The No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish made a statement in its round one College Football Playoff win over the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers this past Friday. While the 27-17 final score may indicate that the game was close, Notre Dame quickly took the wind out of Indiana’s sails and had them playing catch-up the entire game.
The win gave Notre Dame its first-ever College Football Playoff victory, and also has them slated to play the SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the quarterfinals on Jan. 1. However, while the offense outgained Indiana by over 100 yards, and the defense didn’t relinquish a touchdown until there were under two minutes in the game, the Irish did suffer a critical loss in the injury department. After sacking Kurtis Rourke, team captain and fifth-year senior Rylie Mills remained on the ground holding his right knee. While there was optimism he could return, head coach Marcus Freeman revealed on Monday that Mills is out for the rest of the year, as confirmed by Irish Illustrated.com of 247Sports. “Rylie Mills will be out for the remainder of the College Football Playoffs with a knee injury,” Freeman told the media.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman. Matt Cashore-Imagn Images Matt Cashore-Imagn Images This is certainly a tough blow for Notre Dame, as on top of being a leader on the field, he also led the team in sacks with 7.5. Mills was the lone player on the roster with more than four sacks, and according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), posted a pass rush grade of 82.4 on the year. A mark that came in t-No. 4 in college football among all eligible players at the interior defensive line positions.
Without him in the lineup, Notre Dame will have to turn to reserve defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio to fill the void. For Mills, this is certainly a tough way to go out, considering he almost declared for the draft after last season, but announced that he would return for one final season. However, he did finish his career with arguably his most impactful season.
He finished the year with 37 total tackles and a career-high 7.5 sacks, which is more sacks (6) than his previous two years combined. As of Monday, Georgia is favored by 1.5 according to ESPN BET despite being without quarterback Carson Beck, but ESPN’s FPI does give Notre Dame a 53.8% chance of winning. The team that can best overcome its injury losses could be the team that survives and advances to the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 9.
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