Last season, Notre Dame faced a host of talent running back rooms. They faced Miami on the road to open the season, Texas A&M in their home opener, USC, Boston College, Navy and Pitt in consecutive games. This season, the outlook on the running back rooms the Irish will face is slightly different. At the top, they’ll still play some deep and experienced running back rooms, the majority of the schedule features new faces from new places. Here’s an early ranking of the top running back rooms Notre Dame will face in 2026.
1. Miami Hurricanes
There’s an argument to be made to take LJ Martin at BYU over Miami’s Mark Fletcher who returns after a stellar performance in the College Football Playoffs. That being said, we’re looking at running back rooms as a whole, and the Hurricanes also return CharMar Brown who racked up 474 rushing yards on 122 carries, averaged 3.9 yards per carry and had seven rushing touchdowns throughout the season. Brown also added 20 receptions for 138 yards and two receiving touchdowns as well. Fletcher is one of the only 1,000-yard rushers returning on Notre Dame’s schedule. He finished 2025 with 1,192 rushing yards, 140 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns.
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2. BYU Cougars
Martin was far and away BYU’s leading rusher in 2025. He finished the year with 1,305 rushing yards on 236 carries, averaged 5.5 yards per carry and added 12 rushing touchdowns to the mix. Martin also caught 36 passes for 255 yards. He and quarterback Bear Bachmeier headlined the Cougars rushing attack and will again in 2026. Rotational running back Jovesa Dumani is also returning to Provo for the 2026 season. He only carried the ball 19 times for 111 yards and a score this past season, but might see a heavier workload this upcoming season.
3. Wisconsin Badgers
I’m sure you’re starting to see a common theme with my feelings towards the Badgers. Their portal cycle was extremely strong and they brought in two backs who will headline their backfield this season to go along with dual-threat quarterback Colton Joseph. USC transfer Bryan Jackson and Iowa State transfer Abu Sama III will likely split carries this upcoming season. Jackson was supposed to see a relatively decent sized workload this season for the Trojans but a turf-toe injury kept him sidelined for the majority of 2025. Sama III was the second running back in the Cyclones rotation; he racked up 732 rushing yards on 140 carries, averaged 5.2 yards per carry and had five rushing touchdowns last fall.
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4. SMU Mustangs
The Mustang’s backfield will feature two returners and a transfer from California. Running back Kendrick Raphael will likely see the bulk of the carries this upcoming season; the 5-11, 200-pound Florida native racked up 943 rushing yards on 232 carries, averaged 4.1 yards per carry and had 13 rushing touchdowns on the season. He’ll be joining returning running backs Derrick McFall and Dramekco Green who combined for 60 carries, 279 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in 2025. McFall was also utilized as a weapon in the pass game hauling in 19 receptions for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
5. Purdue Boilermakers
The Boilermakers are one of the few remaining teams on this ranking that return their starter from last season. Antonio Harris took over as the lead back towards the end of the regular season for Purdue and ended with 305 rushing yards on 69 carries. He also added two rushing touchdowns to his season totals. He’ll be joined in West Lafayette by Jerrick Gibson from Texas and Fame Ijeboi from Minnesota. Gibson had a limited role in 2025 but put up solid numbers in 2024 going for 377 yards and four touchdowns. Ijeboi was the second leading rusher for the Golden Gophers last fall rushing for 441 yards and two touchdowns last fall.
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6. North Carolina Tarheels
Keeping Demon June from entering the transfer portal was a huge success for head coach Bill Belichick. His numbers don’t blow you away from 2025 (84 att., 464 yards, 5.5 YPC, 2 TD) but you see the potential in the young back from North Carolina. On top of having one of the coolest names in college football, June now has a year of experience under his belt and will lead North Carolina’s backfield this upcoming season. He’ll be joined in the backfield by Benjamin Hall who was the team’s second leading rusher in 2025. Hall ran for 274 yards on 71 carries and ended the year with two rushing touchdowns.
7. Stanford Cardinal
One of the lone bright spots for the Stanford offense in 2025 was running back Micah Ford. Ford rushed for 643 yards and four touchdowns last season and returns for his junior season this upcoming fall. Running back Sedrick Irvin also returns to the Stanford backfield after putting up a 41 carry, 118-yard, one touchdown season last fall. The two are expected to see the lion’s share of carries this season, but don’t count out Davion Godley, a Weber State transfer, who had 512 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns last season for the Wildcats.
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8. Boston College Eagles
I may be sleeping on this backfield, but Boston College is in prove it mode with me after the lackluster season they had featuring Turbo Richard at running back. With that being said, they do bring back Jordan McDonald from 2025 who rushed for 397 yards and four touchdowns last season. The Eagles also brought in Evan Dickens from Liberty who was an extremely productive running back for the Flames last season. Dickens rushed for 1,339 yards on 229 carries, averaged 5.8 yards per carry and ended with 16 rushing touchdowns. Boston College also brought in Nolan Ray from Maryland who ended 2025 with 289 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
9. Michigan State Spartans
The Spartans brought in one of the more underrated running backs in the portal with Cam Edwards coming over from UCONN. The 5-11, 210-pound rusher tallied 1,240 rushing yards on 210 carries, averaged 5.9 yards per carry and ended last season with 16 total touchdowns. This biggest question for him will be the jump he makes from UCONN to the Big Ten, but I like his production coming in. He’ll be joined in the backfield by returner Brandon Tullis who carried the ball 69 times for 301 yards and four scores this past season.
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10. Syracuse Orange
Almost all of Syracuse’s skilled players on offense will be built through the portal; the running back room is no exception. The Orange brought in Ahmad Miller from Jackson State. Miller tallied 163 rushes, 1,035 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns for the Tigers last fall. He’ll be joined in the backfield by returners Tylik Hill and Jaden Hart who combined for 39 carries and 182 rushing yards last fall. The bulk of the experience goes to Miller, but the Orange will likely rotate the three earlier in the season. By the time Notre Dame plays them on the final regular season game in 2026, the rotation will have worked itself out.
11. Rice Owls
The Owls bring back their leading rusher from 2025, running back Quinton Jackson who rushed for 889 yards and six scores last season. Jackson also hauled in four passes for 79 yards and a touchdown as well. The team’s fourth leading rusher, D’Andre Hardeman Jr. also returns to the backfield in 2026. He posted a 325-yard, two-touchdown season for the Owls last fall. They’ll headline the backfield along with dual threat quarterback Jacurri Brown who came over from UCF this past portal cycle.
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12. Navy Midshipmen
It feels weird ranking Navy this low due to how their backfield has performed over the last two to three seasons. With that being said, they lost almost every key piece from that backfield. Full back Alex Tecza, wide receiver/half back Eli Heidenreich, receiver Brandon Chatman, running back Shane Reynolds and quarterback Blake Horvath have all left the Midshipmen offense. Their backfield will be headlined by quarterback Braxton Woodson, but their most experienced and productive returning running back is Mikey Pearson III who had two rushes for two yards last season. Will it shock me if Navy ends the year higher than 12th on this list? Absolutely not. But with very little to no returning production coming back, it’s hard to put them higher on this list.
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