Troy notebook: Nolin rewarded with rare carry

TROY — Nate Nolin had done the dirty work for nearly five years, and he paid the price with it through various injuries.

In last week’s 47-21 win against Florida Atlantic, coaches finally rewarded the Graceville native who walked on back in 2005 and eventually earned a scholarship.

Nolin got to carry the ball in the fourth quarter and gained nine yards. It was the first offensive touch of his career. He’s been used as a blocking back since moving over from linebacker before last year.

“Nate played the best game he’s ever played on offense,” offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “He deserved to carry it for more reasons than that, but he played his best game.”

Nolin has dealt with injuries to both knees, a fractured back and multiple concussions, among other things, but he has always returned. Maybe it was meant to be that, after his 9-yard run, he was dragged down by the face mask by an FAU defender, adding 15 more yards to the end of the run.

“I’m not going say he was going to score, but I can promise you it was going to be entertaining once he hit that next level,” linebacker Bear Woods said.

Troy got to the 1-yard line early in the second quarter, but fellow senior Maurice Greer got the call and scored from a yard out, something the humble Nolin was happy to see.

“Maurice did a great job,” Nolin said. “He looked like (former NFL great) Herschel Walker jumping over that pile. I probably could have (done the same thing), but I was so glad for him to get to do it on Senior Day.”

Attendance dropping slightly: Troy finished the year averaging 18,413 fans, according to box scores from the school. That’s a drop of nearly 1,000 from last year’s reported number of 19,231 (97th nationally, per NCAA.org). The numbers have dropped slightly each year since 2006, the first year of Troy’s four straight conference titles.

“That doesn’t make too much sense to me, because I feel the support more from the community,” Woods said. “I wish they’d come to the home games more so than the bowl games. Our tickets aren’t expensive, so that’s not too much of an excuse.”

Woods said the school has improved tremendously since he walked on in 2005. Soon, a new fraternity village, dining hall and multi-purpose arena will be built.

“People have just got to get on board and realize where Troy is and how much we’ve grown in the last five years and have pride in our conference and what we’re doing in our conference,” Woods said. “People need to understand that we’re taking the correct steps to get into the next level as far as conference wise.

“They should be proud teams don’t want to come here after Missouri and Oklahoma State. People don’t quite understand what really matters for Troy.”

Troy will host Navy and Mississippi State in 2012. Woods expects to see Troy in a higher conference in the next 10 years.

“Troy didn’t make this jump to stay (in the Sun Belt),” Woods said. “It’s going to keep growing and growing. The whole campus has changed since I’ve stepped here as far as buildings. I think it’s going to stay that way.”

High hopes for Kinlaw: Troy’s defense will lose seven starters off this year’s team, forcing leadership and jumps to stardom from some if the Trojans want to continue to be successful.

Defensive tackle Eugene Kinlaw should be the leader of the defense next year, Woods said. Nicknamed “Bloodbath,” Kinlaw has been very good this year after coming from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he was National Junior College Player of the Year last year.

This year, Kinlaw has 27 tackles, 8.5 for loss with three sacks. He’s clogged up the middle with senior Kevin Dixon and allowed others to make plays.

“He’s the most improved player on the defense,” Woods said. “He really ties the whole defense together. He’s the anchor that pulls us together.”