Quarterbacks have dominated the discussion for this year’s Heisman Trophy. Is it time for a running back to join the conversation?
Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love has been on the periphery of the Heisman discussion most of the year. Love was already a well-known player entering the season, coming off a 1,125-yard, 17-touchdown campaign for the national runners-up. He has upped those numbers this year and still has a game to go. On the betting side, Love made a move in the odds to win the Heisman.
Love has jumped to second in the odds on BetMGM at +375. In a week when favorite Fernando Mendoza (-105) was on a bye week and other top contenders Julian Sayin (+400) and Marcel Reed (+1300) may as well have been, Love was the big mover.
The Notre Dame running back had 171 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries in an absurd 70-7 win against Syracuse. Notre Dame had two pick-sixes and a punt return for a touchdown to take a 21-0 lead before having an offensive snap. Love scored on a 45-yard run on his first carry, and the game was over as a competitive contest before the end of the first quarter.
Love now has 1,306 yards and 17 touchdowns with another chance to boost his stats against 3-8/4-7 Stanford in the regular season finale. He’s still solidly behind Mendoza and Sayin has potentially two huge games to improve his stock, but Love has moved into a position where he could win if, say, Ohio State loses at Michigan this week, and then Indiana loses in the Big Ten title game. It’s not likely, but Love is in the race and looks likely to go to New York as a finalist.
Sayin didn’t do much in Ohio State’s 42-9 win over Rutgers, but he didn’t need to, a theme that has held throughout much of the season. Sayin finished 13-of-19 for 157 yards with two touchdown passes. Both of Ohio State’s prolific wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, missed the game. With the Michigan game up next and the Big Ten title game to follow (if Ohio State wins in Ann Arbor), Sayin will have high-profile stages to make his Heisman case.
The same goes for Reed and Texas A&M. The 11-0 Aggies play at Texas on Friday and would be in the SEC title game with a win. Reed, like Sayin, didn’t have big numbers in a blowout victory this past weekend. He was 10-of-15 for 120 yards and three touchdowns before exiting early in a 48-0 romp of Samford. He may get stuck behind the Big Ten champion if the Sayin-Mendoza showdown materializes, but he will have a lot of voters watching him the next couple of weeks.
One quarterback who did put up big numbers on Saturday was Diego Pavia. The Vanderbilt quarterback had six total touchdowns and a school-record 484 passing yards in a 45-17 demolition of Kentucky. The odds currently have him fourth at +600. Pavia is definitely selling himself, as he’s still striking the Heisman pose at games.
Wait for Pavia’s Heisman pose 🔥🏆 pic.twitter.com/F3RMrd81D9
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 22, 2025
Vanderbilt goes to Tennessee next week in a game that has bigger stakes than the average edition of this in-state rivalry. Both teams are ranked, which is strange enough, but Vanderbilt is trying to play into the College Football Playoff. The Commodores appear to be on the outside for now, but at 10-2, they would have a chance. Given how important narratives tend to be in swaying voters, Pavia guiding Vanderbilt to the Playoff would be significant to his Heisman resume.