Tonight in Tempe, the Trojans will conduct a 45-minute walk-thru at Sun Devil Stadium, the same thing they do at the road venue on the Friday night before every away game. RipsIt reader Percy Palomar sent in this fascinating question related to the walk-thru: "With events like Spygate in the NFL, does the team worry about spies when they do walk-thrus at visiting areas?"
It's funny this thought is raised, because it has directly framed the Trojans' walk-thrus. Instead of being football-focused, the walk-thrus at away stadiums are all fun and games, as the players participate in touch football games, play catch, compete in a game of hacky sack or otherwise goof off. The emphasis is on getting acclimated to the foreign environment, including the locker room and sideline setup, and becoming accustomed to the field so the players will be ready for game day.
"We want the guys to be familiar with the setting so they're comfortable the next day," Coach Carroll said.
And what about the spying aspect? The team's on-field football tasks are conducted inside the protection of fenced-in Howard Jones Field before the team leaves on Fridays, all for security's sake. Like an army general in enemy territory, Carroll has constructed the walk-thrus at away stadiums in such a way that they don't reveal any game-sensitive information.
"There's no reason to show anything when you're that close to the opponent," Carroll said.
University Southern California Trojans
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