Notre Dame LT Knapp ruled out for CFP title tilt

Notre Dame starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp will miss the Jan. 20 College Football Playoff National Championship game against Ohio State with a high ankle sprain, coach Marcus Freeman said Sunday.

Knapp suffered the injury in Notre Dame’s 27-24 Capital One Orange Bowl win against Penn State. Graduate senior Tosh Baker replaced Knapp in the second quarter.

Freeman also said starting right guard Rocco Spindler, who suffered an apparent ankle injury against Penn State, will try to practice this week. Charles Jagusah replaced Spindler against Penn State.

“We’ll see how he progresses the week of practice,” Freeman said. “I know he’ll give everything he has to make sure he’s prepared. As far as the starting lineup, we’ll do what’s best for our program. We’ve got to figure that out. We have a week of preparation to make sure we get the right guys to start this game, and we’ll see what that is here in the next couple of days.”

Freeman said running back Jeremiyah Love, who has been dealing with a right knee injury, is expected to be “full go” against Ohio State, but wide receiver Beaux Collins is still dealing with a calf strain that sidelined him for much of the Penn State game. Collins is second on the team in receptions with 37 for 458 yards, three touchdowns and 30.5 yards per game.

“J-Love is good to go,” Freeman said of his leading rusher. “Beaux’s still healing. … He’ll work back into practice here the next couple of days, but I hope that as long as he progresses, he’ll be good to go for the game. But we’ve got to make sure that he progresses as we go through this week.”