More Notes From Tuesday

While most of the focus has been on the quarterback position since Saturday's 27-14 loss to Boston College, Notre Dame's most significant change might be at another offensive position.
Sophomore halfback James Aldridge left the game in the first half with an injured right ankle, categorized by Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis as a "high ankle sprain" on Tuesday.
Weis also dubbed Aldridge doubtful for Saturday's game against No. 13 USC.
"He intends to play this week but I'd say the odds of that happening aren't that high," Weis said.
To substitute for Aldridge, Weis said fifth-year senior Travis Thomas, who began the year as the starter but saw his carries diminish each week following, will likely see more carries. He'd be joined in some sort of rotation with freshmen Robert Hughes and Armando Allen.
"I'm not saying by committee but he would probably take some of the pressure off James and Robert and Armando would be much more involved," Weis said.

Off to therapy
Weis had a sports psychologist meet with his coaching staff following Notre Dame's win over UCLA on Oct. 6. He was concerned with his team's psyche after having their first win since November, 2006 and how they'd react.
He was concerned about his team being more relieved that it had won a game than being focused on the next game, which came Saturday against Boston College.

Saturday's jerseys: Ugly
Earlier this year, Notre Dame announced it would wear throwback green jerseys to honor the 1977 Irish team on the 30th anniversary of its Notre Dame-USC game where the Irish switched from blue to green jerseys prior to the start of the game.
Weis, though, isn't a fan of the kelly green jerseys. He instead preferred the darker hue he brought in when he became coach in 2005. The Irish wore the darker green jerseys when USC visited in his first year.
"These uniforms are ugly," Weis said of the throwbacks. "What the players like about them is that they are throwbacks. Because they are throwbacks, they are uniques. Remember what those jerseys looked like, remember those ugly pants, that's what they have to wear this week."
No word on whether Weis will also don classic 1970's getup -- bring on the bellbottoms and disco shirt -- but he should grow out his mustache for the game.

This and that
USC quarterback John David Booty is going to try and play Saturday. ... Offensive guard Dan Wenger is back at practice and is listed as the backup to center John Sullivan and guard Eric Olsen. ... Wide receiver David Grimes was also back at practice and has "a legitimate chance of playing this week," according to Weis. ... Senior linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. missed most of Saturday's game with a turf toe. Weis is optimistic for his return but the senior captain was running very slowly during the media portion of practice Tuesday.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Ronan]

Weis needs to get Golden Tate and Armando Allen more involved in the offensive scheme. Keep throwing long to Tate and slants/screens to Allen where he can use his speed and agility. I dont see why there isnt more of this: 4 wide- David Grimes, Duvall Kamara, Golden Tate, Robby Parris and single back Allen. I know the line wont hold for long so pump fake the short drop and hit the speed guys (Tate, Grimes) long. At least give it a shot. At this point, what is there to lose? The defense is playing great and with future recruits such as Fleming, Slaughter and Ethan Johnson we're looking at a top ten defense. One more thing, why can't we get more 5 star WR recruits to even look at ND anymore? You have 2 of the best recent QB recruits in the country (Claussen, Crist) taking the next 5 years worth of snaps, a few good O-Line recruits adding to a young bunch that will likely get better and a super bowl winning OC calling the plays. With the chance to start as a freshman at a great university, on national television these WRs should be lining up!!

[Craig]

Charlie addressed the question of why we didn't see more of Tate vs. BC in the Sunday press conference. He was definitely in the game for the long pass to Kamara that was intercepted, possibly as a decoy.

[Ted]

The biggest problem with the green uniforms is that the QB is not used to looking for the "green" players on the field and thows to the white (SC) player. Any chance anyone can get the uniforms into practive this week?