Through triumph and tragedy, Michigan’s Olu Oluwatimi became the nation’s top lineman
WHEN IT CAME time for center Olu Oluwatimi to take the stage at the Michigan talent show last August, he grabbed the microphone with a clear plan in mind.
It was time to let his new teammates really see him, the way his former Virginia teammates saw him for the bulk of his college career.
“I already know what song it was,” his old Virginia roommate, Richard Burney, says with a laugh.
Burney said Oluwatimi, who started 35 games at Virginia before transferring to Michigan, would sing the song in the shower, or alone in his room, or anywhere, really.
I never know when you might walk by
So I gotta be right on time
When I see you
When I see you
There is something unexpected but particularly endearing about watching a 6-foot-3, 307-pound man belt out “When I See U,” a slow jam by former American Idol winner Fantasia. His Michigan teammates started clapping and singing along.
Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator, remembers watching the reaction of the players in the room. “It was a really cool moment, and just to see him open up like that was super awesome,” Moore said.
Shortly after the talent show, his teammates voted Oluwatimi an alternate captain — seven months after his arrival to campus. Offensive linemen rarely take the spotlight, but that is not the case this season with Oluwatimi, the best player on the best offensive line in college football. “When I See U” might as well be the unofficial theme to his season.
Michigan plays TCU in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, ESPN), and it’s Oluwatimi who drives one of the best rushing teams in the nation. He’s also a veteran presence for first-year starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy as the Wolverines try to win their first national championship since 1997.
His affable personality, smarts, work ethic and leadership have made him a locker room favorite. None of this is surprising to anyone at Virginia, who watched Oluwatimi grow from walk-on to Rimington Award finalist over four years with the Cavaliers. When he decided to transfer to Michigan for 2022, those who know him best understood.
Indeed, former teammates and coaches might as well run the Olu Oluwatimi fan club, as they soak in everything he has earned.
They saw this — saw him — long ago.
“When preparation meets opportunity, there’s no luck involved in that,” former Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “Anyone on the previous staff at Virginia, just smiles, like of course. What else would you expect?'”
But the journey itself has been unexpected and filled with challenges, as Oluwatimi went from largely overlooked high school recruit to walk-on to the best center in the country. Then last month, amid the best season of his life, Oluwatimi had to confront the most gutting challenge he had ever faced when tragedy hit Charlottesville, his former home.
THIS SEASON HAS provided Oluwatimi with clarity, both to anyone who might have doubted whether he could perform on a bigger national stage and to himself. He always believed he was an elite center, always knew he could be the key cog in a power run game. He thrives on being physical. Scratch that. He has a passion for being physical.
It was not hard to see, and easy to understand why Oluwatimi racked up multiple awards earlier this month — the Rimington as the best center in the country, and the Outland Trophy, given annually to the best interior lineman on offense or defense. The individual honors are nice, but Oluwatimi will tell you the one that means the most is the Joe Moore Award, presented to the best offensive line in the country.
Needless to say, Oluwatimi is a big reason Michigan won that award for the second straight year.
“The way he attacks his preparation, the way he attacks the game, he’s an extraordinary player,” Sherrone Moore said. “He’s got elite ability, he’s got strength, he’s got power, he’s got physicality. And he uses all that very well in every situation, and his leadership traits have really pushed the guys because they see how he works, how he is, and they just want to emulate that.”
Oluwatimi has always taken great pride in being a great teammate, now at Michigan and previously at Virginia. After he left the Cavaliers, he stayed in touch with his former teammates and was part of several group texts — including one with offensive linemen who transferred at the same time he did.
The Monday before Michigan’s Nov. 19 game against Illinois, Oluwatimi learned that Virginia football players Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were shot and killed after returning home from a class trip. Oluwatimi played with Davis for two years, with Perry for three. Chandler had arrived after Oluwatimi left.
Oluwatimi played against Perry, a defensive lineman, both on the scout team and in practice. The text exchanges between friends and brothers continued that day and throughout the week as he tried to find a way to grapple with the loss while feeling disconnected from those suffering back in Charlottesville.
“It was a rough week,” Oluwatimi said. “To see them gone so soon, it was definitely rough, and I wasn’t around with the team when all that happened, so that was hard not being there with my guys. The team ended up going to three funerals within two weeks, so all the mourning and tears and the family members that have to deal with the loss, it hits home. It’s tough. But they’re in heaven. They’re proud of their teammates. They’re proud of me. We’ve got some angels up in heaven.”
There were phone calls, too, including to teammates who had also left UVA.
“It is a hard thing being detached from the situation, but also being so close to it,” said former Virginia teammate Ryan Swoboda, now at UCF. “We’re in contact with a lot of the guys still on the team, so just being able to talk to them and share stories was the most helpful.”
