Jeremiyah Love Wins Doak Walker Award, Elevates Notre Dame RB Legacy

It's not going to ease the pain of Notre Dame missing out on the College Football Playoff, but the program received some great news on Friday night when Jeremiyah Love won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back.

The Heisman might be a stretch, but at least he's a finalist. Winning the Doak Walker, though, is special all by itself.

Notre Dame Running Back Tradition Reaches New Heights With Love

Love beat out Missouri's Ahmad Hardy and Kyren Lacy of Ole Miss, and to be honest, the race was all but over a month ago.

Love finished with 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging 6.9 yards per carry, to go along with 27 carries for 280 yards and three scores. Others had better numbers, but it was the way Love was able to produce week-after week in sensational fashion that got him the prize.

Yes, he was held to 33 yards against Miami, but that was because of the flow of the game. The coaching staff didn't stress test, new starting quarterback, CJ Carr, Love didn't get enough work early, and then, all of a sudden, it was comeback time, and the offense had to throw.

The 94 yards and a score against Texas A&M were combined with four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, and he was off to the races from there.

From the 228 yards and a score against USC, to breaking the Boston College game open, to putting the Syracuse scrimmage away instantly with his 171 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries, he was electric whenever he had the ball.

And now Love joins legends like Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry, Reggie Bush, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ron Dayne, and Ricky Williams in the Doak family in what was sure to be a College Football Hall of Fame career.

But this isn't likely to be it for the Notre Dame running backs. Under Marcus Freeman, the backs are stars, and the talent is there to keep on attracting top backs if Love and Jadarian Price go off to the NFL.

The most outstanding running back in college football ☘️

Congratulations to Jeremiyah Love, the 2025 Doak Walker Award Winner

Love is the first Notre Dame running back to win the Doak Walker Award 🫶☘️#GoIrish☘️ | @JeremiyahLove pic.twitter.com/XQrKTK6Gb0
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 13, 2025

Being the star Notre Dame running back has always been a glamor position, but going forward, the spotlight should be on even more after a terrific recent run of Kyren Williams, Audric Estime, and then Love and Price.

And here's the difference. For the most part, other schools are cranking up the great running backs through the transfer portal, while Notre Dame's have been homegrown.

There's a slight chance this all could continue - Love and Price haven't been adamant that they're off to the NFL, but they'd be crazy not to go.

But for now, and with what the program has in place, Notre Dame is right up there with the best running back schools in college football.