards from scrimmage, caught a pass, and scored a rushing touchdown in every single game this season for Notre Dame. His versatility, speed, balance, and vision make him one of the best young playmakers in the nation. After posting another 100-yard game, Love now has the second most yards from scrimmage among all first and second year running backs in all of FBS with over 700 total yards on the season.

Leonard finds himself among the top five rushing quarterbacks in the nation this season now as well, with over 530 rushing yards on the year.

Navy never stood a chance against Love, Leonard, and the Notre Dame offense. Love and Leonard alone averaged nearly 8.5 yards per carry, consistently making good decisions, posting an incredibly high success rate on early downs. When Navy tried to adjust and pack the box, the Irish would just make them pay with strategic explosive passing strikes.

The Irish haven't been known for their explosive passing attack this year, and Leonard only threw the ball 21 times today, but he still connected for four plays of 20 yards or more through the air to four different receivers.

If Marcus Freeman continues running the Notre Dame offense through Riley Leonard and Jeremiyah Love every week the Irish are going to be a tough team to stop. Now sitting with an impressive 7-1 record, the Fighting Irish look primed to coast to a College Football Playoff spot as one of the clear Top 12 teams in the nation.

We'll be back with more Notre Dame Fighting Irish coverage here at A to Z Sports all season long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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