How SMU’s first season in the ACC became a massive success
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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
SMU COACH RHETT Lashlee might have a sleepless first week on the job to thank for this historic Mustangs season.
Lashlee was hired on Nov. 30, 2021, just about two weeks before signing day. He was trying to re-recruit the kids who were committed to the previous coach, Sonny Dykes, who departed for TCU. He was trying to re-recruit his own roster. And he was looking to potentially add finishing touches on the class after arriving from Miami, where he’d been for two years as offensive coordinator.
So on that first Friday night, he went to watch South Oak Cliff play Lovejoy at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility in Frisco that also doubles as a high school venue. He was there to see a few underclassmen from both teams that SMU was already recruiting. But there was someone else who caught his eye: South Oak Cliff quarterback Kevin Jennings. Jennings impressed Lashlee with his composure, his demeanor and his arm. At 6 feet, 175, he wasn’t the biggest guy, but he played big.
Against Lovejoy, Jennings was 18 of 25 for 250 yards and a touchdown, running four times for 29 yards and two other scores. SOC beat Lovejoy 42-21. The week before, in a massive upset, Jennings had led South Oak Cliff to a win over Aledo, a Texas powerhouse that has won 11 state titles in the past 15 years (and has not lost a playoff game since).
But Jennings had only one college scholarship offer, from Bobby Petrino at Missouri State, and was committed there. Jennings heard all the excuses: South Oak Cliff was loaded with talent, and he was a game manager, a point guard. He was too small. He should play a different position. But Jennings was determined to play quarterback, which he’d played since he was 7.
“I was with Casey Woods, our offensive coordinator,” Lashlee said. “I didn’t know what was up from down. I’d been the head coach for maybe a week. I finally had a minute to just go mindlessly watch a game and do what’s normal. And we’re standing there and about midway through the second quarter, I looked at Casey and go, ‘What am I missing about this quarterback?’ So that was the moment.”
Lashlee called and offered the next week. Jennings took a visit that weekend and committed. Afterward, he led South Oak Cliff to the first state championship for a Dallas Independent School District program since 1958.
“He was just as calm and level-headed the whole game. He would come to the sidelines, take his helmet off, and you could just tell he commanded the respect of his guys,” Lashlee said. “He spoke, they listened. He’d make a big play, act like he’s supposed to do it. A bad play would happen, he’d move on to the next. You could just sense he’s a leader and a winner.”
Since taking over for Preston Stone after an 18-15 loss in the Mustangs’ third game — SMU’s only loss — the Mustangs have gone 9-0 since, scoring 30 or more points in eight of those games en route to going undefeated in Year 1 in the ACC, unprecedented for a team moving up from the Group of 5 level.
All SMU wanted was a chance to play for something. All Jennings wanted was a chance to play for someone. Now, Jennings, who started last year’s AAC championship game while Stone was injured and led SMU to its first conference title in 40 years, has a chance to lead them to an ACC title with a win over Clemson on Saturday (8 ET, ABC).
No team has ever started 2-0 in a power conference after moving up from a lower level. The Mustangs were picked seventh in the league’s preseason poll, then went 9-0 in the league during an 11-1 season and now sit at No. 8, the highest-ranked team in the ACC.
A win on Saturday would give SMU, which has won 11 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, its first 12-win season since 1935. It’s all quite a ride for Jennings, who went to high school 12 miles from the Hilltop.
“It means a lot just to come out every week to play in front of my family, to be able to stay here and not be too far from home,” Jennings said. “It means a lot. I have the community on my back.”
LASHLEE WASN’T JUST agonizing over players while he was living in the Doubletree hotel in Dallas trying to lay the groundwork for his first head-coaching job.
He’d work until midnight, then, mind racing, he’d wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. and start trying to figure out who he wanted on his staff. One of those nights, he grabbed his phone and started looking at defensive statistics. And one name high up in the rankings jumped out at him: Liberty.
Lashlee had worked with Scott Symons, the Flames’ defensive coordinator, at Arkansas State for about nine months when Symons was a graduate assistant early in his career. The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. Symons is from Hurst, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And he was doing all this while working for Hugh Freeze.
