Jeremiyah Love Set to Join Elite List of Notre Dame Heisman Trophy Finalists: A Brief History of the Irish and the Most Prestigious Award in College Football
- Brenden Duffy
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
For the first time since 2012, Notre Dame will be represented at the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York City following RB Jeremiyah Love’s selection as a finalist for the most prestigious honor in college football.
Love, the only non-QB to earn an invite this year, will be joined by Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt’s Diego Paivia, and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin. Since its establishment in 1935, Notre Dame has been no stranger to the award, with the Irish being home to seven Heisman winners, tied for the second-most in the country. The Irish are tied with Oklahoma and the Buckeyes, who also have a shot of tying USC’s record eight Heisman trophies, thanks to Love and Sayin, respectively.
Below is a list of Notre Dame’s top three Heisman Trophy finishes since 1935:
1935: RB Bill Shakespeare (3rd)
1941: QB Angelo Bertelli (2nd)
1943: QB Angelo Bertelli (Winner)
1946: QB Johnny Lujack (3rd)
1947: QB Johnny Lujack (Winner)
1949: TE Leon Hart (Winner)
1953: RB John Lattner (Winner)
1956: QB Paul Hornung (Winner)
1964: QB John Huarte (Winner)
1966: RB Nick Eddy (3rd)
1968: QB Teddy Hanratty (3rd)
1970: QB Joe Theismann (2nd)
1977: TE Ken MacAfee (3rd)
1987: WR Tim Brown (Winner)
1990: RB Raghib “Rocket” Ismail (2nd)
2006: QB Brady Quinn (3rd)
2012: LB Manti Te’o (2nd)
With Mendoza being a heavy favorite after leading Indiana to an undefeated Big Ten Championship season, it does seem unlikely Love will bring home the Heisman to South Bend. However, in an award dominated by Quarterbacks and the rare Travis Hunter scenario, Love’s invitation to New York should speak volumes about the player he is. And now the country will have an even greater opportunity to see what we all know, and that is he might just be a better person than a football player.
This season, Love averaged 6.9 yards per carry for 1,372 yards (4th-most in ND history) and 18 touchdowns (tied-1st most in ND history). The do-it-all back added 280 yards and three touchdowns on 27 receptions. Love’s 21 total touchdowns surpassed Jerome Bettis’s 1991 season for the most in a single season in Irish history.
Regardless of where Love finishes in the voting, he will go down as a Notre Dame legend and, arguably, the greatest Irish RB of all time. It is a shame his season, along with the rest of the team, had to end the way it did, but the voters could bring some justice by selecting Love as this year’s Heisman Trophy winner.
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