Jeremiyah Love Wins 2025 Doc Walker Award
South Bend, Indiana – Junior running back Jeremiyah Love has been named the recipient of the 2025 Doak Walker Award, given to college football’s top running back.
Love is Notre Dame’s first-ever recipient of the Doc Walker Award. He is the second finalist in program history following TB Reggie Brooks (1992). Love also was a national finalist for the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Player of the Year and Maxwell Award. He is the recipient of the 2025 Disney Spirit Award, which honors the most inspiring figures in college football.
This season, Love rushed 199 times for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns, and also caught 27 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He’s averaging 6.9 yards per carry this season. Even more impressive is that he did it all while sharing the backfield with running back Jadarian Price, who himself rushed 113 times for 674 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Six FBS players rushed for 1,300 yards during the 2025 regular season. Love is the only player on this list who shares a backfield with another running back who has rushed for at least 600 yards this season.
He was the only player in the country to finish the regular season in the top three in points scored, total touchdowns and yards from scrimmage.
Love is the only player in the country to rush for more than 1,100 yards this season and average 6.6 yards per carry or better.
After the regular season, Love continued to be ranked as one of the most outstanding players in college football, ranking second in the country in scoring (10.5), second in total points (126), second in total touchdowns (21), third in rushing touchdowns (18), fourth in rushing yards (1,372), fifth in rushing yards per game (114.3), fifth in yards per carry (6.89), and fifth in all-purpose. yards (137.67).
In the 70-7 victory over Syracuse University, Love rushed eight times for 171 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 21.4 yards per rush. He is the third player since 1996 to have 170 or more rushing yards and three touchdowns on eight carries or fewer (Clyde Edwards-Helaire, 11/23/19 vs. Arkansas, Desmond Reed, 10/24/20 vs. SMU).
Love rushed for a touchdown on Notre Dame’s opening drive in Notre Dame’s 49-20 win over Stanford, giving him the most touchdowns in a single season at Notre Dame (21), surpassing the legendary Jerome Bettis’ 20 rushing touchdowns in 1991. This rushing touchdown was also Love’s 18th rushing touchdown this season, tied with Audric Estimé (2023) for the most rushing touchdowns on the team. Number of touchdowns in a single season in Notre Dame history. He is the first player in program history to rush for 17 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons.
This season, Love was named the Associated Press National Player of the Week and Doc Walker National Running Back of the Week for his performance against No. 20 USC. In the Jeweled Shillelagh matchup, Love rushed for 228 yards on 24 carries, averaging 9.5 yards per carry, in a 34-24 victory over USC. Love rushed for 228 yards against USC, the most by a Notre Dame player in the 513-game history of Notre Dame Stadium.
Love became the first player in program history to catch two 90-yard rushing touchdowns in his career, with a 98-yard touchdown run against Indiana in the 2024 College Football Playoff and a 94-yard rushing touchdown at Boston College in 2025.
