Trojans Face Navy for First Time

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TROY, Ala. - The Troy Trojans find themselves in uncharted waters at the midway point of the season. Having lost three straight contests and slowly falling out of the discussion for the conference crown, Troy (2-5, 1-3 Sun Belt) will look to return to its winning ways when they head to Annapolis, Md. to take on the slumping United States Naval Academy (2-6).

The Trojans and Midshipmen are set to kickoff at 2:30 p.m. (CT) in a game being televised on CBS Sports Network. Trojan fans can also follow the action on the Troy IMG Sports Network.

It is the first-ever meeting between the two programs, and it may be a culture shock given the different playing styles that both teams employ, with Troy's air-based assault clashing against the Midshipmen's smash-mouth running game.

The men of Troy are coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to FIU, while Navy will look to cap off its Senior Day by snapping a six-game losing streak. Navy's prolific option attack will look run past Troy's rush defense, but Troy head coach Larry Blakeney expects that his team will be ready for the challenge.

“It is a different task. I hope our guys are excited about it,” Blakeney said about the offense that his team is up against. “We're gathering as much information, looking at as much tape as we can. It takes a little studying and some scheming to get ready for it.”

“Navy is a much disciplined, hard playing football team. They know exactly what they want to do, and they execute their offense very well. It forces your defense to certainly be disciplined. Everybody's got to be doing their job, no matter what phase is out there,” Blakeney added.

Another streak that looks to be snapped is quarterback Corey Robinson's lack of touchdowns. The signal-caller has not found the end zone in three of the last four games. Despite this, Robinson says that right now, Troy's biggest concern is getting back to winning games.

“It might be I'm not seeing what I should be seeing, or maybe it's some other things. At the same time, I'm in it to win. I'm not in it to throw touchdown passes. If we run the ball every play and we win, I'll be happy. Hopefully I can turn it around,” Robinson said.

“Right now we're just looking for a win. We don't care who we play. We need to put a whole football game together offensively and defensively. Hopefully we can do that on Saturday.”

Blakeney feels that his team's own rush offense has yet to get on track, and says that becoming more effective from that standpoint can only help his team get into a groove. For the Trojans to do that, Blakeney wants the team to establish its tempo in order to settle into its consistency.

“We need to run it. Normally when we get into a tempo, we get something going, and we're playing fast, we run it. Everybody that's ever coached the game, or watched it very much, knows that you better be able to run the football to produce wins. We've been sort of hit or miss this year,” Blakeney said.

While Navy is in Troy's crosshairs, the Trojans still have bowl eligibility in their sights and refuse to allow the razor-thin defeat at the hands of FIU serve as anything but motivation for the rest of the season.

“We have a chance to finish 7-5,” defensive tackle Tony Davis said. “I think guys are just upset the way things went last Tuesday night. We are definitely improving, and working hard. There's a lot of motivation in the locker room to finish 7-5. We are striving to get better and better every week.”

“We felt like we played really well at FIU and we look to continue from there on into this weekend. We go into these games with the same game-plan, work hard and treat it like it's your last. We've got to come out and play strong, and play the full 60 minutes.”

Robinson echoed his teammate's sentiments, and was chomping at the bit.

“I can't wait to get back on the field after last week's loss. We have to get that out of our head. We still have a chance to go bowling. As far as trying to win the conference, that might be a little bit out of reach. But we still have something to play for.”

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