How Will the Wolf Survive?

The decision is made. The two-deep is set. All the projecting and predicting and conjecturing is over. Forecasting the conference race, mapping out the schedule for best cases and worse cases, the frenzy of hype, that's done.

It's one week to prepare for New Mexico, five days of good work, then Saturday the Ducks play a football game. It's the only game on the schedule this week, for the national championship of Autzen stadium on September 4th. No other game matters. No other game exists. The next opponent or the last one or the one looming some other time and some other place has no importance, existing only faintly, acknowledged not at all. What did you have for dinner on Tuesday, or the Wednesday before? That's how little any other game matters. At Oregon success is built by the day; this is Saturday, August 28, and all that matters are fifteen or so practice periods and beginning the transition from training camp to game week.

After the rigors of training the Ducks are ready to hit somebody. They want to play a game.

By all accounts the New Mexico Lobos are severely overmatched in this game, starting a sophomore quarterback and freshman center in Autzen stadium. They run a pass-oriented, no-huddle spread offense that plays right into the Ducks' strengths, and it could get ugly, freshmen herded into Autzen to face the House of Loud and Spencer Paysinger and Kenny Rowe. Addicted to Quack has very detailed and professional breakdown of the game, and all this season's opponents, on the home page of that excellent website.

The Ducks don't care about point spreads or star ratings; they just want to start playing football. These guys are too young to remember how terribly wrong a home opener can go, but I'm not: in 2004 another Duck team that lacked the leadership and work ethic of this one strutted out to their opener and fell into the quicksand, losing to Indiana 30-24. It was a game the Ducks had no business losing, but they coughed up enough fumbles and missed enough tackles to make a vastly inferior opponent look very good that day.

This week, and particularly today, look for reports that the Ducks are exhibiting energy and urgency as they enter their first game week. Coach Kelly wants to establish the practice order and pick up the tempo, achieve the "fast hard finish" in every drill. He wants to see crisp workouts and attentive effort. Every player has to acknowledge that this isn't about getting by one undermanned opponent; it's about establishing their habits and work ethic and attention to detail and getting better every day. In going from fall camp to game week mode, today's practice sets a tempo for the way he wants them to work all week and all season going forward. Thus far in camp, this group has done everything they've been asked to do. The Ducks are not only deep in talent; they're deep in leadership, and this is a group with a good motor. They practice like PAC-10 champions.

And look for Darron Thomas to accept his new role as leader of the offense. Look for signs he's taking command, working through his progressions, executing, and finding his rhythm.

It's important that the Ducks ready themselves not only to win, but win with rhythm and sharpness. Saturday Oregon fans hope to see a crisp, focused performance, a team that plays with passion and discipline, playing its best football no what who the opponent, committed to improving every day. No team in the country made more improvement from Game 1 to Game 4 last season than the Oregon Ducks, and they sustained a high level all year long. That's how a championship is won. That's how excellence is sustained.