Is There Panic in West Los Angeles?

"If a man does away with his traditional way of living and throws away
his good customs, he had better first make certain he has something of value to replace them."
----Old Basuto Proverb

The Trojans are tackling in practice. They've changed their tempo, and Monte Kiffin is fiddling with the Tampa 2, knowing it's a bad match for the Oregon spread. Against Tim Tebow last year he skooched up safety Eric Berry and committed him to run support, but that won't fly against the Ducks, who have a quarterback who can throw spirals and find downfield receivers. (Although there's an alarming and irresponsible report from a Eugene TV station about the Oregon passing game, linked in yesterday's Duck Sports Now. )

If an opponent has you changing what you fundamentally do, has you interrupting all your routines and standard practices, has you abandoning the basic principles of your scheme, you may find yourself flat-footed, exhausted, overwhelmed and mentally overloaded come game time.

It's the Trojans that are clamoring to adjust, and talking bravely about beatdowns and Brock Lesnar. Inside the Moshofsky Center it's business as usual, preparing at their accustomed tempo, maintaining their well-established and highly effective routines, confident in what they're doing and how they get ready.

What delicious irony that Oregon is coming to town number one with a Heisman trophy candidate at tailback. The football monopoly in the PAC-10 has ended, but it wasn't Rick Neuheisel that engineered its demise.