The expanded 12-team College Football Playoff and the extended season that comes with it present many new challenges for college football programs to navigate on their way to the national championship. The overlapping transfer portal is one problem, find rest and recovery is another, but an unanticipated consequence of playing well into January is that now the college football season overlaps with flu season.
From Penn State’s perspective, the primary health concern for Notre Dame heading into its Orange Bowl CFP semifinal matchup with the Nittany Lions on Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was Jeremiyah Love’s knee injury. Instead, Love has gotten the green light to play, and the biggest issue that the Irish are fighting is the flu.
Been told the flu is going around the Notre Dame locker room. Those who have it have it bad, but it sounds like that’s mostly backups and special teams players. Still something to monitor for the Fighting Irish going into the Orange Bowl vs. Penn State tonight.
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) January 9, 2025
Before Love’s knee injury became his primary concern, the star running back was limited to just eight snaps against Indiana because of an illness. Despite not feeling 100%, of those eight snaps turned into a 98-yard touchdown. Either his illness spread through the locker room or a new one cropped up, but if any important players are impacted by it, the flu could help Penn State end Notre Dame’s season.
In some ways, Penn State’s easy path to the CFP semifinals with wins as double-digit favorites over SMU and Boise State has been the primary example of the flaws with the 12-team CFP format. With that relatively easy path, the Nittany Lions enter the CFP semifinals facing skepticism about their status as a true national championship-caliber team. If, and it’s a big if because it appears to mostly be affecting backups and special teams players, the flu plays a role in Penn State’s win, the criticisms about James Franklin’s easy path could continue.
For now, the illness seems unlikely to play a significant role in the game on Thursday night, but that remains to be seen. Notre Dame opened as a 1.5-point favorite and while the line temporarily spiked to 2.5, it is back at 1.5 or one in most sportsbooks, though that movement began before any news of the flu.