How Notre Dame football kept Jeremiyah Love (knee) on the field in four-game CFP run

Posted by author March 7, 2025 Football

Spread the love

SOUTH BEND — Surgery was never an option for the right knee injury Jeremiyah Love suffered against USC in the regular-season finale for Notre Dame football.

So said Rob Hunt, longtime head athletic trainer for Notre Dame football, in rare public comments on Thursday at Notre Dame Stadium.

But that doesn’t make what Love accomplished any less remarkable as Notre Dame’s leading rusher made it to the post for all four College Football Playoff games.

“It was never considered surgical,” Hunt said. “It was an injury that certainly the timing of it was frustrating. I think had he not had the little pick at it during the Georgia game (in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal), it probably would have been less … emotion attached to it. We had some time there as well that was in our favor.”

A 20-day period between the USC win and the first-round playoff game against Indiana “served us really well,” Hunt said.

After a 10-day quiet period, Love had a five-day ramp-up, followed by five days of preparation. On his second carry against the Hoosiers, Love went 98 yards for a touchdown, flu-like symptoms and all.

In consultation with sports performance director John Wagle, football performance director Loren Landow and Hunt and his staff, a plan was hatched that enabled Love to keep moving forward while hurdling opponents.

In four postseason games, Love rushed 29 times for 176 yards and two scores, the other coming on an epic 2-yard blast through half the Penn State defense in the Orange Bowl CFP semifinal.

Notre Dame football GM Mike Martin on scouting director Matt Jansen

Prior work history with Irish scouting director Matt Jansen expedites the process for Notre Dame football GM Mike Martin, formerly of the Detroit Lions

Take out the 98-yard statement run, and Love averaged just 2.8 yards per carry in the four playoff games. That was well below the rising junior’s season-long 6.9-yard average per carry.

“It was just how do we get him enough work?” Hunt said. “We do that with each individual player: How much does he need to be healthy and then how much does he need to be prepared? And as good of an athlete as Jeremiyah is, you still have to practice.”

Love added six receptions for 31 yards in his four CFP games, but he was clearly on fumes by the time Notre Dame lost 34-23 to Ohio State in the CFP title game on Jan. 20. In Game 16 for Notre Dame, Love was held to 8 scrimmage yards on six total touches, plus a 2-point conversion on a shuttle pass.

“You still have to get the reps and the work in to be able to do that, and that was the balance of the challenge of getting him enough work to be able to go through it,” Hunt said. “And then being able to tolerate it — being able to tolerate the less-than-optimal condition of how you feel and still perform at the highest level against outstanding competition.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.