Troy notes: FAU rivalry a bitter one

TROY—It’s no secret that Troy and Florida Atlantic are bitter rivals, but Troy linebacker Bear Woods said he didn’t hear much out of FAU during Saturday’s 47-21 win by the Trojans.

“That was probably the most non-chippy FAU game I’ve been in and I think that’s because we established who’s the team right before the get-go,” Woods said. “We made them lay down.”

The teams crossed paths two hours before the game started, as FAU huddled around the Troy logo for its normal pregame prayer right before Troy came to the field for their pregame prayer.

Some words were exchanged, Woods said, but that’s as far as it went. The Trojans had plenty of motivation for this game because FAU was the last team to beat Troy in Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium, a 38-32 win in 2007.

“Thankfully they made some comments before the game to eat that up, so hopefully they can think about that on the way home,” Woods said.

FAU committed 17 penalties for 156 yards to Troy’s four for 35 yards. One late-hit penalty came when FAU’s Marcus Bartels hit Troy quarterback Levi Brown out of bounds on a fourth-quarter run.

Brown got up and had a not-so-pleasant conversation with Bartels, thinking back to last year’s game when then-starter Jamie Hampton was lost for the season with a knee injury.

“Not only did he hit me late, but he hit me down low around my knees,” Brown said. “Part of it is that I’m good friends with Jamie. He’s my roommate and I had flashbacks as to what happened to him. Jamie kinda popped in my head, so it got to me a little bit. I shouldn’t have said something to him, but I did.”

Woods had his own thoughts on the penalty.

“Levi needs to be a little faster,” Woods said. “Nah, that was pretty sorry. We expected that out of them.”

Freshman receiver misses game

Freshman receiver Josh Jarboe was not dressed out and nowhere to be seen on the sidelines Saturday.

Coming into the game, Jarboe was Troy’s eighth-leading receiver with 14 catches for 236 yards and a score.

“He’s here, he just wasn’t able to play tonight,” head coach Larry Blakeney said. “Because I said he wasn’t going to play. That’s all I’m going to say, so quit asking me questions.”

Special day for Franks

Senior center Danny Franks proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Elaina Lee, before the game. The two have been dating for almost three years.

“It was a hard secret to keep,” Franks said. “I’ve had the ring for three weeks now and I decided Senior Day would be the best day to do it. It was romantic and what the woman wants. We took the picture and I got down on one knee and proposed to her.”

It didn’t take long for Lee to respond. Franks said no wedding date has been set.

“It was an immediate yes,” Franks said. “If it was up to me, we’d get it done as soon as possible.”

Not quite

Jerrel Jernigan thought he scored on an early second-quarter reception that went for 70 yards, but officials said he stepped out at the 1-yard line. On the next play, senior Maurice Greer scored on a 1-yard rush to give Troy a 23-7 lead.

“I think (officials) screwed me on that one, but I gave it up for a senior to get a touchdown, so I’m all right with that,” Jernigan said.

1984 team honored

The 1984 Division II national championship team was honored during a break in game play. The Trojans beat North Dakota State 18-17 on a 50-yard field goal by Ted Clem as time expired.

The team was coached by Chan Gailey and quarterbacked by Mike Turk, now the head coach at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.

Glusman returns

Sam Glusman returned for his first action since the fourth game, but he came off the field limping after an extra point attempt in the second quarter. He kicked just that one kick.

The senior has battled a quad injury which came during a kickoff in practice nearly two months ago.

“I can’t believe I let him kick off as much as I did that day,“ head coach Larry Blakeney said. “Glus hurt himself trying to help the team. I could tell he hurt it (again) the way he kicked it (Saturday). It’s a weird, quirky quad thing.“

BY THE NUMBERS

0 – Number of bowl representatives who requested press box credentials

3 – Number of 400-yard games this year for Levi Brown

78 – Number of receiving yards for senior Patrick Cherry, a career-high

28 — Number of Troy seniors honored