SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Junior running back Jeremiyah Love continues his impressive 2025 season by adding another national honor to his resume today, named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, which honors college football’s top running back, the fourth-oldest college football award in the nation which honors the nation’s top college football player.
This is Love’s third national semifinalist honor, also named a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Maxwell Award.
Notre Dame has had one Doak Walker finalist: TB Reggie Brooks (1992).
Love is part of a group of 10 semifinalists on the list.
This season, Love has posted 177 rushes for 1,135 yards and 14 touchdowns, adding 26 receptions for 274 yards and three touchdowns. He averages 6.4 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 ranks third in the nation in rushing yards per game (113.5), third in total touchdowns (17) and third in yards from scrimmage (1,409). He is the only player in the nation to rank in the top three in each of those categories. In addition, he also ranks fourth in all-purpose yards per game (140.9), fourth in rushing touchdowns (14), fourth in rushing yards (1,135), fifth in scoring (10.2) and sixth in total points (102).
Love has 32-career rushing touchdowns, moving him into a tie for fourth in program history with Vagas Ferguson (1976-79) and Anthony Johnson (1986-89). His 38-career touchdowns are tied for fourth-most in school history with Michael Floyd (2008-11).
Love has recorded his five games with 100+ rushing yards this season, and 10 over his career, tied for 7th all-time in Notre Dame records with Julius Jones (1999-01, 2003).
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.
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.