Troy University Athletics
League Title, Bowl Berth, On The Line at FIU
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
What a difference three minutes can make in a football season.
The 2006 Troy Trojans were less than three minutes from playing a meaningless game this week at Florida International with nothing more at stake than pride. That all changed in the blink of an eye last Saturday as the Trojans scored twice to take a 21-20 victory over Middle Tennessee and make the trip to Florida worth much more than pride.
With the stunning win over the Blue Raiders, the Trojans now stand one win from their first Sun Belt Conference title and a berth in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. All Troy has to do is something that no Trojans team has done since the 2000 season, win a third straight road game.
Needless to say, the Trojans will make the trip to south Florida with newly fortified confidence after shocking the Blue Raiders, who were unbeaten in Sun Belt play prior to Troy's miracle comeback.
The focus for the Trojans now, as it has been for several weeks, is not to put the cart in front of the horse. Despite the fact that FIU in winless this season and ranks in the bottom five in all of Division IA football in five major categories, including last in scoring offense, the Trojans still have to defeat the Golden Panthers or the win over MTSU becomes meaningless.
The key to the game for Troy will be in controlling an aggressive FIU defensive unit that ranks second in the nation in tackles for loss (8.45/game) and seventh in the nation in pass defense (156.27 yards/game). The Trojans will have to focus their efforts of protecting quarterback Omar Haugabook and opening holes for the ground game to attack the FIU front.
Haugabook was sacked four times in the game at Middle Tennessee and the Blue Raiders were credited with a total of 10 tackles for loss in the game. Through three quarters the Trojans had managed just 158 total yards, including just 107 passing yards.
In the final quarter Haugabook completed 14-of-17 passes for 128 yards and two scores. The Trojans might not have even needed the last second heroics if Haugabook's quarterback sneak at the MTSU three yard line with six minutes left in the game been successful.
Against FIU the Trojans should not have to score much. The Panthers have been held to 10 points in their last five games combined. The two previous meetings between the teams resulted in 21-10 and 18-13 victories for the Trojans. This season's FIU team has been held to single digits scoring seven times, including three shutouts.
Regardless of the numbers or the history, this Troy team needs only to focus on one goal. With a win over FIU, their other goals, a Sun Belt title and bowl invitation, will be achieved.
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. Two of the three Trojans will have former teammates on the other side of the field this week. FIU sophomore defensive back Kent Henderson played at Glades Central with Haugabook, while junior defensive lineman Roland Clarke played at played at Miami Northwestern HS with Ford. Another member of the Pathers roster, redshirt freshman fullback John Ellis, played at Pensacola High along with Troy's Marcus Richardson.l
The FIU roster does not include a single player from the state of Alabama. Infact, the FIU roster has just two players from outside Florida, one from Kentucky and one from Indiana.l
Troy is 25-34 all-time against teams from the state of Florida, including a 14-10 mark against current Division I-A schools.l
The game against FIU will mark just the 16th in school history played in the month of December and will be the first on Dec. 2. Troy enters play with an 8-7 record in December games. The first December game for Troy came in 1937 and was a 13-7 loss to Southwest Mississippi on Dec. 3. The most recent December game came in 2004 when the Trojans dropped a 34-21 decision to Northern Illinois in the Silicon Valley Football Classic on Dec. 30.l
The trip to play at Florida International will be the third trip to Florida for the Trojans this year. Earlier this season Troy dropped a 24-19 decision to then ninth-ranked Florida State and then won a 24-17 game at Florida Atlantic. 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.l
With the one-point victory over Middle Tennessee, Troy coach Larry Blakeney improved to 35-26-1 in his career in games decided by seven points or less. The point-by-point breakdown follows: 1-point games (2-2), 2-point games (3-3), 3-point games (8-9), 4-point games (8-3), 5-point games (4-0), 6-point games (2-1) and 7-point games (8-8).
