Trojans Are Ready To Hit Someone

GAME INFORMATION | ESPN3 BROADCAST | GAMETRACKER

It has been 258 long days. Days that have been filled with class work, weight training, spring practice, summer conditioning, and, finally, fall camp.

But it has been a long wait for the Troy Trojans since Jamie Hampton took a knee to end the 2010 football season at the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

For the Trojans, the long wait has seemed like torture as the days and weeks slipped by. Throughout the summer, you could see a player on campus and they knew where the countdown stood.

Today, the countdown is at two. Two days before the Trojans take the field again.

Troy will open the 2011 campaign at Clemson, in fabled “Death Valley”, on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. (ET) kickoff. It will be broadcast only on ESPN3.com. Check with your local internet provider for availability.

“It is time to hit somebody with a different color on,” Trojans junior linebacker Brannon Bryan said, echoing the sentiments of his teammates.

Like every other team in college football, the Trojans enter the new season with some questions to answer. The unknowns start at receiver where seven players from the 2010 team are no longer in the program.

Last year one of the unknowns was at quarterback, but Corey Robinson answered those questions by earning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors and capped the year with an MVP performance in New Orleans. He has worked more closely than anyone with the crop of new receivers, and has confidence in them entering the new year.

“We are real excited about Saturday,” Robinson said. “I feel like we are ready to go. I have been telling those young guys that there are just going to be a lot more people watching. We are going to go in there and run our offense and do the same things we do every day in practice.”

To help ease the pressure the new receivers might feel, the Trojans have a stable of talented and experienced backs to shoulder more of the load. Having those backs does not mean the offensive plan will change. They just give the younger guys someone to look to.

“All of us bring different things to the field,” junior running back D.J. Taylor said. “We have different game plans and different sets that we come in for. I have faith in those receivers. We have some young guys, but they just have to step up.”

Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield said there is reason for excitement.

“We have a really good group of guys,” Edenfield said of the receviers. “Most don't have a lot of game experience, but they do have experience in our offense. We are going to try to stay as balanced as we can, using the pass to set up the run.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Trojans return 14 players who have experience as starters for Troy. The group – four linemen, four linebackers and six defensive backs – will not be surprised by anything the new Clemson offense throws at them on Saturday.

“They want to run a fast-paced offense, sort of like what we do here,” junior defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi said. “We just have to communicate, go out there and compete and have fun.”

After a preseason filled with individual accolades, Massaquoi knows that it will take a complete team effort in every game for the Trojans to be successful.

“We have to stick together throughout this battle, throughout the season,” Massaquoi said. “We have so much talent on both sides of the ball. I believe this season is going to be great.”

The optimism the players feel is something the coaching staff also sees and feels.

“This was probably the best off season we have had in the eight years I have been here,” assistant head coach Shayne Wasden said. “Our players see this as an opportunity on a big stage. This is what they signed on for, to be out there on the field in front of 80,000 people. There will be some nervousness, but it will be a fun day for those guys.”

The emphasis on having fun on Saturday is a constant theme.

“I don't know if we will play our best game on Saturday, but we are going to put forth our best effort,” Edenfield said. “We're going to have a lot of fun and see what happens.”

One newcomer, Brynden Trawick, will be playing his first game for Troy, but experienced some electric environments during his freshman season as a player at Michigan State. He said the team can't pay attention to the crowd.

“Don't worry about the crowd, don't worry about outside factors, just play” Trawick said. “I think we are ready.”

Senior lineman James Brown summed up the Trojans' attitude best.

“We have to go play our game,” Brown said. “My daddy always told me growing up that no matter who you play, they are still human. No matter who the opponent is, we have to go at them the same way.”

When the Trojans depart campus on Friday morning, the calendar will be down to one day remaining. For this Troy team, that one last day may be the longest of all 257 that came before.

Troy University Athletics

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