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Heisman Trophy: 2025 Finalists revealed ahead of award ceremony

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko3 hours agonickkosko59

The 2025 Heisman Memorial Trophy Finalists were announced tonight during ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown show, as well as on the Heisman website and social channels. The show airs from 6-8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The latest Heisman ceremony is scheduled for December 13th at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ABC. The College Football Playoff, which features some of these finalists, begins on December 19th.

This year, four players were selected for the Heisman ceremony, three of which were quarterbacks. Just one non-quarterback made the list and no defensive players made it. Below are the four finalists headed to New York:

Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame

Love is the first non-QB on the Heisman finalist list. He ran wild for Notre Dame pretty much all season, putting up career numbers for the 10-2 Irish.

It’ll be fascinating to see his transition to the NFL, now that Notre Dame opted out of a bowl game is done for 2025. This year, Love had 1,372 yards, 18 touchdowns, 6.9 yards per carry, 27 catches, 280 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions.

Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana

Indiana and Mendoza had a historic 13-0 campaign, capped off with a 13-10 win over Ohio State to win the Big Ten. It was the Hoosiers’ first conference crown in nearly 60 yards.

Mendoza and Indiana will keep it going in the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed. This year, he had 2,980 yards, an FBS-leading 33 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 71.5% completion percentage.

Diego Pavia, QB, Vanderbilt

Pavia has had quite the season and had his Heisman moment during the final week against Tennessee. He even struck the pose!

The dual threat quarterback led the Commodores to a 10-2 record, nearly making the College Football Playoff. He finished the regular season with 3,192 yards, 27 touchdowns, eight interceptions, a 71.2% completion percentage, 826 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns.

Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State

The Big Ten Championship wasn’t great for Sayin, but he had a Heisman-worthy season for Ohio State. At 12-1, the Buckeyes are still the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff.

As far as Sayin is concerned, the redshirt freshman was impressive all year in his first year as a starter. He had 3,329 yards, 31 touchdowns, six interceptions and an FBS-leading 78.4% completion percentage.