Troy University Athletics
Saturday, December 4
Boca Raton, Fla.
1:00 p.m.
Troy University
44
at
7
Florida Atlantic
Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer
Trojans Clinch Share of Fifth Consecutive Sun Belt Crown
12/4/2010 4:41:23 PM | Football
With a win on Saturday, coupled with a FIU loss the Trojans claim a share of title
GAME NOTES | FINAL STATS | PHOTO GALLERY
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Troy Trojans put a quick damper on any celebration Florida Atlantic had planned for venerable Lockhart Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Trojans raced out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and then coasted to a 44-7 victory over the Owls in the regular season finale for both teams.
Troy improved to 7-5 overall on the year and 5-2 in league play while dropping FAU to 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the Sun Belt. The Trojans learned as they landed that they claimed a share of their fifth consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship as Middle Tennessee defeated FIU on Saturday night.
An announcement on the Trojans' bowl game is expected at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“If FIU loses tonight, which I don't think they will, then we will probably be in New Orleans,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney, who earned his 160th career win, said before learning of the result. “If they win tonight, we'll probably be in Mobile. That is all just a guess.”
There was not much guess-work by the Trojans during the game. Troy held FAU to just 69 yards rushing in the game, the second straight outing in which the Trojans have held an opponent to less than 100 yards.
The Owls did manage 302 yards passing, but needed 41 attempts to get there. The Owls were just 5-of-16 on third downs in the game, and 0-of-3 on fourth down.
“It was similar to Middle where we played a three phase game,” Blakeney said. “I think we built on the performance last week against Western, a good offensive football team. Our kids really responded well this week. We had good practices, a good environment at practice and I think that we had a lot of people who haven't played a lot of football play awfully well.”
Offensively, freshman quarterback Corey Robinson played an almost flawless game. He completed 22-of-31 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns while the Trojans did not commit a turnover for just the second time this year. Robinson completed his 22 passes to 11 different receivers.
“We preached all week about taking care of the football and keeping it out of their hands,” Robinson said. “We knew they have a good offense so we wanted to keep the ball in our hands. They like to keep the ball and play the clock game.”
The Trojans scored on each of their first three possessions on Saturday to take a commanding early lead. Sophomore Shawn Southward posted the first two touchdowns on runs on three and seven yards. The Trojans' PAT attempt was blocked on the second score, leaving Troy with a 13-0 lead.
The second Troy TD drive was set up by a 64-yard fumble return by junior LaDarrius Madden, the first of two recoveries and returns in the game for him.
“I ran out of gas on that first one,” Madden said. “They were overloading the Pee-Wee's (Daniel Sheffield) side, but he was able to get in there and the ball just popped out. I saw it and took off.”
Troy's third possession needed just three plays to go 80 yards as sophomore quarterback Corey Robinson hooked up with Chip Reeves for a 72-yard TD pass.
“He is fast, that is all I can say,” Robinson said. “He ran by the safety and we had a play-action that we tried to set them up on the whole game. The line did a great job on the play-action and gave me a great pocket. Chip did the rest by running right by them for the touchdown.”
After finally being forced to punt on their fourth possession of the day, the Troy defense was put to the test. FAU used 12 plays to drive 55 yards, but the Trojans held on fourth and 23 and took over at their own 27.
From there the Trojans used their ground game to drive 57 yards in 14 plays before settling for a 32-yard field goal from Michael Taylor.
After missing a 49 yard field goal on their next possession, the Trojans needed just five plays to go 80 yards on their final possession of the half, with Robinson hitting a wide-open Brett Moncrief for a 38-yard TD with 43 second left for a 30-0 lead at the break.
The third quarter passed without any scoring, but Troy needed just one play in the fourth quarter to add to its lead. DuJuan Harris ran in from 11 yards out to cap an 11-play, 83-yard drive. The PAT made it 37-0 Trojans.
Troy's defense had a letdown on the next FAU possession. While the defensive line was chasing Owls QB Jeff Van Camp, the secondary allowed Avery Holley to get behind them and Van Camp found him for a 49-yard TD pass.
However, the Trojan defense stood tall to close out the game as Caleb Massey intercepted Van Camps pass with 4:22 left in the final quarter. Troy was able to pound out the rest of the clock with the help of Tanner Jones at quarterback.
