2025 Heisman Trophy Ceremony Preview: What to Know About the 4 Finalists

The award will be presented Saturday. The finalists are three quarterbacks and a running back, with plenty of history at stake.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love rushes against Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff in South Bend, Ind., on Dec. 20, 2024. Darron Cummings/AP Photo

Arguably the most prestigious award in all of sports is the Heisman Trophy, and this year’s recipient will be revealed Saturday night in New York. The 2025 finalists are running back Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame and quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt, and Julian Sayin of Ohio State. Here’s what to know about each candidate.

Jeremiyah Love

The Irish junior is an outlier: He’s the only non-quarterback finalist and the only one who hasn’t transferred in his career. It’s been a decade since a running back won the award (Derrick Henry), and in the CFP era, seven of the 11 Heisman winners have been on teams that made the playoff, which Notre Dame did not.

However, working in Love’s favor is the shamrock on his helmet. Love winning would mean that no program in the sport would have more Heisman winners than Notre Dame with eight. The St. Louis-born RB ranks second in FBS with 21 touchdowns—the most in a single season in Notre Dame history—and is third in the nation with 137.7 scrimmage yards per game. His signature game was an October win over USC, in which Love’s 228 rushing yards set a Notre Dame Stadium record, and that’s a stadium that’s been around for 95 years. Love is hoping to become the first Notre Dame Heisman winner since Tim Brown in 1987.

Fernando Mendoza

The Cal transfer can make history on Saturday as no Indiana Hoosier has ever won the Heisman. Mendoza is just the second finalist in IU history after a season in which he was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. He and coach Curt Cignetti have authored a remarkable turnaround for the Hoosiers, leading the team to its first AP No. 1 ranking and first Big Ten Title in program history.

A native of Miami, Mendoza led the nation with 33 passing touchdowns, and he ranks second in both completion percentage and passer efficiency. He hasn’t had a single game this season with more interceptions than touchdowns, and he has as many contests with four-plus passing touchdowns (four) as he has with one or no passing TDs. Mendoza (or Sayin) winning would give the Big Ten its 19^th Heisman winner, which would break a tie with the SEC for most by a conference.

Diego Pavia

Vanderbilt never even had a Heisman finalist before Pavia burst on the scene. He has led the Commodores to their first 10-win season in school history, and he’s done it with both his arm and his legs. The New Mexico State transfer, and native of the state, tops the SEC in completion percentage and passing touchdowns, while his 826 rushing yards are second-most in the country among Power Conference quarterbacks.