Troy University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Football Mid-Week Notebook
9/16/2015 2:29:00 PM | Football
• Neal Brown, the second youngest head football coach in Division I, collected his first victory as a head coach on Saturday versus Charleston Southern. He made sure to keep a football from the game as a memento.Â
"It's in my office right now," Brown said of the game ball. "It hasn't made its way home yet."
• Senior receiver Teddy Ruben was named the Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week. He returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, adding to his receiving touchdowns of 47 and six yards in the first quarter.Â
"He's going to be really good for us," quarterback Brandon Silvers said of Ruben. "He had three touchdowns. If we can get him about 10 or 12 more I think that'd be good for us. He's a guy that can win in man coverage, and he can do a lot of things down field."
• Silvers and the Trojans hit the road again this week and head into a hostile environment at Camp Randall Stadium versus Wisconsin.
"It's going to be fun," Silvers said. "It's going to be really exciting. I can't wait to go up there. It's going to be a little better than N.C. State atmosphere-wise, so I'm excited to go up there."
• It will be a loud atmosphere when the Trojans are on offense playing in a stadium with a capacity of 80,321. Running back Brandon Burks is also looking forward to playing at Camp Randall. He added that the best atmosphere he's been in was Tennessee his freshman year.
"That's one of the biggest places I've been," Burks said of Neyland Stadium. "It was loud. I enjoy going to different places because I don't get to travel much between football and school, so I like going to these places. I don't let the crowds intimidate me. I just like to have fun."
• Burks said of Wisconsin's defense, "They're pretty sound. They get to the ball, and their open-field tackling is very good. It's going to be a challenge."
• Silvers has also been impressed with the Badgers. "They're big and they're fast," he said. "They just beat Miami of Ohio pretty good. We've got a tough test this weekend but we'll be ready for it."
Wisconsin (1-1) lost to Alabama 35-17 and defeated Miami of Ohio 58-0.
• Burks scored a highlight touchdown in the third quarter versus Charleston Southern as he hurdled a defender and flipped into the end zone. He competed in the long jump in high school and has always had leaping ability.
"I was in Enterprise at Coppinville Junior High School when I first dunked a basketball," Burks said. "I was in seventh grade, so I was about five-foot-seven then."
• Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said that the Trojans spent time in August preparing for different looks and different schemes that they will face throughout the season.
• Wisconsin is also in the first year of a new head coach with Gary Andersen leaving for Oregon State and Paul Chryst taking over after coaching at Pittsburgh. Koenning said that Wisconsin's offense this season isn't much different from in the past as a power-running I-formation team, and that they're actually similar to North Carolina State, who Troy played in week one, because of common roots between Chryst and Dave Doeren.
"It's different in that with Charleston Southern you've got to account for the quarterback run," Koenning explained. "With Wisconsin you've got to account for big 350-pound dudes pulling around. You've got to account for multiple tight ends. It's a little bit more like N.C. State, and quite frankly there are a lot of similarities."
Chryst and Doeren served as offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively, at Wisconsin. Chryst was at Wisconsin from 2005-2011 and Doeren was there from 2006-2010.
"It's in my office right now," Brown said of the game ball. "It hasn't made its way home yet."
• Senior receiver Teddy Ruben was named the Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week. He returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, adding to his receiving touchdowns of 47 and six yards in the first quarter.Â
"He's going to be really good for us," quarterback Brandon Silvers said of Ruben. "He had three touchdowns. If we can get him about 10 or 12 more I think that'd be good for us. He's a guy that can win in man coverage, and he can do a lot of things down field."
• Silvers and the Trojans hit the road again this week and head into a hostile environment at Camp Randall Stadium versus Wisconsin.
"It's going to be fun," Silvers said. "It's going to be really exciting. I can't wait to go up there. It's going to be a little better than N.C. State atmosphere-wise, so I'm excited to go up there."
• It will be a loud atmosphere when the Trojans are on offense playing in a stadium with a capacity of 80,321. Running back Brandon Burks is also looking forward to playing at Camp Randall. He added that the best atmosphere he's been in was Tennessee his freshman year.
"That's one of the biggest places I've been," Burks said of Neyland Stadium. "It was loud. I enjoy going to different places because I don't get to travel much between football and school, so I like going to these places. I don't let the crowds intimidate me. I just like to have fun."
• Burks said of Wisconsin's defense, "They're pretty sound. They get to the ball, and their open-field tackling is very good. It's going to be a challenge."
• Silvers has also been impressed with the Badgers. "They're big and they're fast," he said. "They just beat Miami of Ohio pretty good. We've got a tough test this weekend but we'll be ready for it."
Wisconsin (1-1) lost to Alabama 35-17 and defeated Miami of Ohio 58-0.
• Burks scored a highlight touchdown in the third quarter versus Charleston Southern as he hurdled a defender and flipped into the end zone. He competed in the long jump in high school and has always had leaping ability.
"I was in Enterprise at Coppinville Junior High School when I first dunked a basketball," Burks said. "I was in seventh grade, so I was about five-foot-seven then."
• Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said that the Trojans spent time in August preparing for different looks and different schemes that they will face throughout the season.
• Wisconsin is also in the first year of a new head coach with Gary Andersen leaving for Oregon State and Paul Chryst taking over after coaching at Pittsburgh. Koenning said that Wisconsin's offense this season isn't much different from in the past as a power-running I-formation team, and that they're actually similar to North Carolina State, who Troy played in week one, because of common roots between Chryst and Dave Doeren.
"It's different in that with Charleston Southern you've got to account for the quarterback run," Koenning explained. "With Wisconsin you've got to account for big 350-pound dudes pulling around. You've got to account for multiple tight ends. It's a little bit more like N.C. State, and quite frankly there are a lot of similarities."
Chryst and Doeren served as offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively, at Wisconsin. Chryst was at Wisconsin from 2005-2011 and Doeren was there from 2006-2010.
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