Troy Football Passes First Test of Training Camp

TROY, Ala. – On the hottest day of training camp so far, Troy Football passed its first major roadblock to the start of the season with its first scrimmage inside Veterans Memorial Stadium. Many fan favorites and household names played sparingly as head coach Jon Sumrall opened the roster to see who would turn some heads.

"I thought there was a lot of back and forth, good on both sides at times and not so good on both sides at times, some good things in the kicking game and some things to clean up in the kicking game," Sumrall said. "It looked like scrimmage one. We kept certain guys on pitch counts, Kimani (Vidal), Dell (Pettus), Grant Betts and some of those guys. I've seen them play a lot of football, so I want to try and get them to the game, but they still need some work, so everybody got some (plays) today."

Troy's offense has been in the spotlight this offseason with sixth-year senior Gunnar Watson at quarterback and veteran leaders Vidal, Marcus Rogers, Betts and Deshon Stoudemire leading the way. The progress was evident on Saturday.

"In five drives, we had three offensive touchdowns, which is a big deal," Sumrall said. "Last year, in five drives in 1s vs. 1s, I don't know how many touchdowns we scored all training camp, so it's a big deal for our offense. Defensively, we still have a ways to go; we also limited some guys who are going to play a lot of snaps."

The rebuilt offense line played a key role in Saturday's success, opening holes for Vidal, Damien Taylor, Asa Martin and Jordan Lovett to carve up big yardage on the ground.

"When you see that one group in totality, they did some good things together," Sumrall said. "It's going to be about who is number six, number seven and number eight; how do you piece it all together. I've talked a lot about how we've got more able, capable bodies; I don't know if we have as many proven guys.

"Jordan Lovett, number 15, man, all training camp when the ball gets in his hand, he seems to be making plays," Sumrall said. "Damien Taylor has made some good plays in the run game; all the running backs have been doing a nice job. They jumped out a little bit today. That's a position that is going to take some wear and tear; Kimani didn't play the first part of the year last year healthy, so you have to be ready for who is your next guy; at least need two ready to go every game who can play at a winning level. We've all seen Kimani play a lot of football, Asa has played a decent amount of football, just not here, and we feel good about what he's doing. And then it's about which of those next guys gives us strengths in certain packages or situations."

It wasn't just the offense that caught Sumrall's attention on Saturday, with the linebackers also drawing some praise.

"I think we've got good depth at that group," Sumrall said. "Last year, I didn't feel as good about our depth there, similar to how we are o-line; I feel much better that we have a deeper group that we can play more people; saw those guys make some plays and do some good things, they need to continue to hone in on the details of their jobs. I did think we made some positive plays; do think we missed some tackles there as well."

Troy is off Sunday before returning to practice Monday and Tuesday prior to school starting Wednesday.

Gallery: (8-12-2023) Scrimmage No. 1

Troy University Athletics

Troy Football Passes First Test of Training Camp

Players Mentioned

Grant Betts

Jordan Lovett

Asa Martin

Marcus Rogers

Deshon Stoudemire

Damien Taylor

Gunnar Watson

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