Jeremiyah Love spent two weeks off battling a knee injury and an illness.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and Indiana coach Curt Cignetti are football junkies at heart.

Hannah Hidalgo had 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and No. 8 Notre Dame handed second-ranked UConn its first loss with a 79-68 victory Thursday night.

Now Notre Dame waits.

No. 5 Notre Dame punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff with a 49-35 victory over Southern California for its 10th consecutive win.

Jeremiyah Love ran for 102 yards, scored two touchdowns and extended his streak of rushing for a TD to eight games in leading No. 12 Notre Dame to a 51-14 victory over No. 24 Navy, knocking the uncharacteristically mistake-prone Midshipmen from the unbeaten ranks.

Plenty of playoff contenders suddenly find themselves dealing with major injuries to notable players as the college football season reaches its halfway point.

Marcus Freeman still has not mastered the most underrated part of being a college football coach at a blue-blood school: Beat the teams you’re supposed to beat.

Kanon Woodill hit a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play, Cade Haberman blocked a 62-yard try as time expired and Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14 on Saturday.

Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming program for at least one year after an external review found members of the team violated NCAA rules by wagering among themselves on results of their competitions.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman hasn't changed his mind about Clemson football.

Sam Hartman threw for four touchdowns in his Notre Dame debut and the No. 13 Fighting Irish routed Navy 42-3 in a season-opening victory in Ireland’s capital.

Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner has committed to Alabama, where he will be reunited with former Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

As the football teams for Notre Dame and South Carolina battle it out on the field at TIAA Bank Field, fans are bringing with them a big economic impact to Jacksonville.

No one should expect Notre Dame and South Carolina to look — or probably play — like they did late in the regular season.

News4JAX Insiders can win a pair of tickets and pregame field passes to the 2022 Taxslayer Gator Bowl

News4JAX Insiders can win a pair of tickets and pregame field passes to the 2022 Taxslayer Gator Bowl

News4JAX Insiders can win a pair of tickets and pregame field passes to the 2022 Taxslayer Gator Bowl

No. 5 Southern California capped its outstanding regular season under new coach Lincoln Riley by staying firmly in the College Football Playoff race with a 38-27 victory over No. 13 Notre Dame.

Steven Gilmore returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and Khalan Labron ran for 163 yards as Marshall shocked No. 8 Notre Dame 26-21.

C.

Michigan coach Juwan Howard returns from a five-game suspension as the Wolverines face Indiana at Indianapolis in a Big Ten Tournament game with major ramifications for both teams.

Notre Dame has promoted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to replace Brian Kelly as head coach of the Fighting Irish.

Michigan moved up to No. 2 in the second-to-last College Football Playoff rankings.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says he won’t be rushed into finding a replacement for football coach Brian Kelly no matter where the team is going in the postseason.

LSU is hiring Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame.

Jack Coan threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns in a little more than a half and No. 6 Notre Dame had two defensive touchdowns in winning its sixth straight game, 55-0 over beleaguered Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Jonathan Doerer kicked a 48-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining, capping a dramatic rally to give No. 14 Notre Dame a 32-29 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday night.

Kyren Williams scored two long touchdowns, the second a 51-yard run with 6:05 remaining, as No. 12 Notre Dame held off Purdue for its 26th straight victory at home.

Jack Coan hit Michael Mayer for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 remaining for the third lead change in a wild fourth quarter and No. 8 Notre Dame held off Toledo 32-29.

Notre Dame and Iowa State each has three players on The Associated Press preseason All-America team.

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Alabama finished the season No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the 12th time, extending its record by completing the program’s first perfect season since 2009. With 12 AP titles overall — Paul “Bear” Bryant was coach for five and Gene Stallings for one — Alabama has four more than Notre Dame, in second place with eight. The Big 12 finished with a perfect record in five bowl games. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25___This story has been updated to correct the number of national titles for Alabama to 12, not.

(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)ARLINGTON, Texas – A truly untraditional Rose Bowl setting, a very common result for Alabama in the College Football Playoff. 4 Notre Dame in a CFP semifinal Rose Bowl played inside about 1,400 miles from Pasadena, California. “I don't think there’s anything quite like the Rose Bowl, the tradition, the setting, the mountains. 3 Ohio State, which beat Clemson 49-28 in the other CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl on Friday night. PERFECT AT COWS HOMEAlabama is 5-0 at AT&T Stadium, with a pair of convincing CFP semifinal wins there.

4 Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal originally scheduled to serve as the 107th Rose Bowl, the playoff committee announced Sunday. “Our guys recognize what they’ll need to do relative to the mental preparation of playing a great football team in Alabama. But instead of a week amid the pomp and pageantry of the Rose Bowl, the teams will spend their semifinal week in Arlington, Texas. Oregon State beat Duke in Durham, North Carolina, in that version of the Rose Bowl. The festive week of genteel celebrations around the Rose Bowl game had already been mostly canceled.

Notre Dame was picked Sunday over Texas A&M for the final spot, ending what little drama there had been. Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State have also held the first four spots in the AP Top 25 since Oct. 25. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the second league to have two teams in the playoff, joining the SEC in 2017. After sitting second in the CFP rankings for a month, Notre Dame was blown out 34-10 by Clemson in the ACC championship. Barta said the disparate number of games played by contenders — along with far fewer cross-conference games than usual —- was a challenge for the committee all season.

Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book (12) looks for a receiver during the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game against Notre Dame, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State topped the final Associated Press college football poll of the regular season Sunday with No. 4 Notre Dame comfortably ahead of No. Before the College Football Playoff selection committee revealed its selections for the final, AP Top 25 voters released their final rankings. The only team to fall out of the rankings this week was Buffalo, which lost the Mid-American Conference title game. ___Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

2 Notre Dame 34-10 on Saturday to win its sixth straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Clemson allowed Notre Dame to pile up 518 yards in the previous meeting, but limited the Fighting Irish (10-1) to 263 yards Saturday and sacked quarterback Ian Book six times. The momentum changed late in the first quarter when Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer, who had converted an ACC title-game record 51-yard field goal on the game's opening drive, clanked a 21-yard attempt off the right upright. Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish could get nothing going in the passing game. Notre Dame: Notre Dame hopes to edge No.

It was Book’s 30th victory as a starter, the most ever for a Notre Dame quarterback. “It’s a dream come true to be able to attend Notre Dame and have a good career,” Book said. Notre Dame started its run thanks to a roughing the passer by Syracuse that Book later turned into a 28-yard TD run. Book finished with 348 total yards, becoming only the second Irish player to move past 10,000 yards (10,008) in total offense. Notre Dame: The Irish have an extra week to rest up for Clemson after the conference adjusted the schedules earlier this week, canceling their last game.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Notre Dame has a history of following big wins with letdowns against rival Boston College. I’m fortunate to be at Notre Dame that long. 1 Clemson, Notre Dame (8-0, 7-0 ACC) racked up a season-high 561 total yards against BC. The last time Notre Dame beat a top-ranked team was 1993, and then following week the Fighting Irish were upset by BC on a last-second field goal. It was recovered by Notre Dame defensive end Daelin Hayes on the Eagles 49 with 2:05 left in the quarter.

4 Notre Dame shut down top-ranked Clemson with a couple of sacks to seal a 47-40 win Saturday night. 1 for the first time since taking down Florida State in 1993 at Notre Dame Stadium. Uiagalelei, starting in place of Trevor Lawrence for a second week, passed for 439 yards, the most ever by a Notre Dame opponent. Notre Dame: Avery Davis came to South Bend as a quarterback and has been moved to running back, receiver and defensive back. Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish are at Boston College, which might bring back some bad memories for Notre Dame fans.

Notre Dame wide receiver Ben Skowronek (11) celebrates as he goes in the end zone past Pittsburgh defensive back A.J. 3 Notre Dame (5-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had no such issues while handling the Panthers (3-4, 2-4) their fourth consecutive loss. The Fighting Irish effectively ended any hope Pitt — which has developed a reputation in recent years of being the occasional giant killer — might have had late in the second quarter. Three Pitt plays went nowhere and Irish sophomore defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey raced in untouched to block Kirk Christodoulou’s punt. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi called Notre Dame “as good a team we saw on the football field in six years.”“I thought we'd stack up better," Narduzzi said.

5 Fighting Irish beat Florida State 42-26 on Saturday night. I just kept that mindset after I fumbled.”“We just reminded (Kyren) about ball security,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, whose team lost several workouts due to the pandemic. Notre Dame: The Irish offense was often lethal, especially once it stopped hurting its own cause. Notre Dame had five touchdowns and 365 yards in the first half and finished with 554 yards. Notre Dame is home for the fourth straight game to start the season when Louisville visits Oct. 17.

Notre Dame’s game at Wake Forest on Saturday has been postponed after positive COVID-19 tests landed 13 Fighting Irish players in isolation and another 10 in quarantine. Notre Dame said 94 football players were tested for COVID-19 on Monday and of those seven were positive. Those players were in isolation along with others who tested positive last week. “We managed an increase in positivity rates in August, and the players handled it wonderfully," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. BYU had to postpone its game last week at Army after having players test positive for COVID-19.

Georgia wide receiver Lawrence Cager (15) makes a catch for a touchdown against Notre Dame cornerback Troy Pride Jr. (5) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, in Athens, Ga. Georgia won 23-17. 7 Notre Dame, it was another big-game loss but a performance that should bring more respect. Then, on third-and-7 from the 15, Notre Dame brought a blitz and Fromm coolly lofted one toward Cager along the left side of the end zone. Desperate to cut into the deficit, Notre Dame called a flea-flicker play. A two-touchdown underdog, Notre Dame took advantage of a huge turnover by Georgia punt returner Tyler Simmons to grab the lead.

Finishing off a dominating run through their first three games, the Bulldogs romped to a 55-0 win over Arkansas State on Saturday. With thousands of Georgia fans wearing pink instead of red to honor Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson's wife, Wendy, who died last month from breast cancer, the Bulldogs (3-0) took control as soon as they got their hands on the ball. Anderson, coaching his second game since returning from a leave of absence, was moved by the support of the Georgia fans. A group of shirtless students sitting in the first row behind the Arkansas State bench painted their upper bodies pink and wrote ``Remember Wendy'' across their backs. Georgia: It's hard to get a read on a team that's beaten Vanderbilt, Murray State and Arkansas State.