On the day of the memorial in Virginia, Oluwatimi suited up to take on Illinois. Earlier that week, his father was going in for surgery to remove a brain tumor. Oluwatimi had a lot to deal with, but being on the football field provided him a measure of solace.
“When we’re on that football field, it’s a beacon of togetherness, a beacon of hope, and it’s my happy space,” Oluwatimi said. “When I’m with my guys here, it was definitely a break from the grieving process. So playing football, it was easy for me, and it was actually needed for me.”
Said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh following the Illinois game: “He has the strength of 10 men. The week he had this week, not only the physical strength of 10 men, but the mental strength of 10 men. The victims at Virginia, that tragedy was personal for him. Those were some of his teammates. And his dad had successful surgery to remove a tumor in his brain. All that was going on for Olu this week. I think back to being that age and there’s no way I could’ve handled that.”
With a heavy heart, Oluwatimi pushed forward to finish the season strong with a Big Ten championship and a spot in the CFP. His dad has since recovered from the surgery, a ray of hope heading into the final stretch of the year.
There is no doubt the biggest on-field tests remain, but if Oluwatimi knows one thing, it is how to handle challenges and doubters.
IT MIGHT FEEL expected now, but out of football hotbed DeMatha Catholic high school in Maryland, nobody saw Oluwatimi for what he could become. With zero Power 5 offers, Oluwatimi opted to go to Air Force as a freshman in 2017, but after a year he realized, “This is not for me.”
He decided to transfer to Virginia, in part because a former high school teammate told him he thought it would be a good fit. Plus, it was much closer to home. As the youngest of six children to Nigerian immigrants, family has always been a bedrock for him.
Oluwatimi arrived as a walk-on in 2018 with familiarity among the coaching staff. Virginia recruited him out of high school but did not offer a scholarship because, in large part, the projections about whether he could add enough weight and mature enough physically were unclear.
“A lot of times, there’s a risk aversion by a program when they don’t know for sure,” Mendenhall said. “After one year of seeing his growth and progress at Air Force, we wish we would have done something earlier. So when we had the second chance to act, it was a much easier decision.”
Playing on his second college team in as many years presents challenges, especially when it comes to getting to know a new set of teammates. But Oluwatimi took a simple approach.
“Every coach and every teammate loves somebody that’s going to lay it on the line and work hard for the squad and be selfless,” Oluwatimi said. “You can’t be fake. So if you’re yourself and you have those qualities of being humble and a hard worker, everybody’s going to love you, and that’s how I’ve been able to mesh with the teams that I’ve been on.”
Indeed, Oluwatimi got to work, putting in long hours both with the team and on his own. In the weight room, he had to work on gaining better flexibility in his hips and functional movement with his entire body. He ran stiff at times, so gaining better fluidity with his lower body was at the top of his list.
All that extra work, whether that meant waking up early, watching extra game tape or staying late to help a teammate, stood out immediately. Swoboda describes Oluwatimi’s preparation as “surgical” because “he takes everything into consideration and works to perfect his craft.”
“He’s in the top 1% of people in strength, speed, agility,” Swoboda said. “He’s in the top 1% of people in terms of his mental understanding of scheme and techniques, and he’s in the top 1% of people who finish plays and are tenacious on the field. So when you’re in the top 1% of those three categories, as an O-lineman, it’s probably a nightmare for defensive lineman.”
Oluwatimi had to sit out 2018 because of the transfer rules that existed back then, but he and then-graduate assistant Jackson Matteo got into a routine. Matteo told Oluwatimi about the Rimington Award. Every drill they did together, Matteo would repeat: Rimington, Rimington, Rimington. “All those words can just mean nothing,” Matteo said. “Or you can literally watch a young man take full responsibility for his destiny and turn it into reality.”
By the time 2019 rolled around, Oluwatimi had earned a scholarship and the starting center job, essentially becoming the assistant to then-offensive line coach Garett Tujague. The two spent countless hours together watching tape. Oluwatimi was responsible for setting the front and calling all protections, and his preparation provided a calming presence on the field, even when things would go wrong.
Former teammate Jack Keenan called it “ironclad emotional control.”
“It is almost impossible to ruffle his feathers,” Tujague said. “I never saw him lose control of the situation he was in. I would come over to the sideline to talk to the linemen and Olu would tell me, ‘Coach, we got it.’ He and I had invested so much in preparing for Saturdays that it made it that much easier.”
Perhaps more indicative of what was to come, Mendenhall had his players go through assessments to determine the best way they learned and communicated. Oluwatimi’s scoring was tilted heavily toward factual, analytical, logical and sequential learning and decision making.
“That is magical for the position he plays,” Mendenhall said. “His ability to identify defensive fronts, in a sequential, thorough way, and then have us in the appropriate run play, check or protection, the number of times that he misses that is almost zero.”
