Troy Football Spring Scrimmage Rewind

TROY, Ala. – Chip Lindsey and the Troy football team took a break from their normal practice routine Saturday for a scrimmage on the turf in The Vet. It was Troy's first game-like action of the spring following eight practices spread over a four-week period of time.

"We had a lot of explosive plays on offense, which is something that we are trying to improve on from last year," Lindsey said. "We had only one turnover, off a tipped ball, and we didn't try and force the ball into coverage, and I thought that was a big improvement for our quarterbacks."

The age-old question of practice is how you compare your offense to your defense and vice versa when determining positives and negatives.

"It is difficult," Lindsey said. "As soon as you're excited about something you did on offense, you're not excited about something you didn't do on defense. What I'd like to see is that we can test everything and when the offense makes a play it's because someone did something outstanding in a 1-on-1 situation and defensively guys are communicating, in position and executing the call."

The defense had the odds stacked against them a little on Saturday as their pressure and stunt packages were limited in base downs and the quarterbacks were off limits.

Three Stars
When asked about three stars from both the offense and the defense, in a nod to hockey, Lindsey was quick to offer praise.

Offensively, offensive lineman Jake Andrews, quarterback Taylor Powell and receiver Marcus Rogers were singled out for their play Saturday.

"Jake is a veteran guy and (offensive coordinator) Luke (Meadows) was bragging on him in our meeting after the scrimmage," Lindsey said. "Taylor handled himself extremely well running a new offense and I was really pleased with what I saw from him, and Marcus really stood out and he is a very talented guy."

On defense, it was linebackers Carlton Martial and Jayden McDonald in addition to nose tackle Luis Medina who earned Lindsey's three stars.

"Carlton is almost unblockable. You think you've got him fooled and he feels it and reacts to make the tackle," Lindsey said. "Jayden really played well on Saturday at will linebacker and Luis stood out amongst a great group of interior defensive linemen."

Inside the Scrimmage
Troy used 12 different offensive linemen during Saturday's scrimmage with the hope to have 10 that the staff can count on during games, while the Trojan tight ends saw some extended action with AJ Lewis and Deyunkrea Lewis taking on bigger roles in Troy's offense.

"We're getting our tight ends more involved with our offense now that we've got two experienced guys at the position," Lindsey said. "Up front we've got about eight guys we feel good about right now, but we need to get that number up to 10. There were a lot of good things to build off of from Saturday for sure."

Despite playing with one hand tied behind their backs for most of the scrimmage, the Troy defense was strong on third down holding the offense to just 3-for-9 on the day.

"We tell the guys all the time, you are what you put on film," Lindsey said. "You have every opportunity in the world to prove your ability and show that you're capable of doing your job on the field. We'll turn the defense loose a little bit more this upcoming scrimmage to give them a chance to show off a little more."

Back to Work
The Trojans are back to the practice fields Tuesday and Thursday with situational work on the docket. Third down, red zone, two-minute and overtime are just some of the key areas expected to be drilled down this week prior to Saturday's second scrimmage of the spring.

Troy University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

AJ Lewis

Deyunkrea Lewis

Carlton Martial

Jayden McDonald

Luis Medina

Taylor Powell

Marcus Rogers

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