Troy University Athletics
Trojans Turn Attention Toward Homecoming Date With FAU
10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sometimes, even great comebacks fall just short.
Such was the case for the Troy Trojans last Saturday at Louisiana-Lafayette. After spotting the Ragin' Cajuns a 20-0 lead in the third quarter, the Trojans stormed back with 21 fourth quarter points to force the game into overtime.
The game-tying score came on a fade pass from junior Carl Meadows to Smokey Hampton with 22 seconds left on the clock. Meadows came into the game for Julian Foster just prior to the pass after Foster cramped up on the field. It was the first TD reception in Hampton's career and pushed the game to overtime.
After winning the toss for the extra period, the Trojans started on defense and forced ULL to settle for a field goal. On Troy's possession, the Trojans tried to go back to the fade pass to Hampton, but the ball was caught out of bounds. After a pair of runs, Troy lined up for a 37-yard field goal attempt to force a second overtime.
Sophomore kicker Greg Whibbs, who fell victim to Cajun Field's fickle winds in the first half, missing a 32-yard attempt wide to the right, this time missed wide left ending the game.
The Trojans now enter the home stretch of the season needing to win their last three games to secure a winning season. That stretch starts with homecoming this Saturday against Florida Atlantic. The Owls have won just once this season and are coming off an open week in the schedule that corresponded with the arrival of Hurricane Wilma.
FAU students were out of school all last week and are expected to return to class on Tuesday. Many have been without power and have been without the necessities of live for the last week.
It will be FAU's third visit to Movie Gallery Stadium, all for homecoming on the Troy University campus. Troy has an overall record on Homecoming of 30-12-1 and under Coach Larry Blakeney the Trojans are 12-1-1 on homecoming.
This will be the fourth consecutive year that one of the two Sun Belt schools from Florida has been the Homecoming guest at Troy. The Trojans defeated FAU 24-6 last year and 21-6 in 2002 and defeated FIU 21-10 in 2003. The University of North Alabama has been the Trojans most frequent Homecoming guest, having visited 11 times with Troy holding an 8-3 lead in those games.
Troy has an average margin of victory in homecoming games under Blakeney of 17.8.
BLACKOUT:
Troy's Thursday night game against Florida International on October 20 was designated "Blackout" night at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium. The Trojans wore black jerseys and helmets in honor of late Troy All-American Al Lucas. The jersey's which are the same Lucas wore during his final season in 1999, are being sold with all proceeds going toward the Al Lucas Endowment for Student-Athlete Excellence. Many jersey numbers have already been reserved, but many are still available on a first-come, first served basis. Some former Lucas teammates have pledged as much as $1,000 to purchase their jersey and to help the endowment. The minimum cost to purchase one of the jerseys is $125. Contact Wes Allen in the Troy Athletics Department for information on purchasing one of the jerseys.SATURDAY'S MATCHUP:
The Trojans return home to Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium where they are 65-9-1 under Larry Blakeney ... Troy will close the regular season with two of its final three games at home ... FAU has just six players on its roster from outside of Florida, none from Alabama ... Troy has 29 players on its primary roster from the state of Florida ... Troy University has an all-time record of 23-28 in football games against teams from Florida ... The Trojans' most frequent opponent from Florida has been Tampa, which dominated the series against Troy to the tune of 15-1 from 1934-63 ... Troy is 12-9 all-time against current Division I-A schools from Florida ... Troy is 36-28 all-time in televised games ... Since the end of Brock Nutter's record setting four-year run as the Trojans starting quarterback in 2001 (36-12) the Trojans have used five different players at the position. Hansell Bearden had a 4-10 record in 14 starts, Aaron Leak was 9-7 in 16 starts, D.T. McDowell was 4-2 in six starts last year and junior Carl Meadows is 2-4 in six starts this season. Julian Foster is now 1-1 as a starter.
