Notre Dame suffered another huge injury setback, but one player holds the key to softening that blow and propelling the Irish to a championship
Notre Dame football has dealt with a long list of injuries this season so far, and that continued during their 27-24 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions. It was revealed on Sunday that the Fighting Irish will be without Freshman All-American left tackle Anthonie Knapp for their national championship game against Ohio State. Starting right guard Rocco Spindler is also questionable for that contest as well
In a vacuum, the loss of Knapp appears to be a massive blow. The Georgia native had really shown great improvement during the season, and had become an important element to the Notre Dame rushing attack, which is one of the best in college football. Now heading into the biggest game of the season, suffering another setback isn’t ideal.
The great news for the Fighting Irish staff is what we saw during the battle against the Nittany Lions, the return of Charles Jagusah. Going into the season, Jagusah was projected to be the starting left tackle for the team, and may have ended up being the best Irish offensive lineman in 2024. An upper body injury sidelined him before the season began.
Jagusah returned to practice a few weeks ago, but nobody knew if we would see No. 56 this fall. We got our answer against Penn State, when Jagusah came in for the injured Spindler. The former five-star recruit was dominant at times during that contest, and was a huge reason why the Irish offense was able to put up 261 total yards and 24 points in the second half.
With Knapp out now, Notre Dame needs to figure out what the best starting lineup will look like up front. Jagusah not only holds the key to soften the blow of that loss, but could even help to upgrade the offensive line as a whole. If Spindler is able to play, then Jagusah could potentially slide back out to his natural left tackle position, and you could have a strong argument that the unit is better as a whole.
If Spindler can’t go, then the most likely scenario is that Jagusah plays right guard and Tosh Baker remains at left tackle. In that scenario, Jagusah would at worst be a considerable upgrade over Spindler. While Baker is probably a drop off from Knapp, the upgrade of Jagusah could once again garner consideration for the unit being better as a group.
At 6-7 and 328 pounds, Jagusah is an extremely gifted athlete with ideal length to play offensive tackle. He is also incredibly strong, and has a wrestling background. That allows Jagusah to also have tremendous upside inside at guard. His flexibility is key.
Ohio State boasts one of the top defensive lines in all of college football, and Notre Dame will have to have a strong outing to pull off the upset. While some will come into the game and completely disrespect the quality of the Irish offensive line with the recent string of injuries, they are actually in a better place. Jagusah could have a massive impact on this game, whether he gets the pregame headlines or not.
