Troy University Athletics
Top Five Moments of 2016 from "Voice of the Trojans" Barry McKnight - No. 3
8/16/2017 2:13:00 PM | Football
Editor's note - We will countdown Barry McKnight's Top Five Moments of 2016 all this week.
The offseason – if there is such a concept any more in big-time college football – is drawing to a close, and my guys on the radio network and I are about to start buckling down in our preparations for the 2017 Troy football season. At Sun Belt Media Days in the last week of July in New Orleans, Neal Brown pointed out a critical early issue for this team will be to "turn the page" on last year. With that in mind, I'll look back for the final time on the moments from 2016 that meant a little something extra for me.
I don't need to recount the momentous, game-changing moments from the stars of the team; the Trojan Nation remembers them well and, if you don't, they've been catalogued very nicely here - Top 10 Plays of 2016. My account will be of the plays and players that might either have been overlooked in their impact and importance on a particular game, or have a backstory that you might enjoy. My Top Five Moments are not ranked; they're presented chronologically, so here we go!
No. 1 - Rashad Dillard/Andre Flakes at Southern Miss
No. 2 - Blace Brown at Idaho
No. 3 - Josh Anderson vs. Georgia State
The offseason – if there is such a concept any more in big-time college football – is drawing to a close, and my guys on the radio network and I are about to start buckling down in our preparations for the 2017 Troy football season. At Sun Belt Media Days in the last week of July in New Orleans, Neal Brown pointed out a critical early issue for this team will be to "turn the page" on last year. With that in mind, I'll look back for the final time on the moments from 2016 that meant a little something extra for me.
I don't need to recount the momentous, game-changing moments from the stars of the team; the Trojan Nation remembers them well and, if you don't, they've been catalogued very nicely here - Top 10 Plays of 2016. My account will be of the plays and players that might either have been overlooked in their impact and importance on a particular game, or have a backstory that you might enjoy. My Top Five Moments are not ranked; they're presented chronologically, so here we go!
No. 1 - Rashad Dillard/Andre Flakes at Southern Miss
No. 2 - Blace Brown at Idaho
No. 3 - Josh Anderson vs. Georgia State
If you've missed it, there's a theme developing here: the recognition of the unsung player; the too-short, overlooked, or overachieving player that Troy football takes great pride in developing. I'll be honest: Josh Anderson is one of my favorite football players. He's always smiling, upbeat, polite, thoughtful and would do whatever is asked of him to win a football game. He's also blessed with surprisingly light feet for a 250-pound back and was a great complement to Jordan Chunn in the ground game.
In mid-October last year, the Trojans were catching their stride heading into the home game against a one-win Georgia State team. Troy was up only 17-14 and Georgia State's quarterback Connor Manning was hot that day, so the Trojan offense needed to start the fourth quarter with points, and they needed it badly. After a Panther punt, Troy had possession at midfield, and drew up a "go" route for Deondre Douglas that Brandon Silvers hit for 34 yards on as pretty a ball as you'd ever want to see. Jordan Chunn, who ran 32 times that day, banged into a stone wall for no gain at the 15, then Neal Brown called a pass play, of which one of the called routes was for the running back to get quickly to the near sideline and "camp out"; that running back was Josh Anderson.
It's one of those moments (offensive coaches say those moments are too rare) when everything works in concert. When it does, it's almost like a ballet; when it doesn't, it looks awful. The Trojan offensive line won the line of scrimmage against Georgia State's strong pass rushers, giving Silvers enough time to check down his five receivers. When the first four options weren't available, Silvers –like he has done dozens of times in his Troy career—calmly looked to his final pass option. Anderson wasn't by himself by any means, but made the catch, outran the defense's pursuit angles, and tucked inside the pylon to get the score that got the margin to double-digits, and the Trojans won a very difficult challenge and moved on.
In mid-October last year, the Trojans were catching their stride heading into the home game against a one-win Georgia State team. Troy was up only 17-14 and Georgia State's quarterback Connor Manning was hot that day, so the Trojan offense needed to start the fourth quarter with points, and they needed it badly. After a Panther punt, Troy had possession at midfield, and drew up a "go" route for Deondre Douglas that Brandon Silvers hit for 34 yards on as pretty a ball as you'd ever want to see. Jordan Chunn, who ran 32 times that day, banged into a stone wall for no gain at the 15, then Neal Brown called a pass play, of which one of the called routes was for the running back to get quickly to the near sideline and "camp out"; that running back was Josh Anderson.
It's one of those moments (offensive coaches say those moments are too rare) when everything works in concert. When it does, it's almost like a ballet; when it doesn't, it looks awful. The Trojan offensive line won the line of scrimmage against Georgia State's strong pass rushers, giving Silvers enough time to check down his five receivers. When the first four options weren't available, Silvers –like he has done dozens of times in his Troy career—calmly looked to his final pass option. Anderson wasn't by himself by any means, but made the catch, outran the defense's pursuit angles, and tucked inside the pylon to get the score that got the margin to double-digits, and the Trojans won a very difficult challenge and moved on.
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