Focus on Erasing Mistakes as Troy Hosts WKU

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The 2010 football season for the Troy Trojans has gone far from as expected, but as the Trojans get set for their final home game of the year, one thing is certain.

The goal of winning a fifth straight Sun Belt Conference title and representing the league in a bowl game for the fifth time in seven seasons. To see those goals reach fruition, the Trojans have a single task to take care of.

All they have to do is win. With a 5-5 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in league play, the major goals for the season are still within reach, although Troy will need some outside help.

Troy will try to take a major step toward achieving those goals when the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky visit Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and the game will not be televised. Fans unable to attend the game will be able to listed on the Troy Sports Network with Barry McKnight, Jerry Miller and Chris Blackshear on the call.

The contest will also be available via Trojans All Access online. The cost to view the web stream of the game is $5.95. Visit www.TroyTrojans.com and click on the Trojans All Access link for information.

The 2010 Trojans have gone through some severe growing pains to say the least. The last two games, a home loss to FIU and a road defeat at No. 17 South Carolina, have certainly provided the team with the kind of challenges no Troy squad has ever faced.

The Trojans defense, which opened the season with just two returning starters from 2009 and has seen just four players start all 10 games so far this year, has struggled. Over the last two games Troy has allowed 121 points, more than in any other two-game stretch in school history.

All of the blame certainly does not fall at the feet of the defense. The Trojans have turned the ball over nine times over the last two games, 10 if you count a miscue in the punting game last week. Eight of those 10 turnovers, including all six last week at South Carolina, have been converted to touchdowns.

“We are certainly stinging from a performance that was not necessarily Trojan-like,” head coach Larry Blakeney said on Monday. “We gave up six touchdowns on six turnovers in six plays, some just nightmarish circumstances. You hope that you can grow from something like that, although sometimes you wonder how in the heck you can get something out of that.”

What the Trojans have had since that nightmare in Columbia is a week free of distractions. With school out for fall break, the team has been free to focus on football and to focus on Western Kentucky.

The Hilltoppers come into the game with a 2-9 overall record in coach Willie Taggart's first season. WKU sports the league's top rusher in junior Bobby Rainey. In 11 games, Rainey has rushed for 1,492 yards and 13 touchdowns and he is averaging better than 28 attempt per game.

In a result of the strong ground attack, the Hilltoppers have been very competitive, especially in league play. In seven league games this year WKU has scored 189 points for an average of 27 points per game. The Hilltoppers in those same games have allowed 196 points, for an average of 28 points per game.

It should come as no surprise with those numbers that each of WKU's last three Sun Belt game have been decided by a single point.

“They are playing hard,” Blakeney said. “They have some talent on offense. They play hard defensively and on special teams. They aren't going to give us anything. They are not going to come in here and just lie down and say 'these old Trojans have been doing this for a while and we think we'll just lay down and let them go to a bowl.' The game will be won on the field in a 60 minute span of time by the best team.”

For the Hilltoppers, the game at Troy will serve as the season finale. It will be their bowl game and could serve as a springboard for them into the off season with a victory.

“We can go into the offseason in a positive manner with some momentum going into recruiting and offseason workouts,” Taggart said. “It can be a big boost to our team going into next season. Especially against a team like Troy, defending champion, a really good football team. If we can go out and get a victory on the road against a really good football team, it is going to speak to where we are and where we are going for our football team.”

For the Trojans, the game will be the final home appearance for 22 seniors. That group includes seven players who have been at Troy for four years and two – quarterbacks Tanner Jones and Jonathan Chandler – who have been a part of the program for all four previous Sun Belt Conference titles.

“This will be the last time for these seniors to play a home game,” Blakeney said. “We will try to honor them the best we can on Saturday.”

One of those seniors, receiver Jerrel Jernigan, said he has tried not to think about the fact that this will be his final home game.

“It is going to be hard,” Jernigan said. “I promised Coach Blakeney that I would not get emotional. It will be my last game playing at Troy Stadium and I have had a good four years playing here. I appreciate all of the fans and all of the coaching staff who have helped to put me in the position I am in now.”

For those seniors to improve on what has been a 42-6 record at home going back to 2001, including a 17-2 mark over the last four years, the keys are simple – protect the ball on offense, do a good job against the run on defense and continue to play well on special teams.

“I am hoping that the rank-and-file leadership and players on our football team will prepare well,” Blakeney said. “I really and truly think that if we want to win either of these last two games we will have to really play well because either of these teams can beat us or anyone else in our conference.

“The pride factor has to kick in. We have to be all in and get a plan. Everyone has to understand what it is going to take to win.”

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Focus on Erasing Mistakes as Troy Hosts WKU

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