3rd-ranked Pitt run defense braces for Notre Dame's 2 elite tailbacks

Pitt’s defensive identity, curated by both coach Pat Narduzzi and coordinator Randy Bates, revolves around stopping the run.

If successful, opposing offenses are rendered one-dimensional, presenting advantages to the Panthers.

As No. 22 Pitt (7-2, 5-1 ACC) prepares to host No. 9 Notre Dame (7-2) on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, that primary objective will remain the same.

But shutting down the Fighting Irish on the ground by limiting tailbacks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price presents a serious test for even Pitt’s third-ranked rushing defense, which has allowed only 80.9 yards per game and the lowest yards-per-carry average in the nation (2.39).

“We’ve faced other teams that wanted to establish a run game — they’re no different,” Narduzzi said of Notre Dame. “They’re just doing it with the best players in America. That makes it a bigger challenge.”

Love, listed at 6-foot, 214 pounds, has picked up exactly where he left off last year as a junior, when he rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

Through nine games this season, he has rushed for 988 yards on 154 carries with 13 scores and a 6.4 yards-per-carry average.

Last weekend, while Pitt was wrapping up its final bye, Narduzzi and Bates observed Notre Dame dispatch Navy, 49-10, and got a live look at Love.

Key in Love’s sizable yards-per-carry average is an unwillingness to go down and propensity for keeping his legs moving after contact.

At no point was that more on display than an eyebrow-popping 48-yard touchdown run on which Love miraculously evaded multiple Midshipmen tacklers and stayed upright.

JEREMIYAH LOVE HEISMAN
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— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) November 9, 2025

“He’s got one of the best jump cuts I’ve ever seen,” Bates said. “He’s got great vision. You have to go attack him with more than one person. I see the first person so many times miss because he’s thick, he’s athletic, he’s got great balance, so you have to get numbers there.

“That’s the big thing. We have to get a lot of people there and his plays that he didn’t get 3-plus (yards) or more, was not necessarily because of the first (tackler), but because you had a second and third.”

Narduzzi sees the same attributes in Love’s backfield mate, Price, who’s taken 95 carries for 568 yards and nine scores this year.

Like Love, he’s a junior in his third year at Notre Dame averaging 6 yards per carry.

“Love is special (and) he’s talented,” Narduzzi said. “Going back to the effort that he plays with, I mean, you saw him (vs. Navy) probably go down, but he’s not down. He rolls over a guy and takes it to the house. He’s never down. We’ve got to gang tackle both those tailbacks, but (Love) has elite speed. He has track speed.”

With not one but two elite tailbacks to try to neutralize, Pitt hopes to lean on its resume of stopping opposing runners in their tracks more often than not this season.

In four of the Panthers’ seven games thus far vs. Power Four opponents, they’ve completely shut down the run.

Louisville managed only 53 yards on 34 carries, Boston College ran it 24 times for 27 yards, Syracuse totaled 76 yards on 30 rushes while Stanford finished with minus-10 total rushing yards on 27 attempts.

Granted, Notre Dame is a different animal. And several of Pitt’s opponents (West Virginia, Florida State, N.C. State) have found success on the ground.

Narduzzi had high praise for N.C. State’s Hollywood Smothers, who on Oct. 25 at Acrisure Stadium, escaped the backfield for a 65-yard touchdown run, the longest rush allowed by Pitt this year.

So far, Notre Dame has largely found a way to impose its will with the run game.

Only in their season-opening defeat to Miami did the Irish fail to score multiple rushing touchdowns. The 93 rushing yards against Miami on Aug. 31 also constituted a season-low.

But since then, Love and Price have combined to form a highly potent one-two punch.

While it’ll be no easy task, Pitt’s defenders aim to follow standard procedure: pick smart pursuit angles, lower their shoulders, wrap up and count on teammates showing up to help make tackles.

“The rushing attack is all about getting leverage and being physical up front, and then when it’s time to, take your shot at the player who’s running the ball,” safety Javon McIntyre said. “That’s what we’ve got to do.”