It is well past that time of year again, for our ongoing MNC Wednesday miniseries entries scrutinizing Heisman Trophy votes, as the 2025 winner was announced last month. We have not agreed with the voters since the 2018 season, and we’re very disinterested in college football as a whole right (and probably forever). We did promise to keep this miniseries going, and so we will, we guess, for now …

2025 Heisman Trophy winner: Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana (original); Jeremiah Love, RB, Notre Dame (revised)

Stop the world; we want to get off. Since when are the Indiana Hoosiers a hot commodity in college football? Well, we did name their quarterback last year as our Heisman winner, and now their QB this year was the Heisman winner. What a universe we now live in, eh? Fernando Mendoza, after transferring from the California Golden Bears, won the Heisman vote after leading his team to an undefeated season. Wow.

In two seasons at Cal, he posted about a 140 QB rating in 20 games, but he pulled off a Joe Burrow Miracle this year, leading the nation with a 184.7 QB rating while throwing for 36 touchdowns, etc. He also ran for six TDs while tossing just six interceptions as the Hoosiers went 13-0 to win the B1G for the first time since 1967—that’s right, since LBJ was in the White House. We don’t mind newcomers making a splash, but …

This was just weird. Of course, we have to consider other people, too, to make sure this is legit. Here goes:

  • Diego Pavia, QB, Vanderbilt: 170.4 QB rating, 39 total TDs, 8 INTs
  • Caleb Hawkins, RB, North Texas: 1,804 scrimmage yards and 29 total TDs
  • Jeremiah Love, RB, Notre Dame: 1,652 scrimmage yards and 21 total TDs

An interesting group, to be sure. Pavia transferred from New Mexico State before the 2024 season, while Hawkins was a freshman in 2025—and Love scored 40 TDs in the past two seasons combined. Vandy went 10-2 against a Top 50 schedule, while North Texas went 11-2 against a Top 90 schedule (yes, we’re phrasing that sarcastically). Meanwhile, the Irish posted a 10-2 record against a Top 25 SOS (adjusted now). Hmmm.

Love certainly wins the RB matchup here, so what about Pavia versus Mendoza? Indiana’s SOS was Top 25 as well, but the Hoosiers certainly have a lot more going for them than the Commodores. And that’s no knock against Vandy, but we have to look at the support around each player: Vandy had five position players between 750 and 900 scrimmage yards, so Pavia was certainly the conductor of the Commodores attack.

Meanwhile, the Hoosiers had three players over 900 scrimmage yards, meaning Mendoza had better tools to work with in orchestrating his offense. As for the defensive chops? Indiana had the second-best scoring defense in the nation, while Vanderbilt … did not. The Commodores placed 48th in scoring defense, so Pavia had less talent to work with on both sides of the ball and had a lot more work to do in distribution.

We appreciate Mendoza’s achievements, for sure, but we’re more impressed with Pavia’s accomplishments in context. So, what about Love’s teammates? The Irish QB was pretty good, posting a 168.1 QB rating, while Love himself gained more than twice as many yards from scrimmage as the next-best Notre Dame skill position guy. He carried a significant load for his team here, unlike Pavia or even Mendoza. Impressive.

Throw in the SOS advantage for the Fighting Irish, and we do think Love deserved this award. This is not compensation, either, for Notre Dame getting the CFP shaft. It’s just data, context, and critical thinking. Therefore, congratulations to Jeremiah Love, the real Heisman Trophy winner for 2025. You may not agree with us, and that’s fine, but remember the end of our tag line: often wrong, never in doubt … Amen to that.

[Editor’s Note: in 70 seasons of review now, we have confirmed just 19 winners of the trophy’s vote.]