Love's historic season culminates in unanimous All-American honors, a Doak Walker Award win, and a place in Notre Dame legend.
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love had a truly brilliant final collegiate season, putting together a historic campaign that has ended with him earning unanimous All-American honors. Love was named to the first team of all five All-America lists, cementing himself as the best running back in college football.
Love becomes the first Notre Dame running back to be named a unanimous All-American since Nick Eddy earned the honor all the way back in 1966. The only other running back to earn this honor was Marchy Schwartz back in 1931, which shows how truly unique and special this honor is for Love.
Earning a spot on the unanimous All-America team wasn't the only historic recognition for Love. The St. Louis native also won the Doak Walker Award, which goes annually to the nation's top running back. Love became the first Notre Dame running back to earn that honor, and was only the second back to even be a finalist, with Reggie Brooks (1992) being the other.
Love finished the 2025 season as the fourth leading rusher in the country after racking up 1,372 yards on the ground. Love also averaged 6.9 yards per carry, which was second in college football for all backs with at least 150 carries. Love's 18 rushing touchdowns was third in the country and second among Power 4 backs, while his 21 total touchdowns led all Power 4 backs and was second in the country. Love's 1,652 yards from scrimmage - which includes 280 receiving yards - was third in college football, and his 7.3 yards per touch was significantly better than the players who ranked No. 1 (6.0) and No. 2 (6.1) on the list. Love ranked third in total yards from scrimmage but ranked just 21st in touches, which shows off his big play ability.
That production was also among the best in Notre Dame history. Love's 1,372 yards on the ground was the fourth best single-season mark in program history and his 18 touchdowns tied for the most ever. His 21 total touchdowns broke the record of 20 that was previously held by legendary back Jerome Bettis. His 1,652 total yards (rushing and receiving) was the third best single season mark for the Irish. Love ended his Notre Dame career with 42 total touchdowns, which is the third best career mark in program history.
Love was a big play threat every time he touched the ball. He had a pair of 90-plus yard touchdowns the last two seasons and had at least 20 yards on a carry 11 times in each of the last two seasons. Of course, for all the impressive big plays he made, including his 98-yard touchdown in the playoffs last season, his most impressive run was a 2-yard touchdown run in the Orange Bowl against Penn State.
Beyond the numbers, Love was an impact player for the Irish and was a weapon that teams had to focus a lot of time and attention to defending. USC made the mistake of trying to defend the pass more than the run, so Love tuned them up for 228 rushing yards on just 24 carries, which set a Notre Dame record for an Irish back inside Notre Dame Stadium.
If Notre Dame needed a key block they would also turn to Love, and if you watched this team the last two years you'll remember that some of Love's biggest celebrations were on plays when he was leading the way for a teammate to score a touchdown. That shows that he was not only an elite player with the ball, he was a team player that wanted to win.
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