Notre Dame loses Riley Leonard to injury at worst possible time in CFP, but QB returns [Updated]

Update: Riley Leonard was officially evaluated for a concussion after being wobbly and asked to be evaluated by the Notre Dame medical staff. The tests from the trainers and doctors on the sidelines and the locker room, however, came back that he was asymptomatic for a concussion. Thus, after the Fighting Irish came out of the locker room from halftime, it was reported that he would be returning to the game and playing the second half.

Original Post: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came into Thursday night's College Football Playoff semifinal in the Orange Bowl having to feel quite good about bringing quarterback Riley Leonard into the fold this offseason via the transfer portal. Unfortunately, the matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions left them turning to an unknown commodity under center.

Late in the second quarter with the Fighting Irish trailing 10-0, Leonard was trying to drive down the field and get Notre Dame on the board before halftime.

As he was pressing to make a play for his team, though, Leonard stepped up into the face of a pass rush and tried to deliver a pass. He waited a bit too long, however, and took a massive hit from a Penn State defensive lineman. The hit looked bad but the Notre Dame QB tried to pop back up and run back into the huddle.

The officials had other plans.

Riley Leonard exits Orange Bowl with injury to Notre Dame QB

They showed on the ESPN broadcast that Leonard looked a bit wobbly as he rose up from the hit. One of the refs for the Orange Bowl noticed and stopped play, calling out the Fighting Irish training staff and forcing Leonard to leave the field.

He went right to the blue medical tent as he exited the field of play and did not return for the rest of the first half.

After Notre Dame still was able to put together enough of a drive to kick a field goal before halftime to cut into the deficit and leave the score at 10-3 after two quarters, ESPN caught up with head coach Marcus Freeman. When asked about the status of Leonard moving forward, he said that he hadn't heard anything about his status. The Fighting Irish sideline leader did, however, express confidence in his team's ability even if Leonard was unable to return.

Notre Dame QB depth chart: Who is Riley Leonard's backup?

Steve Angeli is the backup to Leonard on the Fighting Irish depth chart. Angeli was slated to be in competition to start for the 2024 season at Notre Dame before Marcus Freeman brought Leonard in via the transfer portal from Duke.

Angeli is a former 4-star recruit from the 2022 cycle out of Oradell, NJ who was ranked as the No. 365 national recruit and the No. 21 QB in the class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He had interest from the likes of Michigan, Oregon, LSU, Miami and, incidentally, Penn State but ultimately ended up committing to the Fighting Irish.

In his career prior to Thursday's Orange Bowl, Angeli had appeared in 19 career games, including their 2023-24 bowl game, but had only thrown 72 pass attempts, completing 52 for 728 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception. The fact that he did lead Notre Dame to their first points against the Nittany Lions does bode well for the Irish if he's forced to play out the rest of the CFP with Leonard sidelined.