“He’s the DC for an offensive-minded coach who likes to play with some tempo and play fast,” Lashlee said. “And they’re still playing championship defense, which people act like you can’t do, but I know you can.”
Lashlee spoke with Freeze, who gave a glowing review, then flew out to meet Symons, who met him about an hour away from campus.
“In about five minutes, he pops out a big dip [of tobacco]. And I thought, I’m going to Texas. I need a DC who’s tough. This might be the guy,” Lashlee said, laughing.
In Year 1, SMU gave up 33.9 points per game, 119th in the country. But Lashlee liked what he saw schematically. He knew they needed to upgrade the talent, then let players develop in the system.
He was right. Last year, the SMU defense improved to 11th in points per game (17.8) in the AAC. Despite moving up to the ACC this year, still held opponents to 19.8 points per game, 19th best nationally and first in the conference.
Notably, the Mustangs allowed just 2.8 yards per carry, third-best in the country. They’re 16th nationally in completion percentage allowed (56.1) and 18th in quarterback pressures, despite blitzing just 23.3% of plays (83rd).
SMU added 18 Power 4 transfers this offseason, including eight on the defensive line. The Mustangs landed transfers from Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, Utah, two from Oklahoma and three each from Miami and Arkansas.
“Scott and what they’ve done defensively is a big part of it,” Lashlee said. “We hadn’t had a top 40 defense in 40 years until last year. And now we’re going to go back to back years. Changing the defense while also keeping a good offense has been big.”
SYMONS ISN’T THE only personal connection Lashlee mined when trying to shape his program. After serving as Manny Diaz’s offensive coordinator at Miami, he knew the talent Miami had on its roster, and what it was going to take to compete in the ACC. He had seen it up close.
Lashlee didn’t bring any players with him in his first year — he thought that’d be a bad look. But after Mario Cristobal took over for Diaz, some players started looking for new starts. And they’ve been huge for SMU.
Former Hurricanes Elijah Roberts, Jahfari Harvey and Jared Harrison-Hunte have combined for 15.5 sacks on the defensive line and Keyshawn Smith has 30 catches and five TDs at receiver.
“Guys like Elijah, who didn’t have a lot of game tape, we knew him because we had been there with him and he had been on scout team and we couldn’t block him,” Lashlee said. “There wasn’t even enough film for our defensive staff to validate it, but they just trusted us. So a couple guys came in the first year and they had a great experience. They see our guys are happy, they love it here, they like Dallas. And so they would just start saying, when guys were going the portal, ‘Man, this is a good situation.'”
But none might have been a bigger find than Brashard Smith. The Mustangs’ only preseason all-conference pick (as a kick returner), Lashlee almost discouraged him from coming to Dallas from Miami, where he had mostly played receiver, a position the Mustangs felt good about.
“We didn’t want to bring him here to not play,” Lashlee said. “We also don’t want to bring him in here and do wrong by the guys that are returning. So we kind of told him no, honestly. We just said we really don’t have a spot.”
But Kyle Cooper, SMU’s running backs coach who had been with Lashlee at Miami, kept hearing from Smith. He wanted to come, and other coaches, like QBs coach D’Eriq King, who had played quarterback at Miami when Smith was a receiver, kept reminding Lashlee how good he was. He didn’t disagree, but wasn’t sure what to do with him.
“It just so happened we’re watching the [Kansas City] Chiefs play and Isaiah Pacheco was playing great. I remember texting Coop during the game and being like, ‘Hey, how much does Brashard weigh?’ He hit me back and it was like 10 pounds less than Pacheco.”
He might just be a player at running back, Lashlee thought, and Cooper agreed. They called Smith and said if you want to come play play a new position and be a kick returner, they were in. Smith was too.
“After spring, our defense was like, ‘Hey, that guy’s different,’ Lashlee said.
Then former five-star running back recruit and Alabama transfer Camar Wheaton injured his knee on the second day of fall camp, and is out for the season. Then last year’s leading rusher, Miami transfer Jaylan Knighton, was lost for the season with a knee injury in September.
