Trojans’ Drive For Five Down to One Game

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Throughout the 2010 season the mantra for the Troy University football team has been “The Drive for Five” – meaning five straight Sun Belt Conference titles.

That drive will come to its conclusion this Saturday when the Trojans travel to always hostile Lockhart Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla., for a regular season finale against rival Florida Atlantic. Kickoff against the Owls is slated for 1 p.m. (CT) and the game will be nationally televised by ESPNU with Rob Stone and former Florida State quarterback Danny Kanell on the call.

The game will also be available online through the FAU Owls All-Access as well as through the Troy Sports Network on radio with Barry McKnight, Jerry Miller and Chris Blackshear on the call.

The final push in the Drive for Five is simple, although the Trojans will find themselves in the strange position of cheering for arch-rival Middle Tennessee in the Blue Raiders' game with league-leading FIU. If Troy can earn a victory over FAU and have MTSU, which needs a win to reach bowl eligibility, upset FIU, then the Trojans would share the league crown with the Panthers.

The Trojans understand that the only thing within their control is the game with FAU. A victory would get Troy (6-5, 5-2) to seven wins on the year, enhancing the teams' bowl resume. FAU (4-7, 3-4) saw its opportunity to get to six wins come to an end last week with a 38-14 loss to the Blue Raiders.

“Seven is heaven, I can tell you that,” Trojans coach Larry Blakeney said. “I told the players that. Seven is what we are looking for and, if it happens with the Drive for Five deal, that is fine. If we can get to seven we should have an opportunity to go to a pretty nice place, I hope.

“I started our meeting out on Sunday with Seven is Heaven. The Drive for Five has been a good little moniker for us, but it has been tough. FIU happens to be on top right now, but anything can happen in this league. I would hate to see Middle Tennessee go down to FIU and win and us not win. The things that we have said all along could happen.”

The Trojans know from past history that getting a win over the Owls will be anything from easy. Although Troy leads the all-time series with FAU 6-1, the rivalry between the teams is very different from the one between Troy and MTSU. Games between the teams in the past have taken on a little bit of a nasty flavor.

Simply, the players on the two teams just don't like each other.

“It is a rivalry game where they hate us and we hate them,” Troy senior receiver Jerrel Jernigan said. “We will be hyped up for the game and they will be hyped up, like always. There will be some trash talking before the game and during the game. It will be up to us to stay focused during the game and not lose our focus.”

Despite the tension between the teams, and the Owls record this year, the Trojans know they will be facing a formidable opponent. Realistically, only one statistic is needed to describe the kind of team FAU has, and that is a score from the Shula Bowl on October 30 – Florida Atlantic 21, FIU 9.

“I know it sounds elementary, but we have to be able to deal with all of the things they do, and do well, offensively,” Blakeney said. “They are a misdirection passing team who will throw to the tight end a lot. They will also throw it outside on the deep comeback and the next thing you know they put on a double move and beat you deep. They have some big, big receivers. Our guys are going to have to get their lariats out and throw it around their ankles. We have to generate some points and they are always fast and physical on defense.”

The Owls are led offensively by a talented trio. Senior quarterback Jeff Van Camp has emerged from the shadow of Rusty Smith and had a solid season, passing 2,157 yards and 16 touchdowns. Many of those passes are targeted for senior Lester Jean, who leads the Sun Belt in receiving yards, having caught 58 balls for 936 yards and eight scores.

On the ground, FAU has junior Alfred Morris to carry the load. He has carried the ball 214 times for 882 yards and seven scores this year.

The FAU offensive attack is similar in nature to what the Trojans have seen in the last two games, which should help in preparation, but execution will still be the key for Troy.

“Last week we saw (WKU's) quarterback overthrow a lot of guys, but this week I don't think that will happen,” junior linebacker Xavier Lamb said. “We have to really be focused on what we have to do in coverage. In the past we have been there, but we have really been messing up. We have to really remain focused this week because they run a very similar offense to Western Kentucky and South Carolina, so that should be good for us because we have been practicing against the same thing for three weeks.”

While the Owls offense has gotten the full attention of the Trojans, the offensive player for Troy know going in that they will have to put points on the board to take pressure off the defense.

“I definitely feel like FAU has a lot of big targets they can go to and they have a good quarterback so it is a challenge to go see if we can go down there and put up more yards and points than they do to help our defense out,” quarterback Corey Robinson said. “We have to have a good week of practice. They have a talented defense, and they always have good players there.”

The Owls will have some additional motivation against Troy because of the historic nature of the game. The contest will be the 300th in the career of FAU head coach Howard Schnellenberger. The contest also pits two of the most successful active coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Troy coach Larry Blakeney enters the game looking for career victory number 160 and stands 10th among active coaches in career victories. Schnellenberger is right behind him in 11th with 157 career wins. Together, the pair has 46 years of experience as college head coaches.

“The man is a great coach, especially as an offensive coach,” Blakeney said of Schnellenberger. “They know exactly what they want to do and they recruit to it. They do the same things every year. They do a great job of running the football and in the play-action passing game. Hopefully we will have a good, three-phase, plan and we'll be able to execute it at Lockhart Stadium and find a way to win. It is not going to be easy.”

If the Trojans can come away with that victory to reach “Seven Heaven” the entire team will instantly, but grudgingly, become Blue Raiders fans.

“Absolutely,” Robinson said. “I want them to take down FIU and I am going to be a Blue Raider.”

Jernigan agreed.

“This will probably be the first time I have ever rooted for Middle Tenn.”

Lamb was not able to say it as easily as the others, but he also will be pulling for MTSU.

“Uhhh ..... yeah, we are (laughs),” Lamb said. “We still want to get that Drive for Five. I know that Middle Tennessee has been working hard because they want to get those six wins. It should be a good game.”

But the focus is squarely on taking care of business on the field. For some, the memory of losing to the Owls in 2007 is still a bitter one.

“We think about it a lot,” Jernigan said. “Me, personally, I don't want us to end up like we did my freshman year when we won eight games and didn't get to go to a bowl game. We need to go ahead and win this game to put the icing on the cake.”

Troy University Athletics

Trojans’ Drive For Five Down to One Game

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