Troy University Athletics
Troy Completes Final Fall Scrimmage
8/21/2010 1:05:26 PM | Football
Special Teams the Focus of Morning Session
TROY – The Trojans completed their final scrimmage on Saturday morning working an hour-and-a-half, primarily in special teams situations.
The team got work in on all facets of special teams, specifically getting reps for place kicker Michael Taylor and punter Will Goggans. Taylor was perfect on five field goal attempts with a long kick of 46 yards.
Reserve kickers Anthony Cetrangelo and Dylan Johnson also had some opportunities to work on kick-offs.
“There was some good and some bad, like it always is,” head coach Larry Blakeney said. “We got some good work done on the kicking game. I thought we did some good things on both sides of the ball, but it looked like we got tired on long drives. That is not a good sign, but it is hot, and some of that is to be expected. We just have to make sure that we are in game shape when we get to September.”
The scrimmage also allowed Troy's coverage teams to get some work against scout team return men.
Additionally, Troy did run close to 50 plays with the first team and second team offensive and defensive units getting most of the work. The Trojans used three quarterbacks on the day.
Corey Robinson led the Trojans top unit and he completed 6-of-12 passes on the morning for 68 yards. Jamie Hampton saw action with the second team and was successful on 2-of-6 attempts for 54 yards.
Third string quarterback Greg Jenkins completed 1-of-2 attempts for 21 yards and a touchdown to Jamel Johnson.
“[Robinson and Hampton] both did some good things,” Blakeney said. “I don't doubt that we will wind up having to play both guys. I am not sure how it is going to pan out in the next few days. They are both doing some great things, but sometimes they do things to hurt themselves. Most quarterbacks will do that if they play enough snaps.
"We have to figure out what is best for the team. Which guy, and what role each guy will play. I am not afraid to play two, I have done it before. I would prefer to have one guy lead the way. They are a little different, with different situational skills, which will sometime dictate that we play different guys. I'll get together with the coordinator and the quarterback coach and we will move on from there.”
The air game was not the focus during most of the 11-on-11 work. Troy's running backs saw a heavy dose of action with more than 30 plays being completed on the ground.
“A lot of times we caught the defense when they were not quite lined up by being in our hurry-up mode,” Blakeney said. “We just handed the ball off and found some creases. Most of the time the backs tried to take the first crease and just stick it up in there, and that is normally how you get good runs.”
#D.J. Taylor# paced the Troy runners with 45 yards on three carries and a touchdown, highlighted by a 36-yard scamper to the end zone late in the scrimmage.
Chris Anderson carried seven times for 27 yards, while DuJuan Harris and #T.J. Mitchell# both recorded 20 yards on five carries.
Robinson and Jonathan Chandler both recorded touchdown runs on draw plays.
No Troy receiver posted more than one reception, but Anthony Williams hauled in a 46-yard pass from Hampton, while Tebiarus Gill was on the receiving end of a 31-yard bomb from Robinson.
The Troy defense was led by Jonathan Massaquoi. The sophomore defensive end totaled four tackles with one TFL and a hurry. Donnell Golden also added four tackles and Xavier Lamb tallied three stops.
With scrimmages behind them and player roles nearly complete, the Trojans now begin to turn their attention to Bowling Green.
“We are going to look at them a little more next week,” Blakeney said. “We still need to work against each other some for speed and competition, but we will probably go against the scout teams for six or seven periods at the end of practice to get ready for Bowling Green.”
Troy kicks off the 2010 season on September 4 at Veterans Memorial Stadium. For ticket information call 1-877-878-WINS.
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