Jeremiyah Love might not have convinced enough Heisman Trophy voters that he was the best player in the sport, but the Notre Dame football star convinced at least one former winner. Count Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith among those who felt the running back should have been giving the acceptance speech on Saturday night.
Smith, like all former Heisman winners, has a vote, alongside multiple members of the media. In the end, his vote didn't move the needle as Love finished a distant third as Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (2,362 points — 643 first-place votes) and Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia (1,435 points — 189 first-place votes) finished first and second. The Fighting Irish running back got just 719 points and 46 first-place votes.
Zach Berman of The Athletic explained that since Smith won the Heisman in 2020, Berman tries to catch up with him and see who he voted for and why. This year, the former Crimson Tide wide receiver says the Notre Dame star got his vote.
Notre Dame football: Jeremiyah Love’s Heisman case resonated with DeVonta Smith
"Jeremiyah Love. I think this year for the Heisman…it's not kind of up to the recent Heismans. …But I’m picking Love. It's not just a quarterback award. Those other guys, they're good quarterbacks, but I think the things that he's doing (deserve the award)."
Smith knows a thing or two about quarterbacks dominating the award of late. He's one of just two non-QBs to win the Heisman in the last 10.
It's worth pointing out that Love was making some noise and moving up the odds-list for the trophy until his final game of the year. Against Stanford, he got off to his usual stellar start, but suffered an injury in the first half. While he returned to the game and assured fans he was ok, he only ran for 66 yards and 1 touchdown. After the game, he slipped in the odds to win, and those odds eventually proved to be accurate for the Notre Dame star.