All Smith has done since then is rush for 1,157 yards and 14 TDs while averaging 6 yards per carry. His 1,667 all-purpose yards (seventh-most in the FBS), are fourth-most in school history in a single season behind Eric Dickerson (1,677 in 1982), Jerry LeVias (1,772 in 1968), and Arthur Whittington (1,843 in 1976).
“For him to come in, never played running back before, it’s crazy,” Jennings said. “But you see how dynamic he is, he played receiver his whole life. He can do everything.”
LASHLEE ADMITS NOW he hoped to downplay expectations before the season.
“I was doing my best Lou Holtz trying to get everybody to calm down,” Lashlee said about the old Notre Dame coach’s penchant for praising other teams while worrying about his own. “No one’s ever had a winning conference record making the jump from Group of Five to Power Five. I did feel like we had a team that would compete, but nobody knows what that looks like.”
But a little luck, a fun offense and a lot of dynamic pieces around an unflappable quarterback have made for a storybook season for SMU.
Michael Jennings, Kevin’s dad, always hoped this moment would come. He knew talent. His younger brother, Corey Coleman, was a star receiver at Baylor and a first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs. When Kevin was still being overlooked, he begged Coleman, who played for the New York Giants at the time, to put a word in with Eli Manning for a Manning Passing Academy invite for his son. Coleman came through, and he took Kevin to Louisiana for the camp.
Michael said he watched as Peyton Manning put Kevin on the spot, telling him if he stood and threw the ball into the bucket, he’d give him $5.
“Kevin backs up and threw it in the bucket,” Michael said. “Of all the kids out there, he made it. He’s so hard on himself that there’s no pressure because he already puts pressure on himself. He’s never been nervous.
“And Peyton still owes him $5.”
Jennings has risen to big moments before. Now 10-1 as the starter (with only a bowl loss to Boston College last year) he’ll be back on a big stage Saturday, looking to make more history for SMU. He credits his time spent behind Tanner Mordecai and Stone, a highly recruited Dallas native who threw for 3,197 yards with 28 touchdowns to six interceptions last year, with helping him be ready for this moment.
“I think I waited behind some great quarterbacks,” Jennings said. “Tanner Mordecai, he’s a dog. He was one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen. And Preston, he’s a great quarterback. Just learning from those guys, being able to pick up things those guys do and translating it to my game helped me out a lot.”
Lashlee, who played for Gus Malzahn in high school and coached under him at Auburn when they played in big games, has been there too. But this time, he’s doing it somewhere that hasn’t been there before.
“I’ve been blessed to coach in two national championship games and do a lot of really cool things,” Lashlee, who is 29-10 at SMU, said. “And to me what would be really special is getting a school like SMU back on the stage where Eric Dickerson and others had us, [like] playing in a College Football Playoff or winning an ACC championship. Let’s do something we haven’t done in a long time.”
The first 12-team College Football Playoff is down to the final two contenders: Notre Dame and Ohio State.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish and eighth-seeded Buckeyes will meet Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T. Whichever team wins will end a championship drought. Notre Dame aims for its first title since 1988. Ohio State’s lull isn’t nearly as long, as the Buckeyes won the first CFP championship a decade ago, but given how consistently elite they are, it seems like a while.
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Ohio State’s Ryan Day are also aiming for their first championships as head coaches, and Freeman’s past will be in the spotlight. Freeman and the Irish lost to the Buckeyes and Day in each of the past two seasons. But after a masterful coaching job this season, Freeman now will face his alma mater — he was an All-Big Ten linebacker for Ohio State under coach Jim Tressel — with everything on the line. Day, meanwhile, can secure the loftiest goal for a team that fell short of earlier ones, but never stopped swinging.
Here’s your first look at the championship matchup and what to expect in the ATL. — Adam Rittenberg
When: Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN
What we learned in the semifinal: Notre Dame’s resilience and situational awareness/execution are undeniably its signature traits and could propel the team to a title. The Irish have overcome injuries all season and did so again against Penn State. They also erased two deficits and continued to hold the edge in the “middle eight” — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half — while dominating third down on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame can rely on front men such as quarterback Riley Leonard, running back Jeremiyah Love and linebacker Jack Kiser, but also on backup QB Steve Angeli, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and kicker Mitch Jeter. These Irish fight, and they’re very hard to knock out.
