Harris looking for breakout game as Troy hosts Middle Tennessee

TROY — The star of last year’s Troy win over Middle Tennessee is looking for his breakout game of 2009.

Troy junior running back DuJuan Harris made a statement in last year’s season opener, a 31-17 win at MTSU, running for 148 yards and two scores and catching another touchdown pass.

He would go on to rush for 1,077 yards last year. This year, Harris has just 161 yards in four games. Troy (2-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) hosts MTSU (3-1, 1-0) today at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Harris has scored three rushing touchdowns this year, but has rebounded from a 10-carry, 8-yard performance in this year’s opener with 44, 61 and 48 yards in the next three games.

After last year’s opener, Harris went six games before breaking the 100-yard mark and did that three times in the last five games, including 234 against UL-Lafayette.

He’s taken a back seat to the stellar play of quarterback Levi Brown, who has thrown for 768 yards in the last two games, both Troy wins.

“It’s coming,” Harris said. “It’s going to take some time. Got to be patient, can’t rush it, just play the game. Play every down as hard as you can with the best of your ability and it’ll come.”

If Harris doesn’t reach the 1,000-yard mark this year, it’ll be because of the play of freshman Shawn Southward, who has proven he can compliment Harris’ style. Southward is almost fully recovered from a tweaked ankle against Florida on Sept. 12.

“We need him healthy because he can add something for us,” offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “They’re both going to play. DuJuan does some things better than him, and Shawn does some things better than DuJuan.”

ESPN brings out the best in Troy: Despite a loss on ESPN in last year’s New Orleans Bowl to Southern Miss, Troy is normally at its best on the ESPN family of networks.

Top games on the ESPN family include a 41-17 win over Rice in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl and blowout home wins over Oklahoma State (41-23) and MTSU (45-7) in 2007. Troy also beat Missouri 24-14 in 2004 on national TV.

“That bowl game (last year), we all know that game,” linebacker Bear Woods said. “We’ve got to do better than that. We turn it up for ESPN games. We all know that’s such a big part for Troy.

“That’s one of the few times this university gets seen with national recognition and we try to take advantage of it.”

Right tackle situation a gametime decision: Brown said redshirt freshman Kyle Wilborn, who started the first three games, would be available this week after missing the Arkansas State game with an ankle injury.

But he didn’t commit to naming a starter Sunday, saying it would be Wilborn or juniors Tyler Graves and Nate Newland. The duo split time at right tackle against ASU.