The Nittany Lions from Happy Valley are roaring into the final 4. James Franklin and his Penn State side successfully elongated their escapades through the relatively facile path toward the Natty. Their performance in round 2 against Boise State was essentially a sequel to the previous one against SMU. An allegory for a game-manager archetype of quarterback—effective and controlled, seemingly averting much exertion. Easing to a big lead and resting on their laurels, it’s almost as if Penn State hasn’t had to leave 2nd gear yet. They’ve avoided an energy deficit, ahead of what should be a game requiring their all to succeed against Notre Dame. But CFB is not as linear. It’s more cruel and convoluted. Trying to be at 100% before the semis, Penn State may actually be without arguably their best player, Abdul Carter.

The best players in this sport are like a leased car. Cherish them while you can, because you won’t have them at your disposal for long. Now with the advent of NIL, they’re pretty high-maintenance too. In that line of thought, Edge rusher Abdul Carter is a Ferrari. Carter has been a revelation up in State College who’s given opposition quarterbacks perpetual nightmares. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, he’s imminently leaving for the NFL. However, Carter has picked up an injury that could keep him out of the semis and, possibly, bring a premature end to his college career.

Abdul Carter hurt his left arm against Boise State, causing him to exit in the first quarter. Turns out James Franklin didn’t need his services on the day. That’s far from the case against Marcus Freeman led-Notre Dame. Penn State Insider Nate Bauer has leveraged his insight on whether Carter will heal in time for the game.

Speaking over on the “Penn State Football on Blue White Illustrated” platform, Bauer had to bear some bad news. “It’s almost like [the] grief of going through the stages… I’m not the Grim Reaper here. But [our] best guy, the guy that [we] love and is an absolute wrecker, he probably can’t be that in this game. I don’t see how that’s possible.” he proceeded to say something that implies just how important of a miss this will potentially be.

“Every possible resource that Penn State has, that humanity has, to heal somebody will be devoted to getting [Carter] in shape to be able to play this game. I just am on the side of realism,” said Bauer begrudgingly. He did give fair warning that he doesn’t know for sure if Abdul Carter will feature or not. Even if he did, the notion about the hosts was that he’d be rendered ineffective in the pass rush. This revelation massively tilts the scales in favor of Marcus Freeman and Co.

Even if it’s a little morbid, this is actually somewhat of an equalizer between the two sides. Notre Dame is also missing key elements at the line of scrimmage. D-Tackle Rylie Mills sustained an injury in round 1 and is out for the rest of the CFP. Mills leads the Fighting Irish in sacks. By all accords, though, he’s not as vital as Abdul Carter is to his unit, James Franklin will hope for a late Christmas miracle to descend upon his program and heal his superstar player. He, too, gave some in-house updates regarding the predicament.

James Franklin confronted about the status of Abdul Carter

When asked about Abdul Carter’s status in the lead-up, Franklin was seemingly adamant about keeping information at a premium. “At this point, I don’t think there’s anything stopping [Carter] from playing, but it’s going to come down to, how is he able to play? It’s too early to say at this stage,” he said. That sounds cautiously positive. However, it does fall in line with the aforementioned Nate Bauer’s discernment. Unlikely to play, and not at full capacity if so.

Franklin proceeded to add, “We’ll see, but he’s taken the right approach and mentality, and it’s really going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s going to get during the week.” With the game merely 4 days away, things do not bode well. Adbul Carter has not resumed training just yet, albeit the rest will probably serve him better than practice at this juncture.

When you’re poised to miss a player of Abdul Carter’s ilk, you’ve got to have contingency plans in place. You’re hardly going to replace his output with one individual. The load shall need to be shared. Ancillary players will need to step up to the mantle. The occasion demands it. Notre Dame is firing on all cylinders themselves, on and off the gridiron. James Franklin, and his infamous big-game record, needs an unlikely hero to rise.