Back from practice, and I'll also pass along a few things I couldn't get to earlier due to the technical issues:

--- Nothing much from practice. No new apparent injuries other than true freshman LB Bradly Roussel, who was not in pads but was running stairs. Not sure what his injury is. Otherwise, all the expected players were in pads, other than those who have been injured and are out.

--- Practice began with some two-minute drill work, and there were no surprises in the offensive lineup. We had to leave before the first drive ended but Ronnie Fouch was leading the team down the field against the No. 2 defense as we left.

--- Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell also spoke to us today. Donatell said the ND offense is similar to what Charlie Weis ran at New England. "He's imaginative and does a good job. They are a pro-style attack and has the quarterback doing a lot of things with cadence and empties -- he does a lot to develop the quarterback [Jimmy Clausen]. They have excellent knowledge and command of their systems.'' He said the two faced off a few times in the NFL though he didn't recall any specifics of any games.

--- Donatell said ND likes to change its offense quite a bit based on the opponent it is playing that week: "They aren't as much no-huddle and they are opponent-specific. You don't just look at a tape. You have to look at somebody and say, 'Do they see us like them?' You have to pick a like opponent, because they will change, and that's their philosophy. And they've had a bye. They could be looking at a lot of things. They could be looking at their club, as well as how they match up with us.''

--- Donatell said it's obvious Weis has a lot of confidence in Clausen now. "He's got him pretty grooved. He just keeps getting better and more experienced. He went to [North[ Carolina [the last game ND played two weeks ago] and played pretty good. He spread the field and put a lot of it on [Clausen]."

--- Donatell said he's excited about having somne continuity at safety: "I'm excited. You said that word continuity. Continuity is a good thing, it just is. More weeks, more likeness, more sameness. That helps, no matter what. These offenses changing in college, that's the way it is -- but keeping the same continuity in guys no matter what helps us.''

--- Donatell said he thought the defense played better against the run against OSU despite the final score: "We fit their runs better. You can do the math and it's not good if you look at the reverses and the screens. Those are the things that got us.''

--- He said he is increasingly impressed by Victor Aiyewa: "He has a great desire to be good. He's constantly working and he is more mature in the way he handles himself. But he's still playing in [just] his third football game.''

--- UW is allowing teams to complete 72.5 percent of passes and Donatell was asked his thoughts on why that is: "I think it's a combination. There are some good players. That kid from Oklahoma [Sam Bradford], he completes the ball and he has some really good blockers. And until he got up against Texas and some guys that could cause a difference, he got all day. He's got to be up there. And the guy from BYU [Max Hall] has an experienced line and he's thrown pretty good against everybody.''

--- Asked the best way to improve that, Donatell said: "Pressure. It's always the first place to start. Pass rush and making him speed up when there is some coverage.''

--- Finally, if you want to hear UW coach Tyrone Willingham's news conference today yourself, here it is.