Monday notes

October 29, 2007

By Drew Champlin

Larry Blakeney on Omar…

...“I would say he’s doubtful right now. He’s doubtful to start, and doubtful to play. Every day, his status can be upgraded.“

So it’s going to be a gametime decision. Coaches can’t really hide anything with this, because with hamstring injuries, you really have no idea. He hasn’t been cleared to practice, so Tanner Jones and Jamie Hampton will get all the practice reps, likely split in half. If Omar can’t play Saturday, both would play in his place. I imagine Tanner would start, go a couple of series, Jamie would go a couple of series.

Compare it to baseball, as Luke Brietzke pointed out, “if it’s baseball, 15-day disabled list automatically.“

Omar’s hamstring injury is a lower hamstring injury, where it isn’t that easy to figure out what’s going on. Blakeney said head trainer Chuck Ash is doing research all over the country with people he knows.

Your AP votes came from….

By Drew Champlin

Adam Van Brimmer of the Morris papers in Georgia had Troy 20th (6 votes)
Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle had Troy 24th (2)
Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser had Troy 25th (1)
Tommy Trujillo of the New Mexican had Troy 24th (2)
Matt McCoy of WTVN-AM out of Columbus, Ohio had Troy 24th (2)

That totals out to 13 votes.

The Harris Poll doesn’t release their voters’ polls until the final poll. Coaches’ polls, to my knowledge, are private as well.

Leaving for Troy in 45 minutes. I should be able to check back in here after 1:00 and if they’re open to telling me anything about Omar’s hamstring, you’ll find out. I did request Omar and he’s shown up to every one of the Monday get-togethers so far.

My guess is they’ll keep it under wraps - which is understandable - but that’s why we ask questions. Omar won’t come out of a game even if he has a broken leg, so if it’s up to him, he’ll camp out in the training room this week and try to get ready for Georgia.

Also, Troy got shut out of the conference player of the week awards.
OFFENSE - Calvin Dawson, RB, ULM
DEFENSE - Erik Walden, DE, MTSU
SPECIAL TEAMS - David DeFatta, P, MTSU

Troy’s nominees were QB Omar Haugabook, CB Leodis McKelvin and P Greg Whibbs

Monday links

By Drew Champlin

Nothing from me, as most of my day yesterday was spent driving and catching up on sleep

From the AJC, UGA head coach Mark Richt explains. Well, surely you know what happened after UGA’s first TD against Florida Saturday.

Also on that note, from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Richt played with fire, and it was worth it.

From the Macon Telegraph, the celebration was still touchy.

Check back later today for stuff from the Monday press conference.

Sunday links

October 28, 2007

By Drew Champlin

back from a long drive to Jonesboro. If you haven’t seen it already, here’s game coverage.

From me, your game story, plus a defensive sidebar, and some notes.

From the Jonesboro Sun, the Trojans shut down the Tribe, and ASU’s offense was halted.

From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Troy got past ASU.

Time to catch up on the rest of the world. See you tomorrow.

Troy-Arkansas State REWIND

By Drew Champlin

I’m on the road, making my 500-mile trip as you read this. Hopefully, my fantasy NFL team has scored three touchdowns or so. It’s still early. Oh yeah, I picked Arkansas State to win. Oops, missed that one. I’m not one to pick against trends until they happen, and this looked more like a real football game without weird things happening, unlike the last few years.

Without a doubt, these last two games are the best I’ve ever seen Troy play defensively. Last night was better because Arkansas State has more experienced players than North Texas, but UNT put up a lot of points on MTSU in a 48-28 loss, and those weren’t garbage points, either.

This, overall, is probably Troy’s best defense ever. I don’t know if there’s anyone like Demarcus or Osi, but of the seniors, Leodis McKelvin will get drafted and Elbert Mack, Marcus Richardson, Marcus Pittman and Chris Bradwell will get some looks and with some good postseason workouts, could get picked up as well.

It wouldn’t all work without Jeremy Rowell and his defensive staff. If there’s a man that deserves a raise, right now it’s him. The last four games have been nothing short of phenomenal for the Troy defense and it’s a case of the Troy defensive coaches putting their athletes in a position to make plays and win and the athletes are talented enough to make plays and win.

No clue as to what Omar Haugabook’s hamstring injury is like other than what I’ve already posted. You gotta remember, though, hamstrings aren’t things to play around with. It’s a good thing there’s not a conference game for nearly a month, but you’d like to see a healthy Omar against Georgia because you know the Bulldogs are looking more at Auburn since they now have a great chance to go to the SEC championship game.

Do you run him out there, making sure you have your best lineup but potentially risk further injury? There are some injuries that you can play with because you know it can’t get any worse than it already is (seperated shoulders, etc), but this is not one of them.

I’m no doctor or trainer, though. I would expect media reports (even from me) to read this week that Omar will play, because the coaches won’t say on the record if he won’t, that’s a promise. I don’t blame them.

Can’t leave out the performance from Greg Whibbs and the special teams coverage units. Whibbs has been money all year and I hope he gets a chance to kick a game-winner or one from 50-plus yards (or both).

Check back this week for more information. Any questions or comments, click below or e-mail me at