“The momentum is huge going into the bowl game,” Robinson said. “To get a big win like this by this many points is huge. We really came together and clicked as an offense, defense and special teams.”
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Troy Trojans put a quick damper on any celebration Florida Atlantic had planned for venerable Lockhart Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Trojans raced out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and then coasted to a 44-7 victory over the Owls in the regular season finale for both teams.
Troy improved to 7-5 overall on the year and 5-2 in league play while dropping FAU to 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the Sun Belt. The Trojans learned as they landed that they claimed a share of their fifth consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship as Middle Tennessee defeated FIU on Saturday night.
An announcement on the Trojans' bowl game is expected at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“If FIU loses tonight, which I don't think they will, then we will probably be in New Orleans,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney, who earned his 160th career win, said before learning of the result. “If they win tonight, we'll probably be in Mobile. That is all just a guess.”
There was not much guess-work by the Trojans during the game. Troy held FAU to just 69 yards rushing in the game, the second straight outing in which the Trojans have held an opponent to less than 100 yards.
The Owls did manage 302 yards passing, but needed 41 attempts to get there. The Owls were just 5-of-16 on third downs in the game, and 0-of-3 on fourth down.
“It was similar to Middle where we played a three phase game,” Blakeney said. “I think we built on the performance last week against Western, a good offensive football team. Our kids really responded well this week. We had good practices, a good environment at practice and I think that we had a lot of people who haven't played a lot of football play awfully well.”
Offensively, freshman quarterback Corey Robinson played an almost flawless game. He completed 22-of-31 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns while the Trojans did not commit a turnover for just the second time this year. Robinson completed his 22 passes to 11 different receivers.
“We preached all week about taking care of the football and keeping it out of their hands,” Robinson said. “We knew they have a good offense so we wanted to keep the ball in our hands. They like to keep the ball and play the clock game.”
The Trojans scored on each of their first three possessions on Saturday to take a commanding early lead. Sophomore Shawn Southward posted the first two touchdowns on runs on three and seven yards. The Trojans' PAT attempt was blocked on the second score, leaving Troy with a 13-0 lead.
The second Troy TD drive was set up by a 64-yard fumble return by junior LaDarrius Madden, the first of two recoveries and returns in the game for him.
“I ran out of gas on that first one,” Madden said. “They were overloading the Pee-Wee's (Daniel Sheffield) side, but he was able to get in there and the ball just popped out. I saw it and took off.”
Troy's third possession needed just three plays to go 80 yards as sophomore quarterback Corey Robinson hooked up with Chip Reeves for a 72-yard TD pass.
“He is fast, that is all I can say,” Robinson said. “He ran by the safety and we had a play-action that we tried to set them up on the whole game. The line did a great job on the play-action and gave me a great pocket. Chip did the rest by running right by them for the touchdown.”
After finally being forced to punt on their fourth possession of the day, the Troy defense was put to the test. FAU used 12 plays to drive 55 yards, but the Trojans held on fourth and 23 and took over at their own 27.
From there the Trojans used their ground game to drive 57 yards in 14 plays before settling for a 32-yard field goal from Michael Taylor.
After missing a 49 yard field goal on their next possession, the Trojans needed just five plays to go 80 yards on their final possession of the half, with Robinson hitting a wide-open Brett Moncrief for a 38-yard TD with 43 second left for a 30-0 lead at the break.
The third quarter passed without any scoring, but Troy needed just one play in the fourth quarter to add to its lead. DuJuan Harris ran in from 11 yards out to cap an 11-play, 83-yard drive. The PAT made it 37-0 Trojans.
Troy's defense had a letdown on the next FAU possession. While the defensive line was chasing Owls QB Jeff Van Camp, the secondary allowed Avery Holley to get behind them and Van Camp found him for a 49-yard TD pass.
However, the Trojan defense stood tall to close out the game as Caleb Massey intercepted Van Camps pass with 4:22 left in the final quarter. Troy was able to pound out the rest of the clock with the help of Tanner Jones at quarterback.
“The momentum is huge going into the bowl game,” Robinson said. “To get a big win like this by this many points is huge. We really came together and clicked as an offense, defense and special teams.”
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