X factor: Greathouse entered Thursday with moderate numbers — 29 receptions, 359 yards, one touchdown — and had only three total catches for 14 yards in the first two CFP games. But he recorded career highs in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (105) and tied the score on a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play. A Notre Dame offense looking for more from its wide receivers, especially downfield, could lean more on Greathouse, who exceeded his receptions total from the previous five games but might be finding his groove at the perfect time. He also came up huge in the clutch, recording all but six of his receiving yards in the second half.
How Notre Dame wins: The Irish won’t have the talent edge in Atlanta, partly because they’ve lost several stars to season-ending injuries, but they have the right traits to hang with any opponent. Notre Dame needs contributions in all three phases and must continue to sprinkle in downfield passes, an element offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has pushed. And they finally did start seeing results against Penn State. The Irish likely can’t afford to lose the turnover margin, although they can help themselves by replicating their third-down brilliance — 11 of 17 conversions on offense, 3 of 11 conversions allowed on defense — from the Penn State win. — Rittenberg
What we learned in the semifinal: The Buckeyes have a defense with championship mettle, headlined by senior defensive end Jack Sawyer, who delivered one of the biggest defensive plays in Ohio State history. On fourth-and-goal with just over two minutes remaining, Sawyer sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, forcing a fumble that he scooped up and raced 83 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, propelling Ohio State to the national title game. The Buckeyes weren’t perfect in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and they struggled offensively for much of the night against a talented Texas defense. But Ohio State showed late why its defense is arguably the best in college football, too.
X factor: The play two snaps before the Sawyer scoop-and-score set the table. On second-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line, unheralded senior safety Lathan Ransom dashed past incoming blockers and dropped Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner for a 7-yard loss. After an incomplete pass, the Longhorns were forced into desperation mode on fourth-and-goal down a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining. All-American safety Caleb Downs, who had an interception on Texas’ ensuing drive, rightfully gets all the headlines for the Ohio State secondary. But the Buckeyes have other veteran standouts such as Ransom throughout their defense.
How Ohio State wins: Texas took away Ohio State’s top offensive playmaker, true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had only one reception for 3 yards on three targets. As the first two playoff games underscored, the Buckeyes offense is at its best when Smith gets the ball early and often. Notre Dame is sure to emulate the Texas blueprint, positioning the defensive backs to challenge Smith. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has to counter with a plan that finds ways to get the ball into Smith’s hands, no matter what the Fighting Irish do. — Jake Trotter
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Of all the players gathered outside Notre Dame‘s locker room late Thursday night recapping a historic win, offensive lineman Charles Jagusah might have been the unlikeliest to be standing there.
Jagusah wasn’t supposed to be in uniform at Hard Rock Stadium, recounting his performance in Notre Dame’s 27-24 victory against Penn State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. After he tore a pectoral muscle early in training camp, his season had been declared over before it could truly begin. The injury to Jagusah, projected as the team’s starting left tackle, was Notre Dame’s first major health setback, but would be nowhere near its last.
The only way Jagusah would have a chance to contribute this season would be for Notre Dame to reach the CFP and make a deep run. For that to happen, the Irish would need to overcome a staggering amount of injuries, some season-ending, to players who, unlike Jagusah, would have no chance of returning. The injury wave didn’t spare the offense or defense, and it hit some of the team’s biggest stars as well as important role players.
“Losing-sleep injuries,” defensive coordinator Al Golden called them. “You’re talking about massive players.”
But none has been massive enough to divert Notre Dame from its playoff push, which will continue Monday night in Atlanta against Ohio State in the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T.
Most teams that make a run as deep as Notre Dame’s point to a decent-sized dose of good fortune. But when it came to injuries, the Irish had very little luck on their side. So how did they get all the way to the national championship game?
AFTER A TUESDAY practice in November, ahead of Notre Dame’s game with Army at Yankee Stadium, Golden knew he was seeing a first in his 30-year coaching career.
“I have not been a part of anything where we lost the caliber of guys that we’ve lost,” he told ESPN. “It just speaks to the leadership of Coach [Marcus] Freeman, the leadership of our captains and the unity of the group. Obviously it’s been next man up for quite some time.”
