Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love narrowly missed the Heisman Trophy, a setback that keeps the Fighting Irish in a long drought for the award. Updated December 13, 2025, at 10:32 p.m. ET.
Highlights:
- Love finished as a Heisman finalist, marking the first Notre Dame player to reach the final round since Manti Te’o in 2012.
- He set a Notre Dame single-season record with 21 touchdowns, a milestone that underscored his versatile impact for the Irish.
In New York, the Heisman voting results were announced on Saturday night, December 13. Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback from the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, captured the trophy, while Love finished third with 719 points. Mendoza amassed 2,362 points, and Vanderbilt’s quarterback Diego Pavia was runner-up with 1,435 points. Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin finished fourth with 432 points. Mendoza earned 643 first-place votes, Pavia received 189, and Love had 46.
Love’s feat makes him the latest in a line of Notre Dame players who have contended for the Heisman, though no Irish back has won the award since Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. Love also earned the Doak Walker Award on Friday night, confirming him as college football’s top running back for the season and making him the first Notre Dame recipient since the award’s 1990 inception. He broke Jerome Bettis’ 34-year-old school record with those 21 rushing touchdowns, while finishing with 1,372 rushing yards (1,652 yards from scrimmage) and 40 total touchdowns over the past two seasons. He also contributed 27 receptions for 280 yards and three receiving touchdowns.
During the Heisman ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Love was joined by 10 family members, including five siblings and their parents, Jason and L’Tya Love. Before the ceremony, Love spoke about the possibility of disappointment, acknowledging that while he wanted the Heisman, he would handle the outcome with grace. His head coach, Marcus Freeman, spoke highly of Love’s growth, character, and the influence he’s had as a role model for younger players.
Notre Dame’s Heisman history features multiple finalists and winners, including past nods for players like Brady Quinn and Raghib Ismail, and it ties into a broader legacy of Irish players finishing in the top five on numerous occasions. Mendoza’s victory adds a new chapter to Notre Dame lore, as he becomes the first Cuban-American Heisman winner and the first from Indiana University. The voting resembled a regional pattern across all six geographic locales, with Love’s strongest support coming from the Northeast.
For reference, past Heisman contenders from Notre Dame include players such as John Huarte (1964), Paul Hornung (1956), John Lattner (1953), Leon Hart (1949), John Lujack (1947), Angelo Bertelli (1943), and several others who finished in the top five in different years.
Source note: Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. You can follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
Would you prefer a deeper dive into Love’s season-by-season breakdown, or a broader comparison of Notre Dame’s Heisman history with other programs in recent decades? Also, do you want this rewritten version to emphasize more on the controversy surrounding Heisman voting or keep the focus on the achievements and context?
