Jeremiyah Love injury update: Notre Dame star's status vs. Penn State

What we know as Notre Dame looks to get star back Jeremiyah Love on the field against Penn State despite his knee injury.

Where things stand with Notre Dame football star Jeremiyah Love as the running back hopes to play against Penn State. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is expected to play in the College Football Playoff Orange Bowl semifinal game against Penn State, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Love will wear a large brace on the knee that he injured last week and is expected to be at roughly 75 to 80 percent capacity with the ailment, according to the latest reporting.

How much will Love be able to contribute on the field?

“As much as we need him to,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said before the game.

“He’s a competitor, and we’re gonna have to probably take him out at times. But he’s gonna want to be in the game and want to impact this game, and he will.”

Freeman added: “We’ll find ways to get the ball in his hands. But we’re confident in the stable of running backs that we have to have them out there and produce.”

Love re-aggravated a knee injury in the third quarter of Notre Dame’s victory against Georgia in the College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal game.

The running back was unable to return to that game for the Fighting Irish, leading to some concern about his availability leading into the team’s next playoff challenge.

Love initially injured his knee in the regular season finale against USC.

He was limited to just 6 carries for 19 yards against Georgia, with quarterback Riley Leonard picking up the slack, leading the team with 80 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

Love leads Notre Dame with 1,076 rushing yards and has scored 16 touchdowns on the ground this season.

He made history in the first round of the College Football Playoff on just one play.

Love took a hand off and ran down the sideline for a 98 yard touchdown against Indiana, establishing the longest TD carry by any player in College Football Playoff history.

His production has been integral in what finished as the 11th ranked rushing offense in college football, averaging almost 218 yards per game.

Notre Dame is fourth among 134 FBS teams with 42 rushing touchdowns total.

The team’s rushing capacity is critical to its offensive success generally, as the Irish come into the game ranking just 101st nationally in passing production.

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