Troy University Athletics
Trojans Looking Forward, Not Back
11/18/2008 6:00:00 AM | Football
The message from members of the Troy University football team came through loud and clear on Monday afternoon ? the LSU game is over.
Despite the heartbreaking manner in which the Trojans lost to the Tigers last Saturday, the players quickly turned their focus to another Louisiana school. The Ragin' Cajuns of UL Lafayette will visit Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium Saturday night at 6 p.m. for a showdown between the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference.
“As far as I see, and as far as the team, LSU was last week,” junior Jorrick Calvin said. “This week is for a championship. It would have been nice to have won that game, but this week it is all business. I don't think anyone is thinking about (last week) now, we are all thinking about ULL.”
By game time on Saturday the Trojans will likely already know if the game is for the league title and berth in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Arkansas State, which is in a three-way tie for third in the league race, hosts Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 2 p.m. An FAU win means that Troy can earn its second trip to New Orleans with a victory over ULL.
But, as important as a berth in the bowl game is, the Trojans said their focus is on winning an outright league title first. Troy has shared the Sun Belt crown the last two years and the players aren't interested in sharing it again.
“Our goal at the start of the year was the be outright champions, the only champions, of the Sun Belt,” senior Terence Moore said. “I don't think we want to settle for anything less.”
Troy coach Larry Blakeney was happy to hear his players talk like that. It was the same sentiment he has expressed since back in August when the team first started working together.
“What we said then was that we wanted to have an opportunity, with two home games at the end, to play for a conference championship,” Blakeney said. ?We have one loss and Lafayette has one loss, and Arkansas State has two. The biggest thing to me is I know what these kids are playing for, and it is not just a bowl. These kids are playing for a championship.”
For Troy to win the outright title, the Trojans must not only beat ULL this week, but must defeat ASU on December 6. That game will also be played at Movie Gallery Stadium.
To emphasize the importance of this one game, Troy University's Chancellor, Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., sent out an e-mail to the entire Troy family on Monday. He encouraged all Trojan fans to be at the game, and to all wear their “Cardinal”.
Director of Athletics Steve Dennis also addressed the media on Monday about the importance of the game and the importance of having a full house.
“I'm really excited about the opportunity to have a full house at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium and there needs to be one there,” Dennis said. “This crowd needs to make a difference in the ball game. I'm taking this as an opportunity to invite everyone to Troy. We want everyone who can to be there, wear cardinal, and stay long.”
On the field, the game this Saturday promises to be explosive. The Trojans and Ragin' Cajuns are the top two offensive teams in the Sun Belt, but they have gotten to the top of the league in different ways.
Troy throws first and runs second, resulting in a passing attack that ranks first in the SBC and 18th in the nation. Despite having not played in enough games to qualify for the national rankings, junior quarterback Levi Brown's numbers are right at the top of the rankings.
By just looking at Brown's stats from his five starts, he ranks third in the nation in completions per game (29.0), ninth in passing yards per game (295.8), 12th in total offense per game (306.0) and 47th in passing efficiency (129.11).
“Even though we loss, I think that showed us that, when we play well we are capable of beating anybody,” Brown said. “I think that is big confidence booster going into the last two games.”
On the other side, ULL relies on a powerful ground game that is ranked third in the nation, averaging 283.7 yards per game. The leader of that attack is senior running back Tyrell Fenroy, who is both the leading active career rusher in college football and just the seventh player in college football history to post four straight 1,000 yard seasons.
“Fenroy and (Michael) Desormeaux make them a dual threat running football team with some measure of option,” Blakeney said. “They do a lot of things, and do a lot of things well. We'll have to really be on our P's and Q's assignment-wise, and we'll have to tackle well. Fenroy is hard to catch if he finds a crease and gets into the secondary. He can really run.”
On the other side, Troy ranks 54th in the nation in rush defense, but 38th in total defense while ULL is 85th in pass defense and 104th in total defense.
This game also brings back bad memories for many of the older players on the Troy team. Just last year, the Trojans had a similar situation, with a home game to lay claim to the Sun Belt title. On that day, FAU was the better team and a loss to the Owls forced Troy to share the league title and, more importantly, resulted in the Trojans staying home during bowl season, despite an 8-4 record.
“This game goes along with the game against FAU last year,” senior Terence Moore said. “It is potentially a conference championship game. Because of what happened last year, and the chance of what could happen this year, it is a big game. I don't want to relive that feeling that I had at the end of last year.”
While the Trojans have the challenge of preparing to face ULL in front of them, it is the challenge that has been laid down to the fans from Dr. Hawkins, Steve Dennis, Coach Blakeney and the players that will likely determine how successful the game is.
“My challenge is to the players and coaches to get it right,” Blakeney said. “My challenge is also to our people. There's no Auburn and Alabama game this week. If you are Troy related, we need you to come help us win this league. A lot of the marbles, if not all of the marbles will be on the table Saturday night at 6 o'clock.”
Calvin echoed his coaches' sentiments.
“It is going to be wonderful,” Calvin said. “I hope that our fans show up and give us that little extra. To be at home for two games to determine your goal, I would take that any day. I think it is going to be a good atmosphere and I think that we are going to take care of business.”
