Troy University Athletics
Trojans Hit The Road In Search Of Fourth Straight Win
11/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
It may be the hardest thing for football players to avoid during a race for conference title -- looking ahead.
Avoiding looking past your next opponent, or opponents, toward a pending showdown is easy for fans and the media to do. All they have to say to look past an opponent or two is "if they take care of business..."
For the Troy Trojans, fresh off a third straight Sun Belt Conference home victory, this week has the potential to be one of those dreaded look-ahead games. Looming on the horizon are games against Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee who, along with Troy, are in the best position to challenge for the league title and New Orleans Bowl berth.
All the Trojans have to do is take care of their business this week. As easy as that is to say, it will certainly be much harder to execute against a Florida Atlantic team that is beginning to come into its own. The Owls come into play this week off a hard-fought loss at Middle Tennessee. The previous week FAU blanked Arkansas State 29-0 at Lockhart Stadium.
The trip to south Florida for Troy will be the first, after having played FAU at Movie Gallery Stadium during each of the past three season. FAU owns a 10-7 all-time record at Lockhart Stadium, including a 1-1 mark this year. The Trojans, on the other hand, will be trying to snap a seven-game road losing streak during which Troy has been outscored 203-74. It is the fifth longest road losing streak in school history, trailing streaks of 11 games (1954-56), 10 games (1957-59) and nine games (1981-82 and 2002-03).
The Trojans did put an end to one streak during last Saturday's 42-28 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. Troy had gone 12 games since last producing a 100-yard rusher in a game, the longest such streak in Coach Larry Blakeney's career. Junior Kenny Cattouse put an end to that streak with 172 yards on 24 carries against the Cajuns, scoring two touchdowns, his first two scores of the season.
The performance by Cattouse was also the first 100-yard rushing game allowed by ULL this season. Under Blakeney, only five single-game performances were better than the one turned in by Cattouse, and three of those belong to Troy's all-time leading rusher, DeWhitt Betterson, who had 13 100-yard games in his career.
For the Trojans to run their win streak to four games, which would tie the longest such streak since the program moved to Division I-A, Troy will have to continue to run the ball well, will have to continue to try to cut down on turnovers and will have to continue to win the battle for field position with solid special teams production.
Troy will enter this week's game with two streaks, but only one wil continue. Focusing on the Owls and not looking ahead to future games will insure that the win streak, and not the road losing streak, is alive on the plane trip home.
GAME NOTES
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The Troy roster includes more players from the state of Florida than from any state other than Alabama. A total of 30 members of the Troy squad hail from Florida, including three -- QB Omar Haugabook (Belle Glade), LB Romanique Lewis (Ft. Lauderdale) and redshirting DB Trevor Ford (Miami) -- from southeast Florida. All three Trojans will have former teammates on the other side of the field this week. FAU junior linebacker Cergile Sincere played at Glades Central with Haugabook, while freshman RB Antonio Morris played at Piper HS with Lewis and freshman LB Craig Jenkins played at Miami Northwestern HS with Ford.l
The FAU roster does not include a single player from the state of Alabama.l
Troy is 24-34 all-time against teams from the state of Florida, including a 13-10 mark against current Division I-A schools.l
The game against FAU on the date traditionally set aside as Veterans Day will be the Trojans' 15th all-time game on Nov. 11. Troy has a 10-2-2 record on this date, including a 75-0 victory over Louisiana College in 1967 that ranks as the second largest margin of victory in school history.l
The trip to play at Florida Atlantic will be the second of three trips to Florida for the Trojans this year. Earlier this season Troy dropped a 24-19 decision to then ninth-ranked Florida State. It is the first time since the 1993 season that a Troy team has played as many as three games in a state other than Alabama in the same season. That year, Troy played three times in Louisiana, posting victories over Northwestern State, Nicholls State and McNeese State.
