Irish Hoping to Piece Together an Offense

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Fighting Irish suited up for their first practice of the week Tuesday afternoon minus 95 percent of their total offense, 75 percent of their rushing yardage, 67 percent of their receptions and 62.5 percent of their touchdowns.

Missing in action were quarterback Jimmy Clausen (turf toe), tailback Armando Allen (sprained ankle), wide receiver Michael Floyd (broken collarbone) and fullback James Aldridge (strained shoulder).

Whereas the Four Horsemen rode again, this Irish quartet was indoors receiving treatment.

Lucky for them, too, because the second hour of Notre Dame's session was interrupted by a brief but torrential downpour, and the team stayed outside and practiced through the deluge. It sure is a good thing that the Irish have affordable health care coverage, because this is one week they truly need it.

Floyd is out for the regular season, although a return for the final game, at Stanford on Thanksgiving weekend, is not out of the question. And never you mind about the sophomore wideout, who has 12 touchdown catches in 12 career games, taking a medical redshirt.

"I hope to have [Michael] two more years," said Weis, meaning that he hopes Floyd stays through his junior-eligible/senior-academic season, should he indeed take a medical redshirt, "let alone three years. I'd be happy if you give me him for two right now. I'd sign up for that right now."

That is to say, with his prodigious talent, there's no chance Floyd will spend five autumns in South Bend. Weis is just hoping that he will spend four.

Aldridge, who has missed the last two games after being injured during the Nevada opener, is likely to miss the next two against Purdue and Washington.

"I'm leaning more toward holding him this week and next week, so that I get a full three weeks," Weis said on Tuesday, "with the bye week coming up after that, and having him ready for whoever we play after the bye."

See, Charlie is funny. You just have to listen. "Whoever we play after the bye," is a reference to USC.

As for Clausen and Allen, both are expected to suit up for Saturday evening's Erin Andrews-worthy, prime-time contest in West Lafayette. Expect neither to be at 100% -- Clausen may not practice fully until Thursday -- and expect the Irish to be a little flat, what with the abbreviated reps its offensive skill-position players are getting and the emotional hangover of the two consecutive Michigan-based opponent games.

How will it feel, Weis was asked, to just play a game without everyone reminding you about a six-game home losing streak, etc.?

"You mean when I'm not the lead story in the country?" he said. "I think the most important thing for our team is every week to have some focus.

"The most important thing is we try to continually evolve as a football team is to just get better," Weis said. "And some guys need to get better by playing with more confidence, and that is going be one of the main mantras this week."

It is the nature of Notre Dame football, though, that while the Irish have to avoid a letdown for a visit to their in-state neighbors, this is the Boilermakers' biggest home game of the season. Besides the fact that ESPN is airing it in prime time (only the sixth night game ever at Ross Ade), Purdue is encouraging fans to wear black because it's more slimming -- um, because they are promoting it as a "black out" night. (Whereas the NFL could never stage such a promotion because if not enough fans bought tickets -- I'm looking at you, Jacksonville -- then the game would actually be blacked out locally. And who wants to deal with that irony?)



Anyway, the point is that, while Purdue lost at home last week to a MAC school (but then, so did Michigan State and that was no gimme for the Irish), and while the Boilermakers rank 105th nationally in total defense, this is a trap game extraordinaire. Expect the offense's timing to be off somewhat with Clausen missing so much time this week while receivers such as Duval Kamara and Robby "Don't Forget" Parris, as well as true frosh Shaquelle Evans, will be expected to try and compensate for the Floyd void. Meanwhile, who knows how productive Allen will be with that ankle sprain?

This week Irish wideouts will likely catch more passes thrown at practice by position coach Rob Ianello than by Clausen. It could get interesting in West Lafayette.