Hampton’s play hard to measure

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — OK, so maybe it wasn’t a performance that left Troy fans asking, “Omar Who?” But Jamie Hampton was good enough to answer one of the biggest questions facing the Trojans this season.

His stats line — 17-for-28 for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception — didn’t touch his contribution. He ran the ball 11 times for 41 yards and was sacked twice.

But when a 21-point lead dwindled to seven in the fourth quarter, the 6-foot-2, 206-pound sophomore Hampton made plays. He led the Trojans on an 11-play, 79-yard drive that sealed the 31-17 victory.

“The defense really did a great job for us,” Hampton said, recalling the key drive. “We knew we had struggled the whole second half. We knew we had to score. They had all the momentum. We had to put a drive together.”

Two clutch third-down plays — short passes to Jerrel Jernigan and Kennard Burton — kept that march alive.

“I remember Jerrel catching the ball out in the flat, getting hit, bouncing back and then getting the first down. I was kind of amazed. That’s a really big play,” the sophomore quarterback said.

Three plays later, on third-and-3 at his own 42, Hampton avoided the blitz, rolled to his left and found Burton for 8 yards and a first down.

“He made a really good play. It was a broken play,” Hampton said. “I remember rolling out, and he did a great job of getting open.”

Troy head coach Larry Blakeney liked his quarterback’s poise.

“He’s a pretty cerebral guy,” Blakeney said. “He’s got good physical attributes. He threw an interception that hurt us, but he got hit right in the mouth as he threw the ball. He made some other mistakes, but I like what he did. He can run the football, for sure.”

“I made some plays with my legs,” Hampton said. “There’s a lot of improvement we’ve got to do, especially on third down. But you can’t complain with a win. I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss.”

Face it, you don’t go with a sophomore quarterback making his first start on the road in the season opener and ask him to win the game in the first quarter.

The 6-foot-2, 206-pound left-hander seemed a bit hesitant before pulling the trigger in the first half, double-pumping and pulling the ball down quickly if he didn’t find an open receiver.

But after the training wheels came off in the second half, Hampton’s poise helped the Trojans clinch a Sun Belt Conference game.

His 4-yard touchdown run from the shotgun on first-and-goal put Troy up 7-0.

MTSU failed to capitalize on his only major mistake of the first half — an ill-advised pass to the left flat that went directly into — and out of — the hands of defensive end Chris McCoy.

“You’re gonna make some mistakes,” Hampton said. “We were lucky. He had a clear view if he’d picked it. Luck was on our side.”

On the next play, however, he lofted a touch pass along the left sideline. Burton caught it for a 30-yard gain.

“You gotta shrug off every play and play the next play,” Hampton said. “That’s one thing coach has really harped on.”

Hampton capped that march with a 5-yard touchdown pass to DuJuan Harris, who came out of the backfield.

He fired a strike to Jernigan for 21 yards and a first down on the opening drive of the third quarter. That march ended in Harris’ 33-yard touchdown burst.
Hampton was picked off by Ivon Hickman on a short toss over the middle.

But a key stretch followed when a goal-line stand put the Trojans on their own 1. Hampton took a snap in the shotgun and rushed for 13 yards on first down.

The next play he fired a slant pass to Zack Marcum for eight more yards, steering the Trojans clear of danger.