Adjustments? What adjustments?

Troy’s Larry Blakeney said he went into the locker room up 21-20 at the half last Saturday and made some adjustments to key the Trojans’ eventual second-half rout — or so he claims.

Head Coach David Elson said he’s not high on making adjustments in the locker room, and that they’re “overrated.” Elson said it comes down to executing on a strict game plan coming into the game.

“I don’t know what they did other than they tackled better and we didn’t tackle as well,” Elson said. “These adjustments people claim to make — if you want to sit down and watch the film and see the adjustments, you have access to the film if you want. But it’s execution. They executed better than we did.

“There’s little things here and there, but adjustments are one of the most overrated things in the game of football in my opinion.”

Elson: Players continuing to work hard after firing

There’s an elephant in the Western locker room, but Head Coach David Elson said the Toppers haven’t noticed it throughout the team’s regular Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday week of practice.

Elson said his firing last Sunday night did not alter the preparation for this Saturday’s game at Louisiana-Monroe, Western’s 10th of 12 games this season.

“When we’ve given them very specific instructions, they follow,” Elson said. “We said, ‘business as usual,’ and it’s been just that.

“I think it’s been very consistent with what we’ve been getting from them. On Saturday we’ll see what comes, but it’s been very normal.”

ULM’s scheme designed to confuse

Elson said much of the Redhawks’ scheme bares similarity to what the Toppers run on both sides of the ball, but it’s the wrinkles in between that could cause some confusion — especially before the snap.

“You know what you’re going to get at the end, but they do a lot of things to disguise,” Elson said. “It’s a lot of pre-snap things and moving around and shifts and motions. But when it comes down to it, there’s only so many things you can do.”

Injury update

Western’s newest addition to the “out” list is sophomore defensive lineman Jared Clendenin. Clendenin is recovering from a concussion and sat out of practice this week.

Senior defensive back Jihad Moriss and junior receiver Quinterrance Cooper won‘t play this Saturday, also with concussions. Sophomore offensive lineman Shelly Anthony is another listed as out against ULM.

Freshman defensive back Kareem Peterson and freshman linebacker Josh Carter are both back this week for the Toppers.