Almost there! Two words to sum up the Fighting Irish’s run in the 2024 season. However, a successful program is not built on regrets. Instead, the foundation always needs constant improvements. Learn from your successes as much as you learn from failures. Heading into the 2025 season, Marcus Freeman’s side won’t have the services of their leader on the offense. Riley Leonard. A few uncertainties are looming in the Irish air, and the biggest is their QB dilemma. They have three QBs (Kenny Minchey, CJ Carr, and Steve Angeli) to make the cut, but none has been elevated to that QB1 spot. On the surface, this is the only problem visible for Notre Dame. However, Marcus Freeman might have another concerning situation brewing in his camp.
Injuries! This is a harsh reality that every program must face every off-season, where you would have players going onto the sidelines and even missing out on the whole season. Marcus Freeman has a similar conundrum on his hands. So much so that conducting full spring drills has become nothing short of a herculean task. Don’t believe it? Well, here’s the thing.
Tyler Horka of On3 Sports posted on X about the difficulty in managing spring games for Marcus Freeman amid injury concerns. “Marcus Freeman says the spring game will be an offense-defense type of scrimmage because Notre Dame does not have enough players available to draft rosters like the Irish have done in the past.” Horka then posted the words of Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, saying, “We’ll find a way to make it competitive“.
Marcus Freeman says the spring game will be an offense-defense type of scrimmage because Notre Dame does not have enough players available to draft rosters like the Irish have done in the past.
“We’ll find a way to make it competitive.”
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) April 5, 2025
Quite recently, in a major revelation, a crucial player won’t be able to join the spring practices. According to Pete Sampson of the Athletic, Marcus Freeman had announced that offensive tackle Guerby Lambert “had underwent a shoulder surgery (labrum).” Then Sampson also expanded on another disappointing piece of news about Irish’s favorite Jeremiyah Love’s injury as he wrote, “Running back Jeremiyah Love suffered a hamstring injury on Saturday during the open practice.” The injury to Jeremiyah Love may ring more alarm bells than Marcus Freeman can manage. The running back has been a star of the offense. In his two years at the Irish, he has accumulated 1510 yards. 18 touchdowns. 17 of those touchdowns came in the 2024 season.
The list of injured players is rather long. There are a few who have recovered. For instance, Gi’Bran Payne, Taebron Bennie-Powell, and Quentin Autry. Still, many are still out and will hardly make the spring practices. Take, for example, Cole Mullins, who is recovering from a knee injury he suffered last fall. He won’t be able to start spring practices fully. Then there is Will Pauling, who joined from Wisconsin. He had some issues with his foot after his medical. All these players won’t be able to participate in the spring games. But don’t think for a moment that these are the only players on the sidelines.
Billy Schrauth had issues with his ankle and had to undergo a procedure. These are just a few names, as many players on the sidelines are making matters complicated for the Irish head coach. Several other players are also injured, like Anthonie Knapp, who also had to undergo surgery on his right ankle after the Orange Bowl. Furthermore, there is Robbie Wollan, who is gradually transitioning back into the squad. However, his appearance in the spring practices would likely be doubtful.
Jeremiyah Love’s injury a recurring problem?
In a recent interview, Rob Hunt, the Irish athletic trainer, was asked about Jeremiyah Love’s injury problems and if any surgical procedure was required. “It was not surgical; it was never considered surgical. It was an injury that certainly the timing of it was frustrating. Had he not had the little pick at it during the Georgia game, it probably would have been less — not theatrical, but just more emotion attached to it. We had some time there as well, which was in our favor.”
For context, the Irish ace running back had suffered an injury against Georgia in the playoff game. Love was sidelined for the rest of the game. T there were also concerns regarding his availability building up to the semifinal against Penn State. The same for the final against Ohio State. Still, we all know how that panned out.
The injury that the RB had suffered initially against USC seems to have come back to haunt him again in the spring games. Now, it remains to be seen how Marcus Freeman would plan ahead without many of his crucial players. This could ultimately be a challenge.
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