Mendenhall said he noticed Oluwatimi work even harder ahead of the 2021 season. Strength coaches would text him constantly, “Olu is here again.”
“If you put a camera outside of our outdoor and indoor facility at UVA, he probably walked in and out of that building more than anybody,” Swoboda said.
Oluwatimi would hold film sessions to help freshmen and sophomores, and stay after practice to help anyone who needed it. If anyone had a question about technique, formations or alignments, they would text Oluwatimi and he quickly responded.
“Coach Mendenhall had the mantra ‘earned not given,’ and Olu embodies that probably more than anybody else that came to that program,” Keenan said.
When the 2021 season ended, Oluwatimi had earned second-team All-ACC honors and was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy — a first in Virginia history. But when Mendenhall stepped down in December of 2021, Oluwatimi had to make a decision.
“I honestly wanted to go to the NFL, but the draft grades and scouts were telling me to come back to school,” Oluwatimi said. “So I decided to look for a different opportunity to try to elevate my draft grade, because I felt that I did all I could do at the University of Virginia. I wanted to go to a place where I felt that we could compete for a national title and win a conference championship.”
OLUWATIMI WAS TRANSFERRING for the second time in his career. Only this time, Michigan saw exactly who he was.
The Michigan recruiting staff alerted Sherrone Moore as soon as they saw Oluwatimi’s name enter the portal. Michigan was losing center Andrew Vastardis, the anchor of the Joe Moore-award winning offensive line, so this was a position that needed a veteran presence — especially with three starters on the offensive line returning.
“I knew right away who he was, and I went back to watch the film and was like, ‘This guy’s really good,” Moore said. “When he came on his visit, we knew right away he would be awesome, just from a personality standpoint, how he acted, very humble. It was love at first sight for everybody.”
Whether Moore knew it at the time or not, Michigan had always been a dream school for Oluwatimi. The opportunity to showcase his ability as a power run blocker — something that Virginia did not do as an Air Raid offense — only added to the appeal.
“It was a perfect fit,” said Burney, his Virginia roommate. “I remember telling him, ‘If you can put it all together, the sky’s the limit,’ and now we’re here. It’s crazy.”
The same characteristics his Virginia teammates and coaches raved about were on display as soon as he arrived in Ann Arbor last January. He simply worked, and essentially had the playbook down by the time spring practice started.
“He was asking me in the first days of spring ball, ‘Hey, Coach when are we going to put this play in?'” Moore said. “And I was like, ‘It’s not going in until like install seven. He’s like, ‘Oh because I was just looking at them last night and just want to make sure I had it down.'”
His play this season might have been a revelation to those unfamiliar with Virginia and ACC football, but those who have watched Oluwatimi over the past three seasons can’t help but smile.
Former Virginia teammate Martin Weisz decided to visit Oluwatimi in Ann Arbor for the Wolverines’ game against UConn in Week 3. Though the game was a 59-0 blowout win, Weisz recalls watching Oluwatimi interact with his coaches and teammates on the sideline, and again after the game.
“I could just tell even though he was in that offensive line room at Michigan for less than a year, he had already emerged as somebody who everyone could lean on,” Weisz said. “After the game, they always have a tailgate for players and their families, and one of the younger centers was going over film with Olu, asking him all these different questions about football, life, how he manages it all. I know how much they value Olu’s experience, and they truly take his words very, very seriously, just because he’s been through it all.”
Without question, Oluwatimi has elevated the offensive line in Ann Arbor. Michigan ranks No. 6 in the nation in rushing offense, and Moore said his presence was “huge” for McCarthy because “you’ve got somebody in the middle that can help you and get you out of things if you’re unsure.”
Now the biggest test remains. Michigan lost in the CFP semifinals to Georgia last year, in large part because it could not handle the Bulldogs’ defensive front.
This is all new to Oluwatimi but do not expect him to lose focus. That is simply not in his nature. He knows what is at stake, and how much his teammates are depending on him in what is now the biggest game of the season against TCU.
“Through the first 13 games of the year, I’m happy with how I performed and what I’ve done,” Oluwatimi said. “We’ve got two more, and I’ve got to show some more. I’m excited.”
Oluwatimi is now rated the No. 2 center headed into the 2023 NFL draft by both Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, a far cry from being told to return to school a year ago. NFL scouts are recognizing Oluwatimi, too. But any NFL draft talk has been shoved to the side.
Instead, there has been time for reflection. The night before the regular-season finale against Ohio State, Michigan held a team meeting. As Harbaugh talked, Oluwatimi looked around, taking everything in, appreciating every moment over the last six years as if he was seeing it all for the first time.
“I could have never imagined my college journey bringing me here, being able to compete for a national title,” Oluwatimi said. “As I look back and reflect on the journey, I’m just speechless.”
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.
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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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