Every player and coach in college football cites a “next man up” mentality, recognizing its necessity and inevitability in a violent sport, but also making the reference with their fingers crossed. Those same coaches and players know that most injury-plagued teams are eventually sunk, unable to plug all the holes.
Jagusah was the first significant setback for Notre Dame, but others followed. The team responded to its Week 2 home loss to Northern Illinois by thrashing Purdue 66-7 in West Lafayette, but the victory came at a cost. Starting center Ashton Craig tore his left ACL, while Jordan Botelho, a starter at the vyper defensive end spot, suffered a right knee injury. They went out on consecutive series in the second quarter.
Boubacar Traore stepped up in Botelho’s absence and led Notre Dame in sacks (three) and tackles for loss (five) by the end of September. But the redshirt freshman injured his left knee in a Week 5 win over Louisville and was lost for the season.
The biggest injury loss came two weeks later, as cornerback Benjamin Morrison, a freshman All-America selection in 2022 who earned second-team AP All-America honors in 2023 and was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award, sustained a hip injury against Stanford. He also needed surgery and would be out for the season.
“You’re talking about some of the best at their positions,” Golden said. “And then some of the younger guys, you don’t know how good they’re going to be, but they’re going to be good, Boubacar and obviously Jordan Botelho.”
As the injuries on defense piled up, linebacker Jack Kiser felt a mix of sympathy and resolve. Some units would melt down, or at least regress, after losing a playmaker like Morrison, but not Notre Dame.
“I don’t think that’s ever even been an option for this program,” Kiser said. “It’s always been, ‘Hey, we’re devastated if someone got an injury, but someone has an opportunity. Can you elevate this team and make this team better and take advantage of that opportunity?'”
The answer, repeatedly and resoundingly, has been yes. True freshman cornerback Leonard Moore, a three-star recruit, entered the lineup for Morrison and now leads the team in pass breakups, while adding two forced fumbles and two interceptions.
Junior Tuihalamaka and Donovan Hinish, who each had only 10 tackles in 2023, stepped into bigger roles on the line. They have combined for 68 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
“There really wasn’t a point where someone went down, where I was like, ‘Ah, we’re done,'” standout safety Xavier Watts said. “I’ve got the confidence in all of my teammates.”
A Notre Dame defense hammered by injuries has been the biggest reason behind the team’s national title push. The Irish lead the nation in takeaways with 32 and rank second nationally in points allowed at 14.3 per game, trailing only Ohio State.
“Just press forward,” Golden said of the team’s philosophy. “Don’t bitch, don’t make excuses, and next guy, carry the flag.”
SHORTLY BEFORE SURGERY to repair his pectoral muscle, Jagusah met with Freeman, who told the second-year player that he could be available for a potential CFP run if Notre Dame made the field for the first time in four seasons.
“At first it kind of didn’t feel realistic, but as I got closer and closer, I just kept pushing, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I can do this,'” Jagusah said. “It’s a credit to everybody for keeping me engaged.”
As the team played into mid-December, then late December, then early January, Jagusah’s chances to not just see the field but log meaningful snaps increased. There he was at the Orange Bowl, playing guard instead of tackle, filling in for injured starter Rocco Spindler. Like others had done in replacing those lost to injury, Jagusah stepped up, pulling to clear out defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton on quarterback Riley Leonard‘s touchdown run, and decleating Penn State safety Jaylen Reed on another pull.
“It shows you how much credit my teammates deserve,” Jagusah said. “In the grand scheme of things, I didn’t really do much today. They got us here. They did all the heavy lifting, everybody, all year long, grinding, and I get to reap the rewards.”
Jagusah’s preseason injury began what has been a season-long shuffle for Notre Dame’s offensive line. Craig started the first three games before his injury, which prompted Pat Coogan, who started throughout the 2023 season at left guard but entered this fall as a backup, to take over at center. At guard, Billy Schrauth has started games at both spots, with Spindler and Sam Pendleton also earning starts.
Notre Dame had stability at tackle with Aamil Wagner on the right side and Anthonie Knapp, a true freshman who emerged following Jagusah’s injury, on the left. Jagusah made his season debut on special teams against Georgia in the CFP quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl, then replaced Spindler against Penn State.
