Jeremiyah Love’s 68-yard touchdown run Saturday against Syracuse was his Heisman pose moment.
The Notre Dame running back said he predetermined he would do the celebration in what might have been his final game at Notre Dame Stadium. He thought his third touchdown in the Irish’s 70-7 win was a worthy moment.
Love broke through a big hole up the middle, hopped around one defender’s grasp and then easily outran three other Syracuse players to the end zone. A few moments later, as teammates came to congratulate him, he lifted his right knee, tucked in his left arm and extended his right.
“What better way to celebrate breaking off for a long one than the Heisman pose?” he said.
But Love’s Heisman moment? Well, that’s up for debate. Because there have been several in November alone as the 6-foot, 214-pound junior has become a serious candidate for the award, which will be announced Dec. 13.
On Nov. 1, in a closer-than-expected game against Boston College, Love took a handoff near the Irish 1-yard line, paused for a moment to search for a crease, slipped by a pair of defenders and ran for a 94-yard touchdown.
On Nov. 8, his 48-yard touchdown was a magic act. Navy looked like it had tackled Love early in his run, but he rolled over the defenders without touching the ground, popped back on his feet and ran to the end zone.
On Nov. 15, he spun away as two Pittsburgh defenders nearly crashed into one another and raced for a 56-yard touchdown.
“It’s just how I play,” Love said after the Syracuse game. “I go into every play just wanting to give it my all, play every play like it’s my last. That allows me to take advantage of every opportunity I have. Like this game, I only got eight carries, and three of those carries ended up in touchdowns. That’s just a credit to me playing my hardest through the whistle and through every snap.
“That’s just the mentality I’ve had ever since I came into college. As a freshman, wanting to make the most of every touch that I got. That mentality hasn’t gone away by any means, even now that I’m a junior and approaching the end of my Notre Dame career.”
It is Love’s combination of breathtaking plays and consistent production of late that have him in the conversation for the nation’s top individual award along with several quarterbacks, including Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia.
While playing for the No. 9 team in the College Football Playoff rankings — alongside talented running back Jadarian Price — Love is second in the nation with 20 total touchdowns and third with 17 rushing touchdowns and 1,306 rushing yards. He is fourth with 7.06 yards per carry and 143.6 all-purpose yards per game. His 20 touchdowns have tied a program record set by Jerome Bettis in 1991.
Against USC, Love had 228 rushing yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Against Syracuse, he had 171 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries — averaging 21.4 yards per carry.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is happy to list the credentials for a player he said gives the Irish confidence whenever he is on the field.
“You look at Jeremiyah Love and you say, ‘OK, one, every time he gets the ball, there’s a chance he could go all the way,’” Freeman said Monday at his weekly news conference. “Yes, he’s not going to get the carries that maybe all the other running backs in the country get, but what he does when he gets the carries is — I mean, his yards per carry is tremendous.
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr looks to pass while running back Jeremiyah Love looks to block against Syracuse on Nov. 22, 2025, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
“And then you see what he does in the pass game. He doesn’t always get the ball, but he’s a legitimate threat as a running back out of the backfield in the pass game. But the thing I’m most pleased about, which people that watch him probably don’t care about, is the way he protects, the pride he takes in protecting the quarterback.
“There were times previously in his first or second year that we would say, ‘Hey, if it’s a passing situation, we might put somebody else in there.’ There is never a time where we say take him off the field. He’s that consistent in his play.”
It has been 10 years since Alabama’s Derrick Henry won the Heisman, the last running back to do so. Since 2000, only three running backs have won it: USC’s Reggie Bush in 2005, Alabama’s Mark Ingram in 2009 and Henry. Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020 and Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter last year are the only other non-quarterbacks to win it in the last 25 years.
Last year, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty was as close as any running back since Henry, receiving 309 first-place votes and finishing with 2,017 points to Hunter’s 2,231.
Love connected with Henry at the Super Bowl but said he hasn’t been in touch since, noting he doesn’t check his phone much during the season so he hoped he’d see a message if Henry reached out. But he did recently speak with former Stanford and current San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who came in second to Henry in 2015.
“Just to get a little bit of advice about how to handle all of this stuff with college football,” Love said.
Notre Dame has had a built-in marketing campaign from the start for Love, who rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns in 16 games last season in the march to the CFP championship game. After big plays, the Irish blast love-themed songs over the stadium speakers, and broadcasters watching his touchdowns declare things such as, “As always, Love is the answer!”
A fan holds up a sign in support of Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love after a game against Syracuse on Nov. 22, 2025, in South Bend, Ind. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
And then there’s his campaign video. Novelist Nicholas Sparks, a 1988 Notre Dame graduate, narrated an adjusted version of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians — Love is patient; love is kind — over a highlight reel.
Love also has been making the rounds to national broadcast media as Notre Dame tries to promote his Heisman case. He went on “SportsCenter” and “The Pat McAfee Show” last week and credited the Irish PR staff with helping him promote the team.
He said he has been able to compartmentalize the Heisman promotion and what he needs to do to be successful on the field.
“It’s almost like I shift between two versions of Jeremiyah,” he said. “You’ve got the media me, doing media stuff, and then immediately shift when it’s time to play football. It’s almost like it’s two personalities. I love going on and talking about how great the guys on this team are and how great this program is and just trying to give us some juice.
“But when it’s time to go back to football, it’s time to go back to football. I just immediately shift my focus.”
Love will have one more opportunity to impress voters Saturday night at Stanford as Notre Dame tries to secure a CFP berth in its regular-season finale.
For those who want to hear why he’s a candidate in his own words, Love offered his argument.
“I’m a guy who elevates my team and inspires others to do great things,” he said. “I’m not an individual by any means. When I step foot on the field, I’m playing for my brothers and I’m doing everything I can to see them succeed. That would probably be my pitch to them. I’m a team player.”
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