Notre Dame‘s starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp suffered a high ankle sprain in a 27-24 Orange Bowl victory over Penn State on Thursday.
As a result, Knapp won’t be available to play in the College Football Playoff national championship game against Ohio State on Jan. 20, head coach Marcus Freeman announced Sunday.
Notre Dame has two other starters working through injuries hoping to play in the title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN): right guard Rocco Spindler (right ankle) and wide receiver Beaux Collins (left calf).
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Freeman provided one more injury update Sunday: Running back Jeremiyah Love is expected to be “full go.” Love has been dealing with a right knee injury since the regular season finale at USC but played a significant role in ND’s victory over Penn State. Love carried 11 times for 46 yards and one touchdown and caught one pass for six yards in the game.
Knapp, who started all 15 games so far this season for the Irish, left the Penn State game early in the second quarter. Notre Dame replaced him with graduate senior Tosh Baker. Knapp, a freshman, won the job in preseason camp after sophomore Charles Jagusah went down with a torn pectoral muscle.
Jagusah made his season debut in the Penn State game when he replaced Spindler at right guard. Spindler’s ankle injury became too much to play through late in the first half of the game. Freeman said he expects Spindler to be able play against Ohio State.
“We’ll see how he progresses this week of practice,” Freeman said. “But I know he’ll give everything he has into making sure he’s prepared.”
If Spindler, who started the previous 12 games for the Irish, returns to the starting lineup, Notre Dame may want to move Jagusah back to left tackle. Freeman was non-committal on what the Irish are considering this week.
“As far as the starting lineup, we’ll do what’s best for our program,” Freeman said. “We’ve got to figure that out. We have a week of preparation to make sure we get the right guys to start this game, and we’ll see what that is here in the next couple days.”
The 6-foot-7, 328-pound Jagusah started the Sun Bowl at left tackle to end the 2023 season, so it’s not hard to imagine offensive line coach Joe Rudolph wanting to play him there again.
“in the past few weeks or maybe the last month, he’s just been practicing and preparing if he did get an opportunity,” Freeman said of Jagusah. “He didn’t know if he would or not, and he went out there and did an unbelievable job, did a great job just like we thought he would.
“Credit to him and Coach Rudolph for being ready for when his number was called, and then he went out and executed at a high level, so it speaks volumes to him and his preparation.”
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Collins played just seven offensive snaps for Notre Dame against Penn State. That led to more playing time for wide receiver Jayden Thomas (57 snaps) and Deion Colzie (15).
“He has a calf strain, so he’ll work back into practice here in the next couple days,” Freeman said of Collins. “But as long as he progresses, he’ll be good to go for the game. But we’ve got to make sure that he progresses as we go through this week.”
Collins is second on the team in receptions (37), second in receiving yards (458) and is tied for the team high in touchdown receptions (3) this season. Thomas has 18 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Colzie has five catches for 41 yards and one touchdown.
Freeman did not provide updates on reserve wide receiver KK Smith (collarbone) and reserve linebacker Bodie Kahoun (right lower leg).
Notre Dame’s team has been dealing with bouts with the flu since last month, but Freeman is confident the team is handling in a way that won’t hurt its chances against Ohio State.
“As far as the flu, I’m sure every school — Ohio State is probably dealing with it, too,” Freeman said. “I think really probably over half of our team has gotten it already, so I don’t think it will have an impact on [next] week’s game.”
Notre Dame previously lost five starters to season-ending injuries: cornerback Benjamin Morrison (hip), vyper Jordan Botelho (knee), center Ashton Craig (knee), vyper Boubacar Traore (knee) and defensive tackle Rylie Mills (knee).
Notre Dame previously declared many other players out for the season: walk-on CB Marty Auer (knee), walk-on DL Quentin Autry (shoulder), S Taebron Bennie-Powell (shoulder), walk-on CB Charles Du (shoulder), TE Cooper Flanagan (achilles), LB Kahanu Kia (knee), RB Gi’Bran Payne (knee), OL Styles Prescod (shoulder) and CB Chance Tucker (knee).
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Hughes made cameos against the Irish for USC in each of the past two seasons.
The grad transfer converted 79% of his field goal tries in three seasons as the Tar Heels' No. 1 kicking option.
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