Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman is getting flak from fans online over his utilization of Jeremiyah Love in their 2025 season opener. On Sunday, Aug. 31, the Fighting Irish took on coach Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes on the latter’s home pitch to open both of their campaigns for this year’s collegiate football.
As Miami jumped to a sizeable seven-point lead (14-7) at halftime, several collegiate football fans on social media started to call out Freeman for using Love primarily as a backup. Love has shown great poise as a running back in the short amount of time he has been on the field and made plays.
Collegiate football fans were furious over the fact that coach Freeman’s coaching staff is overlooking the services and potential of Love.
“Jeremiyah Love should enter the transfer portal before the fourth quarter,” one user claimed.
“Please feed Jeremiyah Love,” another user pleaded.
“Jeremiyah Love, four carries. Four carries. All I need to know from that Vegas 📞,” another said with a telephone emoji.
“Okay Jeremiyah Love only has 6 carries!?!? TF,” a user pointed out.
“Jeremiyah Love has 4 carries for 13 yards,” a fan wrote.
Other X/Twitter users, especially the Notre Dame faithful, offered their takes on what they would’ve done differently with Love.
“I would give the ball to Jeremiyah Love more,” one fan posted.
“So Jeremiyah Love is RB2 now?? Lol, Jadarian Price is nice but Notre Dame got Love only running routes 😭,” another fan shared with a crying emoji.
“Give Jeremiyah Love the ball more in the second half,” a fan asserted.
Love is in his third year of college football, all of which he has spent with the Fighting Irish. In the 2024 season, he helped coach Freeman’s squad finish with an overall record of 14-2. They were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes in last year’s national championship game by 11 points, 34-23. Notre Dame now looks to return to that stage this year in the hope of winning it all.
Read More: WATCH: Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love Truck-Sticks Defender in EA Sports CFB 26 Trailer

Jeremiyah Love is listed as the fifth-best player in the 2025 Heisman Trophy watchlist

In an article published by football analyst Bucky Brooks on NFL.com, Jeremiyah Love is listed as the fifth-best potential player to win this year’s Heisman Trophy.
This is because of Love’s knack to facilitate and play more out of his role than a running back. Should Love end up winning the trophy this year, he’ll be the first running back from Notre Dame to do so after Derrick Henry in 2015.
Also Read: Jeremiyah Love’s Family: Meet the Parents Behind Notre Dame’s Running Back
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