Know your Trojan: Danny Franks

July 29, 2008

By Drew Champlin

The junior is Troy’s starting center. This is the final “Know your Trojan” bit

Why Troy?
Troy seemed like my best opportunity to play, so that’s what I ended up doing.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
Hopefully, every college player wants to go to the league, so that’s hopefully where I see myself.

Best athletic moment
Just about every pancake (putting a defender on the ground) is a memorable moment.

Most embarrassing athletic moment
Getting blindsided in high school on a kickoff by a small guy.

Who’s something you admire?
Defintely my father would be a hero. He’s pushed me to be what I am especially in football.

Who would play you in a movie?
Chris Farley. (as Zarah Yisrael laughs loudly in the background). I thought he was a great actor when he was around.

You play video games?
Nah, I hate video games. I’m a hunter.

Best place you played?
I’d say Nebraska. The fans were unbelievably nice. We got whipped, and everyone stayed to the end. It was a real nice atmosphere to play in.

How did the standing ovation after a 56-0 loss make you feel?
At the time, it felt a little bit sarcastic, but from hearing the other players talk, they do that to just about every team they played, regardless of if they won or lost.

Worst place you played?
Western Kentucky and that’s because it was so cold. I hate playing in the cold.

Your welcome to college moment
My first squat workout. It was horrible. I didn’t make it through the whole workout, but (Zarah) helped me get through it and I was able to pull it together and do some things my freshman year.

Radio alert

By Drew Champlin

I’ll be on The Sports Breakdown at 4:30 p.m. CST (today, Tuesday), with Vince Ferrara and Tom Canterbury, two friends from Tuscaloosa. We’ll be talking about Trojan athletics.

That link ahead should go to the web site, and I believe in the top left there’s a “LISTEN LIVE” link. If not, it appears the shows are archived.

Tuesday link

July 28, 2008

By Drew Champlin

Football season in almost here. Here’s my reporting day notebook, which is the first of several bits of information I hope to have this week.

I’ve got one more ‘Know your Trojan’ with junior center Danny Franks that I’ll post sometime this week, plus a feature on a Trojan newcomer set for Wednesday.

Some Reporting Day notes

By Drew Champlin

I’m in here working on a notebook for tomorrow and waiting on a player to talk to for a feature.

Here’s a couple of personnel notes.

Cornerback Demarcus Robertson didn’t qualify, so he won’t be here this fall. They expect him to be here in January.

Safety Michael Ricks, they won’t know about his status for probably another week. He’s apparently got to finish up some more work.

Offensive lineman Kyle Wilborn will report this fall and not grayshirt as originally planned. They’re thin at tackle after this year and the plan is to redshirt him while getting him used to going up against guys like Kenny Mainor, Brandon Lang and Cameron Sheffield every day at practice. He’ll start out at right tackle and have a chance to slide into the rotation in 2009.

Quarterback Corey Robinson will grayshirt to give him a year of separation. Quarterback Dan Parker will get a hard look because he’s the only guy other than Jamie Hampton that can hurt defenses with his feet.

Wideout Tebiarus Gill qualified and he’ll give Troy its best tall deep threat in a while. He’s about an inch taller than Gary Banks but not as thick. He’ll probably play one of the outside receiver spots. Chip Reeves is in and Felton Payton and Gavin Ellis will grayshirt. The key for both Payton and Ellis will be gaining weight and muscle because both have good size.

The two biggest areas of worry right now are cornerbacks and the kicking/punting/kickoff game. That’s what head coach Larry Blakeney was talking about and what my notebook will lead with.

The offensive line is set, but at right guard there will be a four-way battle with Wes Potter, Steven Merkel, Will Chambliss and Steven Adams. Potter will have the upper hand now because he started there all last year, but Chambliss and Merkel have played a good bit and Adams is a guy who keeps impressing.

Defensive tackle Tim Lamb was a highly-touted recruit. He’s still got to get in shape before he can help out, though I predict he’ll get a snap here, a snap there. There’s some older guys at DT who have proven themselves.

“He’s fat,“ Blakeney said of Lamb. “But he’s a powerful guy.“

He’s listed at 338 in the media guide. Coaches say he’s 320 and they want him to get to 300, actually around 280. 280 won’t happen this year, but the heat of fall camp will help him drop some weight.

Know your Trojan: Matt Stidham

July 27, 2008

By Drew Champlin

Stidham is a redshirt freshman who is listed as a backup tight end

Why Troy?
It’s a lot like my hometown. It’s real small and everybody here’s real friendly.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
Probably coaching. That’s what I want to do. Coaching a high school team.

Most memorable athletic moment?
In high school, we hadn’t won a playoff game in three or four years, so we finally beat a team that was really good (Hokes Bluff) to go to the second round.

Most embarrassing athletic moment?
I scored two points in high school for the other team. I scored on the wrong goal.

What’s something people don’t know about you?
Really nothing. I don’t say very much. I’m a quiet guy.

Who is someone you admire?
My mom and dad, the way they raised me and everything.

Who would play you in a movie?
I can’t think of anyone. I’m not a big movie guy.

Best place you’ve visited?
Texas, Fort Worth, I really liked it out there.

Your welcome to college moment
Last year, during practice, Terence Moore hit me pretty good. That kinda woke me up and let me know I was in college. We were doing tackling drills on scout team and he hit me pretty good.

What’s the motivation to go out and be on the scout team every day
It’s mainly to get better and to make our defense better so we can win.

Which opposing tight end did you enjoy playing the part of?
The most fun was the Georgia week because they run a lot of stuff with their tight end, so that was fun.