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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The injured Irish are headed to the national championship game. Bring all the bandages, braces, and balms to Atlanta — this team will need them. Nobody is 100% at this point in the season, but what Notre Dame has battled through to get here deserves recognition. Even hours before the Orange Bowl win over Penn State, players and staff were dealing with a minor flu bug. Injuries and illnesses have defined this team’s journey.

“Next man up” is a cliché in football, but Notre Dame embodies it, especially along the all-important offensive line. To wit:

• In the first week of fall camp, tackle Charles Jagusah went down with a pectoral injury. 
• ND later lost linemen Ashton Craig and Jordan Botelho to injuries on consecutive series in a September blowout against Purdue.
• And in the playoff semifinal, left tackle Anthonie Knapp and right guard Rocco Spindler went down.

Jagusah’s injury was thought to be season-ending, but he stepped in Thursday night to spell Spindler and protect backup quarterback Steve Angeli, who was thrust into action late in the first half when Riley Leonard went to the injury tent with a head injury.

“We went through all the tests, and they decided I was good to go back, but we definitely took our time and evaluated my numbers from this summer when I took a brain test compared to now,” Leonard said. “I passed that. Steve Angeli, this is a guy who has waited his turn and all year has prepared like he’s a starting quarterback every single week. He showed a lot of maturity, and he helps me out a lot. He knows exactly what the defense is doing. He’s a good friend of mine, and I appreciate him a lot. For him to go in and drive us down like that was huge.”

Angeli stepped in, completing 6 of 7 passes to drive Notre Dame to its first points of the evening. While speaking to CBS Sports, teammate Benjamin Morrison (out for the season, by the way) ran by and shouted, “He’s the hero.”

“I was like, ‘Are you good, brother? Is everything all right?'” Angeli said, recalling his conversation with Leonard. When Leonard confirmed he was returning, Angeli’s mindset was clear: “I was like, ‘Alright, let’s go win this thing.'” Angeli displayed the selflessness that Marcus Freeman often highlights when he says 120 players playing as one win games.

Talented running back Jeremiyah Love was another Irish player nursing an injury. After battling sickness in the first round against Indiana, he suffered a knee injury in the quarterfinal against Boise State and sported a bulky knee brace in the Orange Bowl. Yet Love still managed to pull off his signature hurdle against 6-foot-1 linebacker Kobe King in the second half — despite vowing he would not do so — and scored an impressive two-yard touchdown, bouncing through would-be tacklers and plunging into the end zone.

“He didn’t get a lot of practice reps,” Freeman said. “We were very calculated about what we asked him to do in practice. There was maybe a little doubt on my end, but the closer we got to the game, I said, ‘Okay, he’s going to give it a go.’ The statistics maybe weren’t there in the first half, but him being out there means something to everybody on that offense and everybody on our team. In the second half, he made some Jeremiyah Love plays.

“It speaks volumes to the heart he has. He gave everything he had to this place. He did not have to play today. Nobody would have batted an eye. But he put the team in front of himself and how he felt, and we’ve got a whole bunch of guys like that in that locker room. That’s why we’re in this position.”

When it was over, left tackle Billy Schrauth — who also rebounded from an injury this season — and Knapp embraced near an end zone. Knapp, in a walking boot, did what he could to help the team on the sideline, handing out cups of water and words of encouragement to teammates.

“I look up to that kid,” Schrauth said. “That was a really selfless reaction. All he came back with was an attitude of how he could help the team. ‘Anybody need water? Anybody need anything?’ You love to see that with a young player, especially in our group. It speaks to the culture, but it really speaks to who that kid is. He really is just a special guy.”

Their bodies may be bruised, but their eyes are smiling. Notre Dame is 60 minutes away from the program’s first national championship since 1988. That’s the only feeling that matters.

“We choose to play this game in a very physical manner,” Freeman said. “You know what? You’re going to have to play through some pain, but that moment in that locker room when we’re singing that fight song and celebrating together — it numbs the pain.”