Preseason accolades
It’s July… so the preseason watch lists and All-Amercian teams are starting to roll out. The first one up concerning Notre Dame is the Walter Camp Preseason All-American Team. Running back Jeremiyah Love and cornerback Leonard Moore were named to the 1st team.
From the ND press release:
Love, Moore Named To Walter Camp Preseason All-America First Team
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Junior running back Jeremiyah Love and sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore have both been selected to the 2025 Walter Camp Preseason All-America First Team.
Walter Camp is the nation’s oldest college football All-America team, selecting its first All-America team in 1889. It is one of the five All-America teams included in consensus and unanimous All-America determinations.
Safety Xavier Watts represented the Irish on the Walter Camp All-America first team at the end of the 2024 season.
Love comes off a statement 2024 campaign for Notre Dame. He rushed for a touchdown in each of the first 13 games of 2024 and totaled 17 rushing touchdowns, in addition to two receiving touchdowns. Love posted 1,125 rushing yards in 2024, the 21st time an Irish player has broken the 1,000-yard rushing mark in a season.
He averaged 6.9 yards per carry, which ranked ninth nationally in 2024 among players with 100 or more carries, and he tied for second among all single-season 1,000-yard rushers in ND records (Reggie Brooks, 1992, 8.0 – 1,343; Josh Adams, 2017, 6.9 – 1,430).
Love was the only FBS player to score a rushing touchdown in every regular season game that season. He broke the record for the most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown in Notre Dame history with 13 (passing 11 – Wayne Bullock, 1973-74, 17 total rushing TDs during streak). The 13-consecutive games to start a season is also a program record, besting Autry Denson’s season-opening run of 10 in 1998
Notre Dame’s rushing offense ranked No. 4 among the Power 4 in yards per carry (5.66), ranking No. 7 among all FBS teams. The Irish ranked No. 6 among Power 4 teams in rushing offense (210.8).
Love, Jadarian Price and Riley Leonard each had at least 700 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 2024, the only FBS team to have a trio accomplish that feat that season. Notre Dame tied for second at the end of the regular season among all FBS teams in rushes of 50 or more yards with seven (by four players, with seven touchdowns).
With 45 rushing touchdowns, the Irish led all Power 4 teams and ranked third among all FBS programs in rushing touchdowns.
Moore enters his true sophomore season after being named the FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and selected to the Freshman All-America teams for FWAA, ESPN, The Athletic (First Team), Pro Football Focus, the College Football Network and the 247Sports True Freshman All-America Team. He has already been named to the 2025 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List.
In 2024, Moore started 10 games and totaled 48 tackles with two interceptions, 2.0 TFL, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a quarterback hurry. In the first two starts of his career, he totaled seven tackles in each.
He made his mark in several games for the Irish en route to wins in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl and an appearance in the 2025 CFP National Title game. In the regular season finale at USC, he recorded five pass breakups, tied for the second-most in a single game by any FBS player in 2024, and the only freshman in the country to achieve the feat last season.
In his first-career start vs. Louisville, Moore led the entire defense with seven tackles and forced a fumble that resulted in a Notre Dame touchdown drive. He followed it up with another seven-tackle performance, adding a tackle for a loss of 16 yards and two pass breakups at Georgia Tech. He compiled two-consecutive stops to force a turnover on the last drive of the first half, cementing an Irish lead.