The 2025 Heisman Trophy Weekend Blog — Fernando-Mania, Hoosier Style

Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET — Fernando-Mania — A Gallery Of Fernando Mendoza Images On His Winning Night –

Saturday, 9:30 p.m. ET — Fernando Hits Times Square –

Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET — A New Winner Joins The Heisman Fraternity –

Congratulations Fernando Mendoza, the newest member of the Heisman Fraternity!

Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET — A Pre-Ceremony Press Conference  –

Love summed up the appreciation our finalists have had for each other with these sentiments: “Being around these guys has been a blessing. Just being around them, learning more about them. They’re all great human beings. They have great character and great families and it’s been an honor to be around them.”

Saturday, 1 p.m. ET — Morning Interviews And A Pre-Ceremony Walk Through  –

Our 2025 Heisman Trophy finalists were up early ahead of the big night, doing interviews with ESPN, the Official Heisman Trophy Podcast, and other outlets and followed it up with the annual pre-ceremony walk through at The Jazz At Lincoln Center.

Finalists Jeremiyah Love, Fernando Mendoza, Diego Pavia and Julian Sayin joined members of the Heisman Trophy Trust and ESPN at The Jazz At Lincoln Center to discuss how tonight’s ceremony will work. Not unlike a college football team’s Friday walk through, the pre-ceremony event helps lock everything into place ahead of tonight’s big event.

Next up, the pre-ceremony press conference at 4:30 p.m. ET

Friday, 9 p.m. ET — A Heisman Reception To Remember –

Finalists for the 2025 Heisman Trophy and their families as well as almost 20 Heisman winners and their loved ones joined the Heisman Trophy Trust tonight at the New York Marriott Marquis — host hotel for the weekend — for a Heisman reception a day ahead of naming the 91st winner.

Finalists Jeremiyah Love, Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin were interviewed by ESPN’s Holly Rowe during the reception, the trio without Diego Pavia, who excused himself to accept the Johnny Unitas Award tonight in Baltimore. Pavia will rejoin the other Heisman finalists Saturday.

Love, Mendoza and Sayin received their Heisman finalist plaques following a moving Q&A with Rowe, who asked them about their growth as leaders on the field, their experience as leaders in the locker room and about what lessons they value from their families.

The Heisman winners in attendance joined them for a group photo and then took a photo sans finalists, one strictly for the Heisman Fraternity, which will grow by one Saturday night.

— EARLIER —

Friday, 3 p.m. ET — Media, Group Photos And A Gift From AXIA Time –

The 2025 Heisman finalists participated in their first Heisman press conference today following a lunch with their families and a walk through Time Square.

Ahead of the press event, AXIA Time, the Official Timepiece of the Heisman Trophy, presented each Heisman finalist with a watch to commemorate their finalist weekend trip.

Below are excerpts from each of our four finalists from the media session.

Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love:

On how he feels starting out this weekend — “I feel happy. I feel happy and blessed to be here, and grateful.”

On what he thinks is his best “Heisman moment” this season – “The spin move vs Pitt. I started the game fast. Those guys I think had the No. 1 rushing defense in the country and we got after them the first drive of the game. That was definitely my favorite moment.”

On his relationship with his dad — “My dad gives me confidence before every game. We have a special moment before every game, making sure I’m in my right mind space to go out there and to the things I need to do.”

On the possibility of being the first Irish Heisman winner since Tim Brown and being mentioned among Notre Dame greats — “It’s an honor to be able to be talked about like other Notre Dame legends. It’s a testament to how good this team is and how good this organization is. Ever since I got to Notre Dame, they welcomed me and embraced me and made sure I was on the pathway to reaching my goals. It’s a great honor and I hope to continue to set a standard for others to follow.”

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza

On his reaction to the letter his mom wrote to him ahead of this week — “I spent an hour, two hours reflecting on the letter. It was one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever read. My mom and I are extremely tight, as she said in the letter. We are buddies for life. It’s such a sentimental piece and really shows what she means to me.”

