Troy University Athletics
QB Battle Continues Through T-Day
4/3/2010 8:00:00 PM | Football
TROY - With rising junior Dan Parker out for the rest of the spring, Troy's quarterback competition had been narrowed to three men. After Saturday's scrimmage it might be down to two.
Junior Jamie Hampton passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted once. Freshman Corey Robinson also had a strong day. The Kentucky-native threw two touchdowns and completed 15-of-23 attempts for 194 yards.
Both players saw action with Troy's first team and second team units.
"Both of them are real competitive," head coach Larry Blakeney said. "Corey (Robinson) is a little behind because he hasn't played. He looks to pull it down and run and sometimes that gets you in trouble. They all three have had their moments, but I think we've got to challenge the guys that want to be quarterback here with a leadership role. They have to direct the offense and not be shy to speak up."
The third quarterback, JUCO transfer Greg Jenkins, completed 9-of-19 attempts for 58 yards.
"They are in a battle and they know they are in a battle," Blakeney said.
"I think both of them (Hampton and Robinson) can be our quarterback - the two that have been there the longest. Greg (Jenkins) just needs a ton of reps at quarterback. He can do some things if we need him to, but he probably just needs another year here playing quarterback. I like what I see in most cases."
Troy's defense frustrated the offense in the early goings of the T-Day spring scrimmage. Dropped passes continued to be a problem and freshman Caleb Massey picked off Hampton in the end zone before the offense was finally able to get on the board.
"What's good for one is bad for the other in spring ball," Blakeney said. "I thought the defense maybe got a little better today. It looked like we might have been a little lackluster offensively with some drops, but we handled snaps and did some good things. We also did a lot of bad things."
Cordarell Grider tacked on the first two scores on a pair of 1-yard runs. The first points through the air came on a five-yard grab by Brett Moncrief from Hampton.
Moncrief finished with four catches for 31 yards and the score - his second of the spring.
Shortly thereafter, Robinson found Chip Reeves for 19 yards and the touchdown. He also connected on the long play of the day, a 59-yard strike and rumble for six by Jonathan Chandler. Chandler finished with a team-best 75 yards on the day.
Hampton also had scoring tosses of 18 yards to TJ Mitchell and 12 yards to Bryan Taylor.
DJ Taylor who is looking for increased playing time at the H-back position in 2010, ran for 67 yards on four carries with a long run of 40 yards. Transfer Chris Anderson picked up 24 yards on nine carries.
Freshman Mike Robinson tallied six tackles and a break-up in the secondary. Chris Blanton added six stops with a team-best three break-ups. Both players saw increased action filling in for injured projected starters Willard Ross and Barry Valcin.
One position where the Trojans desperately need a few players to step-up is the defensive line and two men did that on Saturday. Junior Riley Flowers posted two sacks from the tackle spot and defensive end Antonio Harper led the charge with four sacks on the day.
The Trojans will practice next on Monday and conclude spring practice with a scrimmage on Thursday at 6 pm.