“Coach Freeman always says the future is uncertain, so you can’t worry about the future,” Jagusah said. “Sure, we’ve had weeks where a lot of guys are banged up and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, crap, how are we going to make this work?’ But it’s about preparing every single day. Whatever five guys we put out there, they’re all going to do great.”
Jagusah’s story underscores how Notre Dame’s roster depth and resilience have been tested, even during the CFP. Notre Dame’s first highlight came from Jeremiyah Love, who raced 98 yards to the end zone in a first-round game against Indiana. Love had injured his right knee in the regular-season finale at USC and had been battling an upper-respiratory bug in the days leading up to the Indiana contest. But he still delivered the longest run in CFP history.
The Irish beat Indiana 27-17, a score closer than the game actually was, but also lost defensive tackle Rylie Mills, their leader in sacks (7.5) and tackles for loss (8.5), to a season-ending knee injury. Mills had propped up a line that had lost Botelho and Traore, as well as starting tackle Howard Cross III, a second-team AP All-America selection in 2023, for most of November.
In the CFP semifinals, Notre Dame trailed Penn State 10-0 when Leonard’s head hit the turf, sending him to the injury tent to be evaluated for a potential concussion. Backup quarterback Steve Angeli, who hadn’t played outside of mop-up time all season, came in and hit his first five pass attempts, helping set up a field goal before halftime.
Love’s status for the semifinal had been in doubt after he aggravated his knee injury against Georgia and left the game in the third quarter. Despite wearing a brace, Love gave Notre Dame its first lead with one of the more iconic runs in recent school history, wrestling free of four Penn State defenders and reaching the ball across the goal line. He later showcased his signature hurdle in elevating over Penn State’s Kobe King.
0:40
Jeremiyah Love refuses to go down on a Notre Dame TD
Jeremiyah Love breaks multiple tackles to give Notre Dame a 17-10 lead over Penn State.
Notre Dame fittingly won the game on a field goal by Mitch Jeter, who played through a hip injury for much of the season, missed two attempts in the Northern Illinois loss and hit just 1 of 5 attempts in the final five regular-season games.
“I don’t think that me or this team would be where we are without all those trials and tribulations, injuries and sicknesses and all that type of stuff,” Love said. “Everybody on this team is relentless. [Me] playing through injury, playing when I was sick, anybody on this team will do that same thing because we love each other.”
EVERY TEAM EMPHASIZES relentlessness and resilience, and players stepping up for each other. But what separates the Irish, who have actually delivered on those promises, from teams that can’t follow through?
“It’s because we’ve been at the very bottom of the bowl,” Kiser said. “We’ve been as deep as you can be, and felt the biggest pain that a team could feel, and it brought us closer. We understand how to face adversity now because of it.”
Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois was a setback that, during the four-team playoff era, almost certainly would have eliminated the Irish from consideration. The result also brought back memories of Freeman’s first season, which included home losses to Marshall and Stanford.
But rather than letting the NIU loss carry over, or fretting about what it could mean down the line, Notre Dame strung together wins, even while losing key players.
“You better live your life six inches in front of your face,” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. “Coach Freeman brings it up a lot: Win the interval. Just win this interval — this, right here. We’ve been able to maintain that mentality, regardless of the amount of chaos that’s going around.”
In the afterglow of the Penn State victory, Golden said Notre Dame “needed every little bit of that mettle to win that game.” The Irish will need more, though, to beat an Ohio State team with a talent edge and few major injuries outside of its offensive line.
Knapp sustained a high ankle sprain against Penn State that will keep him out for the championship game. Spindler’s outlook is more promising but not fully known, Freeman said Sunday. Jagusah likely will have a significant role against Ohio State, perhaps at the position he was pegged to play back in the summer.
The Irish are used to playing without a full deck. Whoever takes the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will, in their eyes, be enough to win a championship.
“This is a tough football team,” Denbrock said after the Penn State win, standing several feet from Jagusah. “They just keep playing. They don’t flinch, they don’t care what the circumstances are. God bless ’em, it’s fun to be a part of.”
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