Irish Breakdown

Jeremiyah Love’s Heisman Odds Explode After Breakout Performance

Notre Dame hasn't had a Heisman Trophy winner since 1987
Nick Shepkowski|
Nov 22, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the ball against the Syracuse Orange during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium.
Nov 22, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the ball against the Syracuse Orange during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Could Notre Dame's Heisman Trophy drought soon be coming to an end?

There is plenty of work left to do for star running back Jeremiyah Love, but Saturday was a massive step in the right direction for the most electric player in college football.

In just eight touches, Love ran for an absurd 171 yards and three touchdowns as Notre Dame routed Syracuse 70-7 on Senior Day in South Bend. If Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame wanted to pad his stats they very well could have in the blowout victory, but Love's day ended early as his 171 yards in eight touches weren't terribly far off of Syracuse's 207 total yards in 80 plays.

As a result, Love's Heisman Trophy odds improved significantly.

Jeremiyah Love's Heisman Trophy Odds Skyrocket After Blowout Win

When the college football world awoke on Saturday, Jeremiyah Love was listed as roughly an 18-1 (+1800) pick to win the Heisman Trophy by most outlets.

However, just eight carries later (and those 171 yards and three scores, mind you), his odds have skyrocketed.

Fan Duel now lists Love as a 5.5-1 (+550) pick to win the Heisman Trophy as of Saturday night, the third best odds of any player nationally.

Only Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (-125) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (+430) have better odds than Love, who is also tied with Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at +550.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts:

After the Miami game I pretty much wrote off any chance of Jeremiyah Love winning the Heisman Trophy. In today's game it takes so much for a non-quarterback to win the award, and frankly, I feel that's rather ridiculous.

That's not to take anything away from Mendoza, Sayin or Pavia, but simply being the starting quarterback on teams loaded with talent don't make you great. It's like how we look back at Jason White winning the Heisman Trophy over Larry Fitzgerald in 2003 - like, really?

Mendoza is great, but that team is built on running the ball and dominating the line of scrimmage more than it is on him, even though his game-winning drive at Penn State was almost magical.

Sayin might be the third-best player on his own offense.

If any of the other favorites have a case, to me, it's Pavia, who is the perfect quarterback at the perfect time for Vanderbilt.

I'm not saying to go put your money on Jeremiyah Love and walk away with winnings in a few weeks. However, I will say that this is the first time I'll go to bed on a Saturday night this season thinking Jeremiyah Love has an actual chance to win the Heisman Trophy.

And who knows, another showing next week against Stanford and things might get really serious.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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