Troy University Athletics
Trojans Chasing Perfection
11/23/2009 5:00:00 PM | Football
With no less than a share of a fourth straight Sun Belt title already in their pockets, the Troy Trojans hope to make their weekend trip to Lafayette, La., one for the history books.
With a victory over the Ragin' Cajuns, the Trojans would become the first team ever to finish with a record of 8-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. A win also would give the Trojans the most wins in a season since making the transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
"We are blessed to be sitting where we're sitting," Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Louisiana-Lafayette's Cajun Field. The game not be televised, but will be available on Trojan Game Pass. The game will also be broadcast on the Troy/ISP Sports Network.
"We sure would like to close this thing out with a clean slate in the league," Blakeney said. "They are playing pretty good. They have six wins right now, and I know they will be inspired also trying get to the seven win plateau. They'll be at home, and it probably be wild down there. We're going to try to prepare well, and get us some good plans."
The Trojans have won three of the last four meetings against the Ragin' Cajuns and averaged 46 points a game in the last three meetings, but the Trojans know their opponent well and respect their ability to the highest degree.
"They are good enough to beat anybody in this league," Blakeney said. "If things changed just a little bit, they could be undefeated headed into this game. There have been some close contests for them."
Troy junior DuJuan Harris was a one-man wrecking crew of the Ragin' Cajuns in the 2008 meeting when he posted a career day. Harris blasted 234 yards in the ground game and punched in two touchdowns. Troy won that meeting 48-3, and in very uncharacteristic fashion only passed for 68 yards.
"Things were clicking, and plays kept getting called and I was executing," Harris said about the 2008 meeting. "I hope it's a repeat of last year but, if not, we just need to get the 'W'. That's basically it. This is big this weekend ... history. I feel like it's the biggest game I've ever been a part of. Going undefeated in the conference, a lot of teams don't get a chance to ever do that."
Quarterback Levi Brown agreed and said that winning one monumental game can lead to other monumental wins such as a bowl victory.
"It's really important for us," Brown said. "Our goal is to win the conference but our side goal is to do it undefeated. We're hoping to end the regular season on a good note with some momentum headed to a bowl game. There's some good motivation for us to win."
Brown, who had another career day last Saturday against Florida Atlantic, was named Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. It was Brown's league record fifth Player of the Week award this year.
The senior enters play this week needing 114 passing yards to set a new Sun Belt mark, and he needs 425 passing yards to become the first player in league history to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.
The Trojans took two of the three player of the week awards from the Sun Belt this week, with senior linebacker Bear Woods earning his first of the year. He is the third different Troy player, joining with Bryan Willis and Boris Lee, to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors.
With school out of session for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Trojans will be focused entirely on football. The team will enjoy Thanksgiving dinner together on Thursday.
"It will be special for us to all enjoy Thanksgiving together as a team," Woods said. "I'm sure some of the younger guys would like to be able to go home, but this is one of the last times for us seniors to get to spend time together with the entire team, and I am looking forward to it."
