Can Jeremiyah Love End the Notre Dame Heisman Trophy Drought?

The No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) have a storied history, which includes seven Heisman Trophy winners. However, the last time a Notre Dame player won the prestigious trophy was when Tim Brown won it in 1987.

Since the first Irish Heisman winner, Angelo Bertelli, in 1943, the longest Notre Dame has gone without a winner was 22 years. When Travis Hunter of Colorado won the trophy in December of 2024, that made 37 straight seasons without the trophy going to a Golden Domer.

This season, Notre Dame has its best chance at ending the drought with RB Jeremiyah Love. The 6-foot, 214-pound junior is powering the Irish up the College Football Playoff rankings. Love is also garnering his share of attention as he was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award on Tuesday.

Head coach Marcus Freeman doesn’t want Love and his Irish teammates focusing on the Heisman Trophy. While speaking with the media at his weekly press conference on Monday, Freeman made it clear he wants the Irish to be focused on No. 22 Pitt.

“It’s a great award, a huge honor,” Freeman said on Monday. “Somebody’s going to win it. But I think Jeremiyah Love will be the first to tell you that winning a game is way more important than that individual award.”

With Notre Dame trending up and on a 6-game winning streak, it’s easy to see why Love is also trending up in Heisman chatter. Love currently ranks among the top 12 in the FBS in multiple rushing categories.

Love is 5th in the FBS in rushing yards with 988 and tied for 3rd with 13 rushing TDs. As for averages, Love is 6th in rushing yards per game with 109.8 and 12th with 6.4 yards per carry.

If the Irish can win their final three games, at Pitt, against Syracuse and at Stanford, Love will get an invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony. That is, if Love continues his current statistical trajectory.

All Heisman Trophy winners have that “Heisman moment.” The one that solidifies the award for one winner or another. To date, Love’s “moment” may have been his 228 yards rushing against rival USC on Oct. 18.

However, the USC game did not provide a moment or drive where Love put himself ahead in the Heisman talk. That moment will need to come against Pitt this Saturday. In the Irish’s final game against a ranked opponent in the regular season, on a national stage, Love will need to run all over the Pitt defense. Saturday may be his last chance to create a Heisman moment.

Then the politicking will need to start from Notre Dame. The Heisman Trophy has become a quarterback’s trophy. Since 2000, only three RBs have won the Heisman: Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram and Derek Henry.

So, it’s fair to say that without public help from the university, it will be tough for Love to win the Heisman. At Freeman’s press conference on Monday, the Irish head coach said he feels Love is a Heisman Trophy candidate but noted there are bigger goals for the Irish.

“I think Jeremiyah Love will be the first to tell you that winning a game is way more important than that individual award. He’s going to do everything in his power to make sure we are prepared and win a game. And if the Heisman Trophy comes with it, man, then great.”

For Love’s sake, and for the sake of long-suffering Notre Dame fans who yearn for another Heisman Trophy to add to the trophy case, the time for Love’s case to be made is now.

If Love powers the Irish to the three wins to end the season, Notre Dame will be a lock for the CFP. That will give the Irish a chance to end another drought, the most important trophy of all, the National Championship.

If the Irish make the CFP, and if the voters realize that not just quarterbacks are deserving, Love very well may help the Irish end two trophy droughts this season.