James Franklin: Penn State football planning for Abdul Carter to play vs. Notre Dame

Penn State football is less than 36 hours away from kickoff in Thursday’s College Football Playoff Semifinal against Notre Dame. And it appears that the Nittany Lion faithful will have to wait just about every one of those hours to see if star edge rusher Abdul Carter will be able to take the field against the Fighting Irish.

Speaking at a joint Orange Bowl press conference with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on Wednesday morning, James Franklin expressed that the Nittany Lions are preparing for Carter to take the field on Thursday night.

“We anticipate Abdul playing,” Franklin said. “He’s doing everything he possibly can to play. His approach has been awesome. He’s lived in the training room. But, it’ll be a game-time decision. We’ll see.

“Abdul’s approached this the right way. He wants to play. We are hopeful, and expecting Abdul to play. And, we’ll see how this plays out.”

Carter left during the first half of last week’s Fiesta Bowl with what appeared to be an injury to his left arm. Penn State football has been optimistic of his return over the last eight days. However, the junior defensive end was not present during the open portion of the Nittany Lions’ practice on Sunday.

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Abdul Carter leads the Nittany Lions with 21.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks this season. His 63 tackles this year are fourth-most on the team.

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