Carter’s injury, stopping Fighting Irish run game

By Neil Rudel

nrudel@altoonamirror.com

Through 15 games — that’s crazy, right? — I think Penn State’s offense has shown enough versatility to be able to score through the air or on the ground.

With the Nittany Lions one win from an unlikely appearance in the national championship game, I’m a little more concerned about the defense, especially with Abdul Carter’s status being questionable.

At James Franklin’s most recent weekend availability — he’s scheduled to meet the media again tonight in Fort Lauderdale — the coach expressed optimism about Carter’s recovery from an arm/shoulder injury suffered early in the CFP quarterfinal victory over Boise.

Which is good to hear, because Franklin usually says less about injuries, rather than more.

But it’s fair to wonder even if Carter can play, how effective he might be.

Notre Dame’s offense is more ground-and-pound, and the Lions need to be ready for a physical matchup rather than a finesse opponent that is going to rely on a downfield passing game.

Oregon had success in the Big Ten championship game running right at Carter, which is sometimes the way to scheme up an outstanding pass rusher.

When Carter went up against Boise, the Lions were up 14-0 and seemingly in control. Without Carter, the Broncos cut the lead to 14-7 and 24-14 before the Lions’ offense delivered a knockout punch.

The 31-14 score was a bit deceiving because Boise missed two makeable goals and killed itself with 13 penalties – the worst of which was a-hands-to-the-face flag that wiped out a touchdown that would have pulled the Broncos within 24-21.

The Lions effectively gang tackled Ashton Jeanty, and Notre Dame will present an equally dangerous running game, which ranked No. 16 nationally and includes speedy Jeremiyah Love and rough-and-tumble quarterback Riley Leonard.

Most semi one-dimensional teams don’t have their way with Penn State, and the Lions’ DEs opposite Carter, namely Dani Dennis-Sutton and Amin Vanover, are quite capable.

With or without Carter, Penn State’s pass defense has been exposed at times this season, obviously against Oregon but USC and Bowling Green early as well.

Carter has not confirmed his NFL plans, but most believe it’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll enter this spring’s draft when he’s projected as a Top-10 pick.

While he wants to play, Carter also doesn’t want to jeopardize a promising future, which James Franklin is concerned about, too.

Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.