Jeremiyah Love's Path to the Heisman Trophy

With only four regular season games remaining, there are only four more opportunities for Jeremiyah Love to impress Heisman voters and become Notre Dame's first Heisman recipient since 1988.

Most Irish fans, and some astute college football observers, already believe Love is the best player in the country. But it would be nice to formalize that title.

As college football has gravitated to more pass-happy offenses, seasons like those of back-to-back Heisman winners Texas' Ricky Williams in 1998 and Wisconsin's Ron Dayne in 1999 are few and far between.

But I believe there's still a path to Love hoisting the Heisman in New York. Here are the three steps:

Win the Final Four Games

This is a given, not only for the Irish's playoff chances, but also for Love's candidacy.

In the BCS/Playoff era (1998-present), five running backs have hoisted the Heisman. Here are their teams records:

1998 - Texas (Williams) = 8-3
1999 - Wisconsin (Dayne) = 9-2
2005 - USC (Bush) = 12-0
2009 - Alabama (Ingram) = 12-0
2015 - Alabama (Henry) = 11-1

It takes a winning team and huge numbers. The Irish can't afford a slip up.

Reach Mark Ingram's Numbers

Listen, the wrong guy won the 2009 Heisman.

Mark Ingram was a great back for Alabama, but a certain defensive lineman from Nebraska should have been the recipient that year.

The fact this was Alabama's return to prominence under head coach Nick Saban had a lot to do with Ingram's award, but Suh was the best player in college football that year.

Ingram's numbers in 2009 when compared to recent Heisman winning running backs, and even Heisman finalists, are well below the historical thresholds.

So to even get in the conversation, Love needs to hit those minimums. For comparisons' sake here, we're going to look at Yards from Scrimmage and Overall Touchdowns.

In 2009, Ingram racked up the following per game numbers:

Yards From Scrimmage/Game = 143.4
Touchdowns/Game = 1.4

Jeremiyah Love, through eight games, is averaging:

Yards From Scrimmage/Game = 140.1
Touchdowns/Game = 1.8

To exceed Ingram's numbers for the season, Love will need to average:

Yards From Scrimmage/Game = 150.0
Touchdowns/Game = 0.7

Given the fact Love has exceeded the yards from scrimmage threshold in three of eight games this season and scored a touchdown in every game except Miami, this is more than reasonable.

Remain Explosive, Find the End Zone

Ingram's numbers seem easily obtainable. But in order to leave no doubt, Love's explosiveness and nose for the end zone should be the focus.

Behind CJ Carr's arm, Notre Dame has added another dimension. It's another dimension that allow the offense to diversify and not have to rely on running Love and Jadarian Price into the ground.

But what sets the Irish offense apart is Love's game-breaking ability and his knack for finding the end zone from anywhere on the field.

At 14 touchdowns on the season, Love is right on target for the per game touchdown average of previous Heisman winners (1.8 touchdowns/game).

The average yards per touch of those same winners was 6.9. Love currently sits at 6.8.

I will say those numbers are skewed a great deal by Bush, who averaged an astonishing 9.4 yards per touch in 2005. Love's 6.8 exceeds the four other winners.

My Prediction:

1,823 all-purpose yards, 21 touchdowns, a trip to New York, 1st-Team All-American, but no trophy.

Here's hoping I'm wrong.