ND's Freeman: Jeremiyah Love 'Good to Go' for Orange Bowl vs. PSU amid Knee Injury

Notre Dame played some of its College Football Playoff quarterfinal victory over Georgia without star running back Jeremiyah Love because of a knee injury, but he will be available for Thursday's semifinal against Penn State at the Orange Bowl.

"Jeremiyah has had a good week of practice," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman told reporters Wednesday. "We have to be smart in terms of how much we're asking him to do in practice. We've got to get him ready for the game, but he's confident. Nobody feels 100 percent right now because we're in Week 15, but J-Love will be good to go."

Love initially suffered a knee injury in the regular-season finale against USC and then tweaked it in the third quarter against the Bulldogs. While he did not return for the closing stretch against the SEC foe, Freeman is not the only one who suggested he will be available for the game against the Nittany Lions.

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Tuesday that Love "feels like he's going to be ready to go."

That is welcome news for the Fighting Irish considering Love was their leading rusher this season with 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. He also mixed in 25 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver.

With Love limited to just six carries against Georgia, quarterback Riley Leonard ended up leading the team with 14 carries for 80 yards. While Leonard's ability to pick up yards with his legs is one thing that makes Notre Dame's offense dangerous, the team surely wants to avoid the quarterback taking unnecessary hits against a physical Penn State defense.

Jadarian Price will likely also be a part of the team's rushing attack, although Georgia limited him to just 37 yards on 10 carries.

Penn State's defense is seventh in the country in points allowed per game and eighth in rushing yards allowed per game. Moving the ball on the ground against the Nittany Lions will be a daunting task even with a healthy Love.

After all, the Big Ten team just limited star Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to 3.5 yards per carry and two fumbles in the quarterfinal win over the Broncos.

If Love struggles to gain much traction on the ground, Notre Dame's offense will likely become too one-dimensional against a stout defensive front that could then focus on its pass rush and containing Leonard.