NCAA Football

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- One day after a report surfaced that Jimmy Clausen was punched by an irate fan, the Irish quarterback practiced in a tinted visor. Notre Dame is practicing in an indoor facility.

According to an unnamed university official who spoke to the Associated Press, the helmet hid a black eye.

Multiple reports Monday said Clausen was sucker punched in the early hours of Sunday morning and suffered two black eyes. FanHouse confirmed the Clausens were at the bar, C.J.'s in South Bend Saturday.

Backup Evan Sharpley also practiced in a visor. However, it was clear.

Player availability for Clausen, who earned the nickname "Darth Vader" from Charlie Weis, after the Irish coach saw the visor, and the rest of the Irish team was canceled today.

Follow my live tweets from South Bend after the jump:

For nearly a month, UConn coach Randy Edsall knew what he would do -- he just started to wonder when he would get the opportunity.

That chance finally came Saturday when the Huskies defeated Notre Dame, 33-30, in double overtime. After three excruciating losses, the Huskies finally had a victory for murdered teammate Jasper Howard.

"We've been working very, very hard to get a win for Jazz and his family after his death," Edsall said. "Each week that went by, it seemed like there was a little more burden to get that done. But when we got that taken care of at Notre Dame, I didn't tell the team what I was doing, but I knew what I was going to do once we got that victory."

After the game, Edsall said he talked to Howard's family. Edsall said he will send them the game ball.

For the second consecutive season under coach Rich Rodriguez, Michigan will not be going to a bowl game.

In two seasons, Rich Rod has racked up a 8-16 overall record, beaten down the Michigan fan base to such a degree that Ohio State scarlet and gray filled up many of the best seats in the Big House this past Saturday, and left my wife, a Michigan alum, refusing to watch their games on television. "I'm already over Rich Rod," she's said on many occasions.

Now as Michigan enters the long, difficult winter of Wolverine discontent, there's a real issue that has to be decided. If you don't think Rich Rod is going to get it done at the school, you need to fire him now, before the next season commences.

Why?

Because you have a legal hook that can significantly lessen the blow of the firing -- you can argue that Rich Rodriguez breached the terms of his contract by violating NCAA rules. Bang. Meet Michigan's own stimulus plan for the athletic department, firing Rich Rod for cause.

Imagine you just awoke from a 20-year nap. What would be the most shocking discovery?

That a black man is in the White House? That you have to call India to get computer advice? That ESPN's SportsCenter is more influential than the CBS Evening News?

Or that Temple is a college football power?

I'd go with the Owls, especially when you see who's no longer a power.

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen emerged from a fight outside a restaurant/bar with two black eyes in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to a report from a Chicago radio station. A bartender confirmed to FanHouse that the Clausen family was in the restaurant but said that no altercation took place on the premises.

"The Clausens were here," said the bartender, who was on duty at the time. "We were very busy and did not notice anything. It did not happen in our establishment or on our property, if it happened at all."

The bar and restaurant, C.J.'s Pub, is located about a mile south of the Notre Dame campus and is a popular postgame hangout for Notre Dame players.

David Kaplan of Chicago's WGN-AM first reported the alleged incident.

ESPN characterized the alleged fight as a "sucker punch" by an irate fan.

Colorado coach Dan Hawkins has been adamant the past few seasons that having his son, Cody Hawkins, play quarterback for the Buffaloes was no different than other recruit.

Hawkins did a complete turnaround during Monday's weekly press conference, saying if he had to do it all over again he would not have recruited his own son.

"Not for him, no. Nope. Not at all," Hawkins said. "It's not fair to him. Here is a guy who is trying to do his best to win games and to help his team and does everything right, he's a good student and he's getting killed on Facebook and getting killed on his cell phone.

You're damn right he did!

You need Les Miles on that wall, you want Les Miles on that wall. And as you can see from the latest damning YouTube video, the Zapruder film of clockgate, not only did Miles signal for the clocking/spike (which today he denied), but he also screamed it as he was running down the sideline and gesturing it with both arms.

Oh, and then for good measure, as the game ended, he turned to the cop charged with protecting him and asked if LSU had any timeouts left.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy says he expects senior quarterback Zac Robinson to return to the starting lineup for the 11th-ranked Cowboys during Saturday's critical regular-season finale against rival Oklahoma.

Robinson missed Thursday night's win over Colorado after sustaining injuries to his head and shoulder in a victory over Texas Tech the previous week. But Gundy said during Monday's Big 12 football coaches teleconference that Robinson began throwing over the weekend and that he would return to practice Monday afternoon. Gundy normally does not discuss injuries which means Robinson could or could not play.

FanHouse Big East writer Brett McMurphy looks back at the week that was in the Big East Rewind.

Two weeks ago, UConn coach Randy Edsall and senior running back Andre Dixon both said how much the Huskies' really needed a bye week after a third consecutive last-minute loss at Cincinnati.

If no other team needed a bye like UConn, no other team in the country needed a victory like UConn. And that's exactly what the Huskies' got. UConn went into South Bend, Ind., and defeated Notre Dame 33-30 in double overtime Saturday.

It was the first victory since the murder of UConn cornerback Jasper Howard. After the game, Edsall pointed skyward in honor of Howard, while the Huskies' players held aloft Howard's No. 6 jersey.

Did anyone else notice UConn's final score just happen to be 33 (3+3=6)?

Hours after losing to Connecticut on Notre Dame's Senior Day, Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis sat down at length with John Walters and talked to the FanHouse writer one-on-one about his experience coaching at his alma mater. The following is what transpired between coach and reporter very early Sunday morning.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The November darkness is unseasonably warm. Charlie Weis steps out of his black Yukon SUV toting two bagels and two coffees. Clad in gray Notre Dame football sweats and shower sandals, America's most renowned embattled football coach, if not employee, has brought breakfast for his first visitor of the day.

The time is 4:28 AM.