Monroe Continues to Haunt Trojans

Saturday, October 30

Monroe, La.

2:30 p.m.

Troy University

ULM

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

10/30/2010 5:14:43 PM | Football

Loss Ends Troy's 13-game Sun Belt streak

By: Ricky Hazel

BOX SCORE :: PHOTO GALLERY :: NOTES

MONROE, La. - Malone Stadium continues to be a house of horrors for the Troy Trojans, who saw their 13-game Sun Belt Conference win streak come to an end with a 28-14 loss to ULM on Saturday.

It was Troy's third consecutive loss at Malone Stadium, which accounts for almost half of the Trojans' eight league losses since the start of the 2005 season. The Trojans also dropped a 31-30 decision at ULM in 2008 and a 27-3 loss in 2005.

The loss drops the Trojans to 4-3 overall on the year and 3-1 in Sun Belt play. The Warhawks improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the league.

“We got out-coached, we got out-played, we got out-everythinged,” Trojans coach Larry Blakeney said. “You've got to give ULM credit. Their players executed and played hard and tough. They executed in their kicking game. They didn't make many mistakes.”

Troy jumped on top quickly after ULM turned the ball over on the fourth play of the game. A Zach Rhodes fumble was recovered by Sam Sellers at the ULM 48. The Trojans needed just three plays to find the end zone, with Corey Robinson hitting Jamel Johnson for a 28-yard score with 12:52 left in the first quarter.

From there, the rest of the first half belonged to the homestanding Warhawks.

ULM came right back with a three-play scoring drive with freshman quarterback Kolton Browning hitting Tavarese Maye for a 48-yard scoring pass with 11:24 left in the quarter.

After the Trojans failed to move the ball, ULM started at its own 20 and used 12 plays to drive the length of the field. Browning did most of the damage in the drive, passing for 50 yards and rushing for another eight, including the final yard for the score at the 3:06 mark of the quarter.

Troy closed the quarter on the move and marked down to the ULM four yard line before stalling. Michael Taylor came on for a 23 yard field goal attempt, but hit the right upright leaving the Warhawks with a 14-7 lead.

Another Troy drive later in the quarter was aided by three penalties against ULM, two of the personal four variety. Jerrel Jernigan capped the drive with a 16-yard run from the Wildcat formation. Taylor's PAT knotted the score at 14-14 with 7:51 left in the half.

The tie game didn't last long, however. ULM got a 37 yard return of the kickoff and, three plays later, Maye took an end around 43 yards for a touchdown. The PAT put ULM 21-14, which is where the score stayed at halftime.

“They definitely came to play today,” Robinson said. “We figured they would, but they really did it today. They showed up ready to go. Obviously, after the first couple of drives, we didn't. Offensively, you can put that on me. I didn't make very good throws. We've got to have a total team effort every week. We've got to get there and the only way you can go is up.”

A week after managing minus four yards on the ground in a loss at Middle Tennessee, the Warhawks rushed for 109 yards in the first half against the Trojans and piled up 272 yards of total offense.

Troy got the ball to open the second half, but two straight three-and-outs by the ULM defense set the Warhawks up at the 40. Browning led ULM on a nine-play scoring drive that he capped with a nine-yard touchdown run with 4:37 left in the third.

Troy had a chance to cut into the 28-14 ULM lead mid-way through the fourth quarter after a short ULM punt, but the Trojans stalled inside the 10-yard line and ULM intercepted a tipped Robinson pass on fourth down to end the threat.

“We've got good players and we've got some good coaches,” Blakeney said. “We just didn't quite get it done for whatever reason. We've got to do a little self evaluation of ourselves as coaches. We still have everything in front of us if we can put it all together. We've got to find a way to put the pieces together and get us a little running game on offense and quit giving up big plays on defense.”

Robinson finished the afternoon 16-of-38 for 167 yards and the lone touchdown. He was also intercepted twice. Shawn Southward paced the rushing game, totaling 63 yards on 11 carries.

Jonathan Massaquoi continued his strong play on the defensive line with 12 tackles and three tackles-for-loss (two sacks). Kanorris Davis added nine tackles and one TFL. Davis summed up the Trojans' expectations for the rest of the season.

“We are going to win out,” Davis said. “We aren't going to put our heads down. Nothing is going to stop us from going for our goals. The drive for five is still alive.”

The Trojans will try to get the drive back on track next Saturday at North Texas. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.