Jeremiyah Love injury update: Marcus Freeman provides latest on Notre Dame RB's availability

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love left the Fighting Irish's 23-10 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Jan. 2 with a knee injury in the second half and did not return to the game. During practice ahead of Notre Dame's Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday, the running back wore a brace.

Even embattled Penn State coach James Franklin was curious about the status of the Fighting Irish running back during his weekly news conference.

“I was gonna ask you guys just a couple questions about the health of the Notre Dame team,” Franklin said. “I was hoping you guys would ask more questions so we could figure some of that stuff out.”

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Jeremiyah Love injury update

During his weekly news conference on Wednesday, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who had had to deal with a multitude of injuries all season, gave an update on Jeremiyah Love's status for the game against Penn State.

“He’s (Love) had a good week of practice,” Freeman said. “We have to be smart about how much we’re asking him to do in practice. We gotta get him ready for the game, but he’s confident. Nobody feels 100 percent, but J-Love will be good to go.”

Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock talked about how they have handled Jeremiyah Love in training ahead of the Orange Bowl.

“Obviously, we want to get him (Love) to the game, so we weren’t running his wheels off the last couple days,” Mike Denbrock said. “Every day he gets a little bit better, moves a little bit better. I know he feels like he’s gonna be ready to go and ready to get after it.”

Love has had a stellar season tallying 1,076 rushing yards on 148 carries (7.3 yards per carry) resulting in 16 touchdowns while adding 226 receiving yards on 25 receptions resulting in two touchdowns.

The Fighting Irish have junior running back Jadarian Price in reserve if Love's status changes before or during the game, a fact acknowledged by Freeman as well.

“[Price] is a young man that has put a lot of work to get to the point that he’s gotten to right now,” Freeman said. “He constantly gets better.”

With the national championship game on the line, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans will be buoyed by the news of Jeremiyah Love's status for the clash against the Penn State Nittany Lions.