Jeremiyah Love injury: Notre Dame RB limps off field during Sugar Bowl vs. Georgia

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love limped off the field with an apparent leg injury in the third quarter of Thursday’s Sugar Bowl against Georgia. He got caught in the middle of the pile as Riley Leonard took a 6-yard carry on a first-down play.

Love went to block on Leonard’s run and ended up between multiple defenders. He then headed to the injury tent for further evaluation as Jadairan Price came out to replace him.

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Love later emerged from the injury tent between the third and fourth quarters, but later went back in, according to Blue and Gold’s Kyle Kelly. ESPN’s Molly McGrath later reported Love looked like he wanted to come back after getting a brace put on his knee as the Irish look to lock up a College Football Playoff semifinal berth.

Love was on the field during that last timeout, trying to run and cut. He went back into the injury tent.

— Kyle Kelly (@ByKyleKelly) January 2, 2025

“You saw running back Jeremiyah Love limping on the sideline, favoring his right knee,” McGrath said on the broadcast. “He tried cutting side to side, was in visible discomfort. So they put a hard brace on that right knee. You can tell he’s still bothered by the injury, but he’s doing everything he can to return. I’m told he will try to go, and he told us he does not need to be 100% to effective.”

Love is an important part of the Notre Dame offense, which leans heavily on the running game. He entered Thursday’s game with a team-high 1,057 yards and 16 touchdowns. He, along with Leonard and Price, have engineered the Fighting Irish’s 11-game winning streak to get them into the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl.

Love also put himself in the history books during the first round of the CFP in South Bend. He took a hand-off 98 yards for a touchdown against Indiana, marking the longest touchdown run in Playoff history. He did so while working through a knee injury and also dealing with symptoms from the flu.

Love was again dealing with flu symptoms during Thursday’s game, according to ESPN’s Molly McGrath. At the time of his injury, he had five carries for 25 yards as Georgia keyed in on him. Leonard led Notre Dame with 11 carries for 65 yards at the time.

Having Price in the backfield helped take some of the load off Love’s shoulders. But Marcus Freeman also pointed out the need for both backs to stay healthy if Notre Dame wants to have success on offense.

“It’s something we’ve done in my three years as a head coach, with Coach [Deland] McCullough being our running backs coach, is that we pride ourselves on being able to rotate running backs and sell it in a way in recruiting and to your current players of we’re going to get you enough film to get you prepared for the next level,” Freeman said. “But we’re also going to make sure you’re healthy. We don’t want you to use every rep you have in your body in college. And so, they buy in to that. They’ve done a great job within the roles that have been determined for them. Aneyas Williams is another guy that’s really stepped up as a freshman this year.”