Troy University Athletics
Sun Belt Network Game of the Week Features Red Wolves-Trojans
9/23/2010 12:04:56 PM | Football
Trojans will make first appearance on the Sun Belt Network this season
TROY,Ala. - Two of the nation's premier young quarterbacks will square off Saturday when Troy hosts Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Network game of the week. Kick-off is set for 2:30 p.m. from Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy.
Troy's Corey Robinson and ASU's Ryan Aplin shared Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors this past week, but only one of the two can earn a "W" this weekend.
Aplin, who was also named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week after the first week of competition, recorded 318 yards of total offense with a rushing and passing touchdown against ULM last Saturday, while he threw for a school-record 438 yards and two touchdowns the week prior against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Aplin, a redshirt sophomore, is ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference in passing yards (319.7 ypg) and total offense (338.7 ypg). He is also ranked fourth in the nation in passing yards and fifth in total offense. Aplin has thrown for at least 243 yards in every game this season and has posted a completion total that that ranks among the top 10 in school history at both Auburn (28, tied for 3rd most) and ULL (25, tied for sixth most).
Troy's Robinson, a redshirt freshman, appeared in his first collegiate game and made the first start of his career against Bowling Green in the Trojans' first game of the season. Against the Falcons he passed for 252 yards and one touchdown while completing 25-of-37 passes. His 252 yards was the second highest yardage total for any passer in their first start under coach Larry Blakeney.
The next week Robinson passed for 272 yards on 28-of-38 with three touchdowns in near victory at Oklahoma State. Lat week against UAB, Robinson set a new career best total with 404 passing yards while he completed 26-of-44 passes with two touchdowns.
While Arkansas State is playing its third consecutive Sun Belt Conference game, Troy will be third straight team to open their conference slate with the Red Wolves. The Red Wolves picked up their first victory last week against ULM, while Troy has dropped its last two games after picking up a season-opening win over Bowling Green. The game features the Sun Belt Conference's top two ranked offenses early in the season with Troy averaging 470 yards per game and A-State 432.
Arkansas State leads the all-time series with Troy 5-4. The Red Wolves and Trojans first met back in 1951 when ASU picked up a 39- 0 road victory. The two teams split a pair of games in 1991 and 1992 in Jonesboro, but have played the last six games as Sun Belt Conference foes. The Red Wolves won the first three games as SBC opponents, but the Trojans have bounced back to win the last three meetings that includes a 30-27 road victory last season in both team's Sun Belt opener.
Veteran broadcasters Joe Block, Cole Cubelic and Sandra Golden will respectively handle play-by-play, analyst and sideline duties for the Sun Belt Network's 12 game football slate this fall.
2010 Sun Belt Network Football Schedule
Date Game Time (Central)
Sept. 11 - Arkansas State at Louisiana-Lafayette 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 18 - Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas State 7 p.m.
Sept. 25 - Arkansas State at Troy 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 2 - Louisiana-Lafayette at North Texas 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 9 - WKU at FIU 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 16 - FIU at North Texas 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 23 - Florida Atlantic at Arkansas State 12 p.m.
Oct. 30 - Troy at Louisiana-Monroe 2:30 p.m.
Nov. 6 - Sun Belt Network Wildcard Week 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 13 - Sun Belt Network Wildcard Week 2:30 p.m.
Nov. 20 - Sun Belt Network Wildcard Week 3:15 p.m.
Nov. 27 - Sun Belt Network Wildcard Week 2:30 p.m.
All times Central (CT)
Schedule is subject to change
About The Sun Belt Network
The Sun Belt Conference ventured into extraordinary deal with regional sport network partners Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST) in the summer of 2009 to form the Sun Belt Network for regional conference television broadcasts.
The 2010 football season will be the second of a four year marketing, promotion and syndication agreement with CSS and CST that goes through the 2012-13 academic year.
The agreement between the three parties will results in the broadcasting of football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, volleyball, and softball contests throughout the upcoming year.
Through additional distribution agreements the reach of the Sun Belt Network has expanded in the states of Texas (Texas Channel and Charter Denton), Florida (Bright House) and Kentucky (WKYU).
These supplementary distributions beyond CSS and CST provide Sun Belt Network broadcasts to over 15 million households during football season throughout the southeast.
Compared to the previous regional television deals, the Sun Belt Network saw a 25% increase in football broadcasts, a 37% increase in men's basketball broadcasts, and a 40% increase in women's basketball broadcasts in only the first year.
This season each of the Sun Belt Conference nine football playing members will be shown through the regional television package and the last four weeks of the 12 game slate a wild card selection will take place to show that week's most compelling game.
The Sun Belt Network football game of the week will be available in 13 states across the southeast and is often available on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan outside of the CSS and CST markets.
About Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast
CSS is a 24-hour sports channel carrying a full slate of college sports programming and can only be found on cable. With over 40 live football games including the SEC, Sun Belt, Conference USA, and Gulf South Conferences, the channel offers a comprehensive sports lineup throughout the year. The channel also offers more than 175 men's and women's live college basketball games and over 60 live baseball games, as well as a comprehensive mix of sports news and in-depth sports analysis geared toward fans in the south.
About Cox Sports Television
The New Orleans-based sports network launched on October 28, 2002 in front of 450,000 Louisiana viewers. CST has grown over 400% to nearly 2 million in the seven years since launch, making it one of the fastest growing regional sports networks in the south. CST is currently carried on cable systems in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Virginia and is available to Dish Network subscribers (Channel 421) in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans markets. CST is owned and operated by Cox Communications Louisiana, LLC. Initially targeted to be a Louisiana sports network, CST has secured collegiate, professional and high school events that have expanded the networks reach throughout the south.
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