Troy University Athletics
Special Teams Drawing Special Attention
10/13/2009 8:15:00 PM | Football
If Troy coach Larry Blakeney was correct when making his preseason Sun Belt Conference picks, then the Trojans will be in for their toughest league battle of the year this weekend.
The Trojans travel to Miami to face the FIU Golden Panthers in what is being billed as a "Black Out" game at FIU Stadium on Saturday night. The kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) and the game is not being televised.
The Trojans know that a serious test awaits them.
"Mario Cristobal has done a great job refurbishing and rebuilding the FIU team, and they are certainly capable," Blakeney said. "I picked them myself to win the league this year. They are going to be sitting at home ready for us, and it's certainly a game where we can't go to sleep and win. We have to prepare well and play well."
The Trojans have never lost to the Golden Panthers, but there lies a lot of danger in playing at FIU. The Trojans realize the capabilities of the Golden Panthers, and they are hoping some rest and hard preparation will have them ready.
"They have a good team," Troy receiver Jerrel Jernigan said. "They have a very good, athletic team. They have a lot of good athletes - T.Y. (Hilton) and their quarterback and running backs. Their defense is pretty decent. They could win the league because they have a lot of athletes."
Special teams is a big phase of the game the Trojans will have to pay special attention to. While the Golden Panthers have won just one game this year, they have not gone down without a fight in their four losses. Special teams have been a big part of their attack, according to Blakeney.
"Certainly we will be challenged at FIU with special teams," Blakeney said. "They are as good as anybody in the league as far as special teams go. Of course, T.Y. Hilton is who everybody wants to talk about. Their punter is a great player, and they are doing a great job in the other facets of special teams."
Hilton certainly offers the Trojans a lot to talk about as well. The receiver is the statistical leader of a multitude of categories in the Sun Belt Conference including all-purpose yardage averaging, just over 182 yards per game. Hilton also is the leading receiver, averaging better than 90 yards per game. He's in the top spot in kick returns as well with an average of a 34 yards return every time he fields the ball.
"We have got to be prepared for T.Y. Hilton and be ready for him to be a factor in the game," Blakeney said. "He is a big factor. He is as good of a football player as there is in our conference."
Defensively the Trojans will be challenged by Hilton and the Golden Panthers offense.
"They are athletic," linebacker Bear Woods said. "They have a good quarterback, and they try to get the ball to receivers in some space. They bank on missed tackles. They try to throw the ball to the receivers and get yards after the catch."
The Trojans are looking forward to getting back on the field after a weekend off. With the win over Middle Tennessee still fresh on their minds, the Trojans are ready to carry momentum to Miami for the next game.
"The team feels good," Woods said. "We're confident, but not too confident. I know, defensively, we want to play a perfect game. We have yet to do that. As you get wins, the wins get harder. The target gets bigger against you."
The game Saturday against FIU starts a stretch of seven straight games for Troy that will carry them to the end of the season. In six of those seven games the Trojans will have to battle to defend the league crown.
Troy Football News Conference Quotes
Head Football Coach Larry Blakeney Wide Receiver Jerrel Jernigan On FIU…..
On FIU…
"Certainly we will be challenged at FIU with special teams. They are as good as anybody in the league as far as special teams goes. Of course T.Y. Hilton is who everybody wants to talk about. Their punter is a great player, and they are doing a great job in the other facets of special teams."
On FIU Coach Mario Cristobal…..
"Mario Cristobal has done a great job refurbishing and rebuilding the FIU team, and they are certainly capable. I picked them myself to win the league this year. They have won against Western Kentucky on the road. They are going to be sitting at home ready for us, and it's certainly a game where we can't go to sleep at the hitch and win. We have to prepare well and play well."
On Troy….
"We're looking forward to the challenge to see how this football team continues to grow. When you're growing, you're growing all the time. You can grow in the wrong direction if you don't take it right. A three game stretch of winning certainly makes it easier when you're winning. At least you feel better about coaching them when your winning. We have got a chance to continue to improve. The key to anybodies season is to continue to improve and get better. You should (get better) if you're handling everything right and stay well you should get better."
On Rest….
"The rest again could be good for us from where we came form with the magnitude of the game with Middle Tennessee in the middle of the week. We got a little something out of the tail end of the week last week. For the most part, not a hundred percent, but for the most part our guys did what we asked them to do. We have to make sure we prepare well in all phases."
On defense…
"We're playing pretty good I think. Middle (Tennessee) was not as able to stretch our deep coverage as I thought they might be. We made some plays on deep coverage. All the guys back there did. Barry Valcin made a couple of big plays back there. We had a couple of big plays from our safeties too. We're getting better I think. We're coaching them hard. We're getting a couple of more guys in the game too. That establishes depth, and I think we're getting better in that regard."
On T.Y. Hilton and possible injury….
"He took a shot on a kickoff return that I saw. It looked pretty nasty. He didn't take it with his foot on the ground though. He obviously saw it coming and he got off the ground and got his knees cut out from under him. I'm not sure about that, and we have got to be prepared for T.Y. Hilton and be ready for him to be a factor in the game. He is a big factor. He is as good of a football player as there is in our conference."
On never losing to FIU….
"I believe that's right that we have never lost to them, but we have had some pretty good dog fights down there. There's always a first time. I can say that. If you go down there asleep at the switch then it's pretty obvious what the outcome will be."
"They have a good team. They have a very good athletic team. They have a lot of good athletes in T.Y. (Hilton) and their quarterback and running backs. Their defense is pretty decent. They could possibly win the league because they have a lot of athletes."
On Troy overall….
"We're playing very good. We're not playing our best, but we're playing pretty good. We have a lot of improving to do. (We have some) Some stuff we've got to correct."
On his season so far….
"I think I've played well. Probably not as good as I played last year. I knew that coming in that a lot of defenses would come in preparing to stop me, and I would need to be a decoy to open up the offense for other players."
On rest…..
"We're not worried at all. We've been practicing and had a good practice last night. All we need to do is keep it up. That helped us. We had a bunch of players that were banged up."
On conference standing….
"We're already in the driver seat. A win this week will help us out a lot. They are 1-1 and we're 2-0."
Quarterback Levi Brown
On rest….
"For me personally the rest has been good. For me personally it helps my shoulder, and for everybody else it helps to have a few days off. It's always nice ot get your legs back under you. It always feels a little bit better after I have some rest, and maybe I'll be able to get some more velocity on the ball."
On FIU….
"Last years going into this game I was nervous. It was my first start, and I was putting a little pressure on myself. This year I don't feel that way. It feels like any other game so I'll be ready to go."
On FIU defense….
"I know they aren't very big on defense, but they are athletic. They are real fast, and they get to the ball well. It's going to be a good game. They were picked at the top of the conference along with us and Arkansas State."
Linebacker Bear Woods
On defensive improvements….
"We've gotten better every week, and that's how it's going to be this week. We started off slow, and every week we at least have one or two people getting better. We played our best game collectively against Middle Tennessee. It's good to get better every week because we just build on our performance from the last week. The guys on our defense see the mistakes we make even with that good performance. We're not anywhere close to where we want to be defensively."
On FIU…..
"They are athletic. They have a good quarterback, and they try to get the ball to receivers with some space. They bank on missed tackles. They try to throw the ball to the receivers and get yards after the catch."
Momentum….
"The team feels good. We're confident, but not too confident. I know defensively that we want to play a perfect game. We have yet to do that. As you get wins the wins get harder. The target gets bigger against you."