Reflecting on his journey from a youth in Miami to a Heisman finalist — “It’s been such a great journey. If you were to tell myself, a kid in Miami, struggling with football, in the intense Miami football environment, that I’d be a finalist today, I’d laugh at my older self and say I don’t think that’s true. However, with the Miami community, with Christopher Columbus HS, with everybody else there in Miami pushing me and supporting me, I’ve been able to be elevated to this level. I can’t thank the high school enough and all the people in Miami.”

On his challenges along the road — “Whether it was being a 2-star recruit, Covid cutting the season short, whether it was getting only one scholarship offer. All those struggles — but i put them in quotations because evidently they’ve been blessings because they lit a fire underneath myself in order to make me work harder and get to the point where I am now. I still have a long way to go.”

Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia

Who believed in you before you became a star? — “A lot of my coaches believed in me. They saw it first hand, my ex teammates from Volcano Vista High, New Mexico Military and New Mexico State. All those guys. They mean a lot to me because they were along with me on my journey. I owe a lot to those guys. Those guys believed in me and helped me tremendously get to where I am today.”

On his favorite moment at Vanderbilt  — “It would probably be my game against Alabama (last year) at home or Kentucky. It would probably be Alabama. Everyone was just having a good time, having fun, because of the thrill of it, the lead up and then the ending of it. It was a good day that day on West End.”

On what’s shaped who he is today — “I take a lot of pride in myself trying to be the best version of myself. It’s unfair to my teammates if I don’t outwork everyone. I try to give everything I’ve got into this game and I will as long as I can play. I’m super grateful for the game of football and allowing me the chance at Vanderbilt. I’ll be forever grateful for it.”

Ohio State’s Julian Sayin

On growing up as a fan of Marcus Mariota and the Heisman and now following in his footsteps as a Heisman finalist — “It’s a real experience to be here for this weekend. Growing up, watching this award and talking about it when i was a little kid, it’s just really awesome to be here.”

On the support system in Columbus that helped him reach New York — “It’s really special, sitting here today. There’s so many great teammates around me and so many great coaches that got me here.”

On his chemistry with Buckeye WR Jeremiah Smith — “He’s a really talented player and really humble and someone who works his tail off every day. He comes to practice and grinds. He’s a really physical receiver and very fast and someone I have a lot of trust in.”

— EARLIER —

Friday, 11 a.m. ET — Welcome to the 2025 Heisman Trophy weekend! –

Our four Heisman finalists — Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin — will soon gather at our Heisman Headquarters on the top floor of at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for their first group photo of the weekend.

The eyes of the college football world are on these four standouts and they will be sharing their stories during media access this afternoon as well as with interviews with ESPN later today. A Heisman reception with past winners will follow tonight.

Stay tuned for updates!

We will also have our eyes on one of the best traditions in college football on Saturday and one steeped in Heisman tradition as well — the annual Army-Navy game at 3 p.m. in Baltimore.

The only game on the schedule, the Black Knights enter the game at 6-5 and will take on a Midshipmen crew enjoying a 9-2 season. Navy leads the series, 63-55-7 as the teams prep for the 126th iteration of the rivalry.

Early in the Heisman’s first few decades, Army and Navy were well represented in the annual Heisman voting.

Five Heisman winners that have played in the rivalry, including Army’s Felix “Doc” Blanchard (1945), Army’s Glen Davis (1946), Army’s Pete Dawkins (1958), Navy’s Joe Bellino (1960) and Navy’s Roger Staubach (1963).

Davis is one of just three players to finish in the Top 3 Heisman voting three times (second in 1944-45, first in 1946) while Blanchard joins him as one of just seven players to have three Top 5 finishes.

Current Navy starting QB Blake Horvath joined The Official Heisman Trophy Podcast last month to discuss his strong 2025 season. Last year Army starting QB Bryson Daily finished sixth in the 2024 Heisman balloting and joined the Heisman Podcast last season. Check out Horvath interview here and to listen to the Daily interview here.