Oh, snap! Bad news for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans. Although Coach Marcus Freeman and his team entered the field with a powerful game plan, some things are simply beyond his control. The universe has already started to show him tough times. Freeman’s Notre Dame has been pinned down by their biggest foe, injuries. And who was the unlucky one? Notre Dame’s left tackle Anthonie Knapp. As the clips from the live coverage went viral, things did not look quite good with his knee. That’s how the second quarter ushered in roadblocks for Freeman’s program. 

Looks like Freeman’s dreams are already crashing down. It has been only the second quarter, but the things transpiring on the gridiron have been enough to leave the Notre Dame HC in panic. The first quarter was scoreless as both Notre Dame and Penn State were brawling their way to a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. It has been just a few plays into the Nittany Lions’ first drive in the second quarter. And BOOM! Knapp was down with a bad knee injury. Poor Knapp! He got rolled up on a Riley Leonard scramble on third down. And the clips of him leaving the gridiron and heading towards the locker room do not look good.

As On3 Recruits analyst Kyle Kelly tweeted, “Knapp was grabbing his left leg/knee area. He limped off the field and went into the injury tent. Tosh Baker is expected to replace him at left tackle.” He did return back to the sidelines when the second quarter started to wrap up. But he had a brace on his ankle and had a hard time walking. So, it’s an absolute nightmare for Freeman and Co. now that the athlete’s chance of making a comeback looks thin. To further add to their woes, ESPN’s Molly McGrath had some updates. 

He stated, “Left tackle Anthonie Knapp could hardly put any weight on his left ankle. They put a TayCo brace on his ankle, which was invented by their head athletic trainer, Mike Bean. Even with the brace on, he’s having a rough time walking.” Even though the fifth-year senior Tosh Baker subbed in for Knapp, it’s still not sure whether he will be able to fill the left tackle’s shoes.

In the post-game presser, Coach Freeman oozed confidence about his O-line, even with the injuries. “When Knapp goes down, Tosh Baker has to go in. When Rocco [Spindler] goes down, Charles Jagusah has to go in. We got a lot of confidence,” he said. Now, the team hasn’t officially said when Knapp will be back, but it depends on how serious the injury is. He’s been a key player for Notre Dame’s offensive success, so they’ll need him back on the field as soon as possible. 

Anthonie Knapp’s rise to stardom in Notre Dame

Injuries have been plaguing Notre Dame for quite some time now. But it’s one such injury that turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Freeman’s squad. Last year, back in August, during the practice, the Fighting Irish offensive tackle Charles Jagusah suffered an upper-body injury. It eventually turned out to be a serious one as he tore his right pectoralis muscle in his shoulder. That mishap brought him to the end of his season.

This gave Knapp the breakthrough, and he jumped into the starting lineup at the start of the year. As a true freshman, he made the most use of the opportunity. He also appeared on the On3 True Freshman All-American Team. Knapp is now an All-American with 13 starts under his belt. However, it has definitely not been a smooth ride for the young chap.

A year back he weighed only 265 pounds. Plus, he had a dream of playing for the Georgia Bulldogs that eventually did not come true. But life had better ways to gift Anthonie Knapp. After all, he’s only the third true freshman offensive lineman in Notre Dame’s storied history to start a season opener. So, it’s not just Knapp’s heartbreak that the injury caused; it’s Notre Dame’s loss as well.