Despite the heartbreaking manner in which the Trojans lost to the Tigers last Saturday, the players quickly turned their focus to another Louisiana school. The Ragin' Cajuns of UL Lafayette will visit Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium Saturday night at 6 p.m. for a showdown between the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference.
“As far as I see, and as far as the team, LSU was last week,” junior Jorrick Calvin said. “This week is for a championship. It would have been nice to have won that game, but this week it is all business. I don't think anyone is thinking about (last week) now, we are all thinking about ULL.”
By game time on Saturday the Trojans will likely already know if the game is for the league title and berth in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Arkansas State, which is in a three-way tie for third in the league race, hosts Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 2 p.m. An FAU win means that Troy can earn its second trip to New Orleans with a victory over ULL.
But, as important as a berth in the bowl game is, the Trojans said their focus is on winning an outright league title first. Troy has shared the Sun Belt crown the last two years and the players aren't interested in sharing it again.
“Our goal at the start of the year was the be outright champions, the only champions, of the Sun Belt,” senior Terence Moore said. “I don't think we want to settle for anything less.”
Troy coach Larry Blakeney was happy to hear his players talk like that. It was the same sentiment he has expressed since back in August when the team first started working together.
“What we said then was that we wanted to have an opportunity, with two home games at the end, to play for a conference championship,” Blakeney said. ?We have one loss and Lafayette has one loss, and Arkansas State has two. The biggest thing to me is I know what these kids are playing for, and it is not just a bowl. These kids are playing for a championship.”
For Troy to win the outright title, the Trojans must not only beat ULL this week, but must defeat ASU on December 6. That game will also be played at Movie Gallery Stadium.
To emphasize the importance of this one game, Troy University's Chancellor, Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., sent out an e-mail to the entire Troy family on Monday. He encouraged all Trojan fans to be at the game, and to all wear their “Cardinal”.
Director of Athletics Steve Dennis also addressed the media on Monday about the importance of the game and the importance of having a full house.
“I'm really excited about the opportunity to have a full house at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium and there needs to be one there,” Dennis said. “This crowd needs to make a difference in the ball game. I'm taking this as an opportunity to invite everyone to Troy. We want everyone who can to be there, wear cardinal, and stay long.”
On the field, the game this Saturday promises to be explosive. The Trojans and Ragin' Cajuns are the top two offensive teams in the Sun Belt, but they have gotten to the top of the league in different ways.
Troy throws first and runs second, resulting in a passing attack that ranks first in the SBC and 18th in the nation. Despite having not played in enough games to qualify for the national rankings, junior quarterback Levi Brown's numbers are right at the top of the rankings.
By just looking at Brown's stats from his five starts, he ranks third in the nation in completions per game (29.0), ninth in passing yards per game (295.8), 12th in total offense per game (306.0) and 47th in passing efficiency (129.11).
“Even though we loss, I think that showed us that, when we play well we are capable of beating anybody,” Brown said. “I think that is big confidence booster going into the last two games.”
On the other side, ULL relies on a powerful ground game that is ranked third in the nation, averaging 283.7 yards per game. The leader of that attack is senior running back Tyrell Fenroy, who is both the leading active career rusher in college football and just the seventh player in college football history to post four straight 1,000 yard seasons.
“Fenroy and (Michael) Desormeaux make them a dual threat running football team with some measure of option,” Blakeney said. “They do a lot of things, and do a lot of things well. We'll have to really be on our P's and Q's assignment-wise, and we'll have to tackle well. Fenroy is hard to catch if he finds a crease and gets into the secondary. He can really run.”
On the other side, Troy ranks 54th in the nation in rush defense, but 38th in total defense while ULL is 85th in pass defense and 104th in total defense.
This game also brings back bad memories for many of the older players on the Troy team. Just last year, the Trojans had a similar situation, with a home game to lay claim to the Sun Belt title. On that day, FAU was the better team and a loss to the Owls forced Troy to share the league title and, more importantly, resulted in the Trojans staying home during bowl season, despite an 8-4 record.
“This game goes along with the game against FAU last year,” senior Terence Moore said. “It is potentially a conference championship game. Because of what happened last year, and the chance of what could happen this year, it is a big game. I don't want to relive that feeling that I had at the end of last year.”
While the Trojans have the challenge of preparing to face ULL in front of them, it is the challenge that has been laid down to the fans from Dr. Hawkins, Steve Dennis, Coach Blakeney and the players that will likely determine how successful the game is.
“My challenge is to the players and coaches to get it right,” Blakeney said. “My challenge is also to our people. There's no Auburn and Alabama game this week. If you are Troy related, we need you to come help us win this league. A lot of the marbles, if not all of the marbles will be on the table Saturday night at 6 o'clock.”
Calvin echoed his coaches' sentiments.
“It is going to be wonderful,” Calvin said. “I hope that our fans show up and give us that little extra. To be at home for two games to determine your goal, I would take that any day. I think it is going to be a good atmosphere and I think that we are going to take care of business.”
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