Jeremiyah Love describes the ups and downs through the beginning of the season for the Irish

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- There’s only one way to describe Notre Dame’s first three weeks: “shoot."

There’s only one way to describe the start of the season. From a big road win to a huge upset, to a 59-point win. Sophomore Jeremiyah Love sums it up with one word. 

“Shoot” Love said.

Pretty simple response when asked just about anything in the post-game after the win over Purdue.

“I mean, shoot last week we didn't play to our standard and shoot, we just got to play to play to our standard. And this week, we did. So, shoot,” Love added.

From 14 total points to against NIU, to 66 points in a blowout win over the Boilermakers.

“Just don't underestimate your opponent,” Love said.

“Shoot, if your opponent is like, projected to be like, not better than you. I mean, that should give you more motivation to just dominate them even more,” the Sophomore mentioned.

 The dominance came at a cost.

“Jordan Botelho will be out for the season with a knee injury. Ashton Craig will be out for the season with a knee injury. Billy Schrauth will be out for a few weeks with an ankle injury,” said Head Coach Marcus Freeman during Monday’s press conference.

But when one man goes down, you know the drill.

“Shoot, man, when somebody goes down, you know, next man's up,” Love said.  

“You could be shoot, third on a depth chart. You never know what might happen and when somebody goes down, the next person's ready to go and shoot, we prepare like that,” Love added.

Love’s preparation helped him cross the endzone to start the game. His touchdown was his only score of the game along with 109 yards on the ground.

Love wasn’t the only player with an impressive ground game. His quarterback Riley Leonard had three rushing touchdowns 100 yards passing, and 100 yards rushing becoming the first for a college quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2016.

“That's that guy. That's what I was thinking. Shoot,” Love said.

Leonard had trouble staying on the field in week two, but it wasn’t the same story in West Lafayette. The Duke transfer was benched the entire second half, after giving the Irish 42-point lead.

 “I learned the hard way last Saturday. But I think it's important that, you know, I learned from that, and after a game like this, you know, you can't get too high. You can't get too low,” Leonard added.

The importance of maintaining an even-keel mentality.

But as the Irish get ready to face another MAC opponent, will the pain of week two resurface?

“That thing was over, man, that thing was in the box for me, you know, at 10:30 on Sunday,” Defensive Coordinator Al Golden said.

But could it serve as an advantage for players?

“It's a pit in your stomach that, as a competitor, you can't get rid of. Use it as fuel, as motivation, and so, yeah, week 10, I don't think we're gonna forget what happened week two,” Veteran Linebacker and team captain Jack Kiser said.

Ultimately it comes back to one word.

“Like, shoot,” Love said. 

“Make yourself, make your team look even better than what people say. I mean, like, just play your hardest is that's all I got to say,” Love added.