SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Junior running back Jeremiyah Love, lauded as one of the best players in college football, has been named a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, which honors college football’s top running back.
One of three Doak Walker finalists, Love is also a finalist for the Maxwell Award, which honors the collegiate football player of the year. Love was also named a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year.
Love is the second Doak Walker finalist in Notre Dame history, joining TB Reggie Brooks (1992).
This season, Love has posted 185 rushes for 1,306 yards and 17 touchdowns, adding 26 receptions for 274 yards and three touchdowns. He averages 7.1 yards per rush on the season. Already having eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the season, he’s just the sixth player in Notre Dame history to have multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons and the first since Kyren Williams (2020, 2021).
Love averages 118.7 rushing yards per game, and he is the only player in the country to average over 100 yards per game and average over seven yards per carry (Love is at 7.1). Love has posted six 100+ yard rushing games this season.
Love ranks second in the nation in scoring (10.9), total points (120), total touchdowns (20), third in rushing touchdowns (17), rushing yards (1,306), rushing yards per game (118.7), fourth in rush yards per carry (7.06) and fourth in all-purpose yards (143.64).
Love posted eight carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns in the 70-7 win over Syracuse, averaging 21.4 yards per carry. He is just the third player since 1996 to have 170 or more rushing yards and three touchdowns on eight carries or less (Clyde Edwards-Helaire, 11/23/19 vs. Arkansas and Desmond Ridder, 10/24/20 vs. SMU).
This season, Love was named the Associated Press National Player of the Week and the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week for his impressive performance against No. 20 USC. Love racked up 228 rushing yards on 24 carries to average 9.5 yards per carry in a 34-24 win over USC in the Jeweled Shillelagh rivalry contest. The 228 rushing yards Love put up against USC are the most for a Notre Dame player in a single game in Notre Dame Stadium’s 513-game history.
His 20 touchdowns this season tie with Jerome Bettis (1991) for the most in a single season in Notre Dame history. His 17 rushing touchdowns are the second-most in school history for a single season, and he is the first player in program history to have multiple seasons with 17 or more rushing touchdowns.
Love ranks third all-time in total touchdowns in Notre Dame history with 41, and ranks fourth all-time in rushing touchdowns with 35. Love now has six games with two or more rushing touchdowns this season, which is the second-most games in a season with multiple rushing touchdowns and is just one behind Bettis (1991) for the most in a single-season in program history.
Love became the first player in program history to collect two 90-yard rushing touchdowns in a career with a 98-yard effort against Indiana in the College Football Playoff in 2024 and a 94-yard score at Boston College in 2025.