Irish Eyes Turn to Injury Front for Notre Dame Ahead of Sugar Bowl

Notre Dame’s win over Indiana on Friday night was not without some losses. Notre Dame suffered multiple injuries in their win over the Hoosiers that could have an impact on their Sugar Bowl matchup against 2nd-seed Georgia – most notably defensive captain Rylie Mills. While we won’t do anything official about any of them until Marcus Freeman meets with the media on Monday ahead of the Sugar Bowl, that hasn’t stopped Notre Dame fans from worrying about their availability. Here’s a rundown of everyone we’re looking at particular.

Rylie Mills – DT

Mills was taken out by some friendly fire when he and Jaylen Sneed combined for a sack of Kurtis Rourke. He needed to be helped off the field and never returned. After the game, head coach Marcus Freeman told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt that he thought the Irish avoided a season-ending injury with him. Mills stayed in his pads and was on the sideline the rest of the half, but we saw the same with Howard Cross when he hurt his ankle against Florida State.

Notre Dame needs Mills on the field to have a shot at slowing down the Georgia running game powered by Trevor Etienne. If he isn’t able to suit up on New Year’s Day, we’d likely see a similar rotation to what we saw with Cross out over the final month of the season. Of all the injuries Notre Dame suffered on Friday night, Mills is the most significant.

Bryce Young – DE

The freshman DE picked up his first solo sack of his career before exiting shortly after. Notre Dame is already so thin enough on the EDGE that it forced Young into a bigger role than maybe the staff initially envisioned this season. The extra practice time seemed to help Young, who was having a great game before his injury. Fellow freshman Loghan Thomas saw an uptick in snaps after Young’s injury and would be in line for more playing time against Georgia if Young were unavailable.

Al Golden has done a good job of manufacturing pressure this year despite the injuries to Boubacar Traore and Jordan Botelho – both of whom were huge losses – this year. Young’s been a part of Golden’s plan, and Notre Dame would be dangerously thin if they didn’t have Young for the Super Bowl. The initial chatter was that Young’s injury wasn’t serious, but Freeman wasn’t asked about Young, so his status for next week is still anyone’s guess.

Rocco Spindler – OG

The one injury that didn’t look good on Friday was to starting guard Rocco Spindler. Spinder got hurt in the first half and spent the second half on the sidelines in street clothes. That is almost never a good sign for a player’s future availability. Sam Pendleton, who began the year in the starting lineup while Spindler was on the sidelines, filled in for Spindler on Friday and figures to start against Georgia if Spindler cannot go. PFF graded Pendleton well as a pass blocker (75.6) but not as well as a run blocker (52.6).

Marcus Freeman revealed that Charles Jagusah started practicing with the team in limited fashion ahead of the Indiana game but cautioned that he wouldn’t be back at 100% in the immediate future. It should be noted, however, that Jagusah was seen practicing at guard, not tackle, where he was slated to start this season.

Spindler had some rough moments early in the season after being reinserted into the lineup following the injuries to Billy Schrauth and Ashton Craig but he started to play so well that he stayed in the lineup when Schrauth eventually returned. Losing Spindler would be a big loss for the Irish, but they are fortunate to have depth here.

Kyngston Villiamu-Asa – LB

KVA missed the Indiana game altogether, so this isn’t a new injury, but still one worth monitoring. Notre Dame has missed his explosiveness on the edge and would miss it even more if Young isn’t available in the Sugar Bowl too. Freeman ruled Villiamu-Asa out pretty early for the first-round game against Indiana, which usually isn’t a good sign for future availability either, but we should find out more later. Villiamu-Asa’s mother hinted on Twitter this weekend that he might be available but also said that she would leave all announcements up to Freeman when asked directly if he would be playing against Georgia.

It would be a huge boost for the defense if they were able to get KVA back on January 1 when they will be tasked with slowing down the Georgia rushing attack.

Jeremiyah Love – RB

We found out after the game that Love was fighting off some flu-like symptoms in addition to recovering from the knee injury he suffered against USC. There was chatter ahead of the game that Love wasn’t quite 100% before, but that didn’t stop him from ripping off a 98-yard touchdown or delivering a grown man-stuff arm later in the game. Not only should the time off between games help Love to knock out whatever bug hit him, but it should also give him some additional time to get closer to full strength.

Hopefully, we know more later today when Freeman meets with the media.