Troy University Athletics
Mean Green Set To Visit For Sun Belt Tilt
10/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
After enjoying a second week off in three weeks, the Troy Trojans open the stretch run of the 2006 season with the first of six consecutive weeks of football. The Trojans will be looking for their second straight league victory when the Mean Green of North Texas visits this Saturday.
The game is scheduled to be televised on CSS as well as other local and regional outlets.
The Trojans snapped a four-game losing streak last week with a 24-19 victory over UL Monroe. The win got Troy off on the right foot in Sun Belt play, but the Trojans have to keep pace with Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee, both of which are off to 3-0 starts in league play, if they want to win the league title.
North Texas enters this weeks' game off a 29-10 loss at Arkansas State. The Mean Green owns victories over SMU (24-6) and FIU (25-22, 7OT) but have averaged just 6.6 points in their five losses.
Troy's offense showed signs of life in the win over UL Monroe, but turnovers continued to plague the Trojans. Junior quarterback Omar Haugabook was intercepted three times in the game, all on passes that either hit receivers or were deflected at the line of scrimmage. Toss in two lost fumbles and it is easy to see why Troy ranks 101st in the nation in turnover margin this year.
In addition to the spate of turnovers that have plagued Troy this year, the Trojans have been unable to produce a consistent ground attack through the first half of the year. As a team, Troy is averaging just 105.0 yards per game on the ground, which ranks 92nd in the nation. The Trojans' top individual rusher has been junior Kenny Cattouse, but he is one of six players to have led the Trojans in rushing in a game this year and is one of 16 Troy players to have garnered at least one rush attempt this season.
In at attempt to spark both the ground game and the receiving corps, some changes were made on the depth chart. Junior Josh Allen, who had started the first five games at running back, moved back to receiver where he is now the starter at the X position. Senior Smokey Hampton, who had started at X, moved to the Y spot where he now splits time with Toris Rutledge.
Junior Gerald Tate has moved into the backfield where he joins Cattouse, Anthony Jones and freshman Justin Brooks. Brooks earned offensive player of the game honors for Troy last week with 11 carries for a team-high 64 yards and his first two collegiate touchdowns.
On defense, junior Marcus Richardson made his return to the lineup last week after missing just two games with a broken collar bone. But his return was overshadowed by the efforts of freshman Boris Lee, who earned Sun Belt Defensive player of the week honors for his performance against ULM. In addition to seven tackles, Lee forced a fumble and had an interception before leaving the game with a concussion.
His replacement on the field, junior Josh Maxwell, had an interception in the end zone to prevent ULM from taking the lead in the fourth quarter.
Junior Leodis McKelvin also had his first big game of the year as a return man, taking back three ULM kickoffs for a combined 126 yards. The effort earned McKelvin his fifth career Sun Belt special teams player of the week award, and his first of the season.
GAME NOTES
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After senior Andre Morgan left the Troy team early in the season, the Trojans now have just two players on the roster from the state of Texas. Backup punter/kicker Adrian Vera is a native of Conroe, Texas. The junior started his collegiate playing career at Texas Southern before playing last year at Snow College in Utah. North Texas freshman DB Desmon Chatman also hails from Conroe. Junior receiver Rod Foster, who is redshirting this year, is a product of Houston's Kingwood HS.l
Despite the fact that the North Texas roster does not include a single player from the state of Alabama, there are still several members of the Mean Green squad who are former teammates of one Trojan. Troy's Junior Tagovailoa played for one season at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. North Texas has five players who are from that program: Jr. DB Gary Oubre, Jr., QB Woody Wilson, Jr., DB Roy Loren, Jr. DB Aaron Weathers, and Sr. DE Willie Ransom.l
North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey did not travel with his squad to Jonesboro last week for the game against Arkansas State after suffering a heart attach. It is unknown at this time if Dickey will make the trip to Troy. In his absence, assistant head coach Kenny Evans is running the squad.l
Troy is 21-7-1 all-time against teams from the state of Texas.INJURY REPORT
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Senior running back Sean Dawkins (knee) and junior safety Sherrod Martin (shoulders) are out and will both likely redshirt.l
Freshman running back Xavier Walker (knee) continues to be doubtful.l
Senior defensive tackle John Jackson suffered a dislocated toe against Georgia Tech and will return this week.l
Senior safety Derick Pendergrass suffered an fractured ankle against Nebraska and is out for the season.l
Freshman linebacker Boris Lee suffered a concussion against ULM but is expected to play this week.TEAM NOTEBOOK
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Troy played two junior varsity games in October. On Sunday, Oct. 1, the Trojans defeated Huntingdon College 30-6 and on Thursday, Oct. 19, Troy dropped a 24-3 decision to Georgia Military.l
Troy senior defensive back Brannon Condren (Pensacola, Fla.) has received an invitation to play in the 2007 Hula Bowl. The Hula Bowl will be played on January 14, 2007, and will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.l
Since 2000, Troy has failed to force a turnover in a game just 12 times. In those 12 games the Trojans are 0-12. Troy is 38-24 in all other games during that time.l
On the other side, Troy has a 21-4-1 record in games in which the Trojans did not commit a turnover.l
Troy has played 12 true freshmen so far this season, which is tied for the sixth most among all Division I programs. Temple leads the nation, having played 19 true freshmen, while Illinois is second with 16. Next on the list are Ole Miss (14), Kentucky (13) and USC (13). Troy is tied with Florida, LSU and Bowling Green with 12 each. The 12 true freshmen who have played for Troy this year are: WR Cornelius Williams, QB Jonathan Chandler, DB/WR Justin Bray, WR Andrew Davis, LB Boris Lee, DB Chris Bowens, LB Randy Underwood, RB Justin Brooks, RB Josh Brownell, WR Zack Marcum, WR Patrick Cherry and DE Cameron Sheffield.
