Godsey Replaces Injured Battle for Irish

Sophomore Gary Godsey will replace injured quarterback Arnaz Battle on Saturday when No. 21 Notre Dame plays host to No. 13 Purdue.

“I think he gives us the best opportunity, right now, to win,” Coach Bob Davie said. “He will be the starter. I expect him to play the whole football game.”

The 6-foot-7 Godsey, whose brother George is the starting quarterback at Georgia Tech, practiced at both tight end and quarterback last season but did not play. He switched to quarterback during spring practice but did not play in either of Notre Dame’s first two games.

Battle, a junior, led the Irish with 157 yards rushing in two games, but had completed only 13 of 31 passes before his left wrist was broken on the first play against Nebraska.

He will undergo surgery today and could be out for the rest of the season.

“I would say it’s a minimum, an absolute minimum of six to eight weeks,” Davie said.

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If Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel had his choice, he’d rather be coaching at Husky Stadium in Seattle this week.

In fact, he’d rather be coaching any place than Boulder, Colo., Saturday.

“I don’t anticipate a love fest or anything like that,” Neuheisel said. “I doubt it’ll be like that. There’s always going to be emotion associated with a return.”

Colorado fans are still mad at Neuheisel for jilting the Colorado program after the 1998 season to accept Washington’s seven-year contract offer for $1 million a season.

It won’t make his return trip to Boulder any easier that Colorado is 0-2 under Gary Barnett, his successor, and the No. 9 Huskies are 2-0 after their 34-29 victory Saturday over Miami.