Notre Dame has lost receiver Quincy Porter for the rest of the season, coach Marcus Freeman said on Monday. The New Jersey native has not played this season after transferring from Ohio State. Porter missed several games with the Buckeyes in 2025 because of a left knee injury and had surgery on his patellar tendon in January.
Porter was still working his way back from that injury and Freeman said the Fighting Irish (4-0) thought the receiver may get back on the field. Instead, he needs season-ending surgery. "I wanted to start with, obviously, tough news for Quincy," Freeman said as he opened Monday's weekly news conference.
"He came to Notre Dame post patellar surgery and it was pretty long, tough healing process. About a month ago, he had another procedure that we thought was going to be the last thing he needed to get him back to game ready and he was getting really close and had a flare up. Then, ultimately, he had an MRI this weekend and the doctors decided that he'll have to have season-ending surgery to get his patellar where it needs to go." Porter was a highly touted recruit out of national powerhouse Bergen Catholic High School, but played in only five games and caught only four passes for 59 yards in 2025 with the Buckeyes.
The Irish had hoped Porter and another Ohio State transfer, Mylan Graham, would add talent and depth to an already strong receiving corps led by Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse. But Porter could not play and Graham has only three catches for 32 yards as Notre Dame enters October with a perfect record for the first time since 2021. The Irish travel to North Carolina on Saturday.
"He's a great young man that has really done everything right, and he's got another setback," Freeman said, describing Porter. "But his mind is in the right place, so he'll be back at some point before we know it." Reporting by the Associated Press.
