Upon further review…

August 31, 2008

By Drew Champlin

And I just watched the coaches’ show, led by Barry “Touchdown Men of Troy” McKnight. On the most important drive in the game, you know, after MTSU had cut the lead to 24-17 with 6:44 left, quarterback Jamie Hampton looked like a grizzled veteran on the field. Of course, so did Jerrel Jernigan and DuJuan Harris - all three true sophomores. A short drive there and MTSU probably ties it minutes later with the momentum they had. But, the Trojans milked 4:12 off the clock and finished it with a 13-yard TD run by Harris.

A couple of key plays on that drive that I didn’t get a good look at because I was on the sideline late in the game.

1. 3rd and 4 from the Troy 27, Hampton hits Jernigan in the backfield, he gets away from a sure tackle for loss and gains 8. First down.

2. 3rd and 3 from the Troy 42, Hampton probably should have been tackled for a loss, but he escapes, rolls left, keeps his composure and his head up, doesn’t look to run (because he might not have made it), throws a strike to Kennard Burton for a gain of 6 and a first down. Burton probably had to adjust his route, but he was open by the sideline.

Five plays later, Troy scored.

What I hope to do is find a couple of good and bad plays per game and ask the coaches and/or players to break it down. What was the called play? Why did it work? What made it blow up?

All that would be on this blog, so keep coming back. Don’t forget, Dothan Eagle Trojan Chat Thursday, 8 p.m. CST.

Sun Belt Week 1: What we learned

By Drew Champlin

I’m going to try to do this every Sunday, but we’ll see how well I keep up with it.

Arkansas State 18, Texas A&M 14: Wow. Arkansas State did exactly what the conference needed. Corey Leonard is the best dual-threat QB in the conference. He’s better than Michael Desormeaux at ULL because he can throw the ball. Reggie Arnold is a very good running back. Both are redshirt juniors. Here’s one of those games that ASU won where it wasn’t supposed to. The Red Wolves can be SBC title contenders provided they don’t lose a couple of stinkers. Read about it in the Jonesboro Sun.

No. 11 Texas 52, Florida Atlantic 10: I really thought about picking this as a blowout, but decided not to. All the BCS hopes were dashed with the loss, though I don’t know who outside of Boca thought the Owls would go 12-0. Nevertheless, the key injuries and bad defense suddenly makes next week’s game vs. UAB less winnable.

Southern Miss 51, UL-Lafayette 21: What else is new? Michael Desormeaux can’t beat teams with his arm. ULL had some big injuries in the game, and if you can coach, better send Scott Farmer your resume.

No. 14 Kansas 40, FIU 10: Hey, FIU played them closer than I thought they would.

Indiana 31, Western Kentucky 13: Not much to say here. WKU still isn’t eligibile for a Sun Belt title. Indiana had its way with the Hilltoppers Saturday.

Kansas State 45, North Texas 6: We all knew North Texas couldn’t defend anyone. Turns out, they couldn’t pass either. It might be another long year in Denton.

No. 10 Auburn 34, UL-Monroe 0: ULM’s defense was pretty good, as most of those Auburn points came off special teams, turnovers, or came late in the game. Charlie Weatherbie’s bunch did a good job of slowing Tony Franklin’s bunch when he was at Troy, but you’ve got to score to give yourselves a chance.

Troy 31, Middle Tennessee 17: You’ve hopefully read all the coverage on both sides. Troy’s got to create its breaks early at LSU and cash in on them with touchdowns if they want a chance, because I can’t see this offense putting together five sustained drives against the Tigers at this point. Middle Tennessee will probably struggle this year, but there’s some young talent out there. I think freshman WR Sancho McDonald will be very good for the Blue Raiders in years to come.

Biggest thing to watch for this week is how Hurricane Gustav affects plans for Troy at LSU. It could be moved to Nov. 15 since both teams are off that week. Most people I’ve talked with don’t think a decision will come until late Tuesday or Wednesday.

Game or not, let’s have a TROJAN CHAT Thursday at 8 p.m. CST. right here on this blog. I’ll post the chat software later in the week.

Power rankings. These are indicative on how the team is playing now, not overall talent level
1. Arkansas State
2. Troy
3. Florida Atlantic
4. UL-Monroe
5. Middle Tennessee
6. Florida International
7. UL-Lafayette
8. North Texas

Sunday link/good news for former Trojan

August 30, 2008

By Drew Champlin

These quotes came from after the Troy-MTSU game, but here’s a Sunday notebook on Troy’s conservative offensive approach during the game.

Kudos to Arkansas State for getting a win over Texas A&M. Looks like I went 8-1 on the week, but my scores weren’t all that close. But a 3-0 win is the same as a 77-0 win.

EDIT 11:59 p.m. SUN Here is an article about Elbert Mack, when he found out he made the Bucs.

EDIT - Yesterday, Brannon Condren was cut by the Colts. Today, he was signed by the Rams.

I’ve still got some good stuff from assistant Chad Scott, who coaches running backs. Since I didn’t put that in this week, the ‘Know your Trojan coach’ feature will start running next week.

Troy in the pros update

By Drew Champlin

This is more so on the rookies from this year, but Marcus Pittman was waived by the Saints. Earlier, Marcus Richardson was waived by the Colts.

SATURDAY UPDATES - This was very surprising, as the Colts cut Brannon Condren after he supposedly had a good presesaon. Also, the Chargers cut Gary Banks. The Bucs cut Chris Bradwell, but Elbert Mack seems to have made the team. That’s big-time for Troy’s “other corner” from last year.

I suppose they could be picked back up to the practice squad, but we’ll see.

Drew’s Week 1 Sun Belt picks

August 29, 2008

By Drew Champlin

Thursday I had Troy 30, MTSU 21. Almost was right.

SATURDAY (All Times CST)

WKU at Indiana (Big Ten Network) - 11:00 a.m. WKU comes close, but falls. Indiana 34-28

Arkansas State at Texas A&M - 6:00 p.m. - Arkansas State covers the spread, but is worn out at the end. Texas A&M 24, ASU 17

Louisiana-Lafayette at Southern Mississippi - 6:00 p.m. - I’d really like to pick ULL, but for some reason I can’t. Southern Miss 31, ULL 27

Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn (CSS/PPV) - 6:00 p.m. - Should be high-scoring, but I can’t see ULL sweeping through the SEC Alabama teams. Auburn 38-21

Florida Atlantic at Texas (FSN PPV) - 6:00 p.m. - FAU can score, but they’ll have a hard time stopping Texas. Longhorns 44-24

Florida International at Kansas - 6:00 p.m. - Now, we get to the ugly. Kansas 56-7

North Texas at Kansas State - 6:05 p.m. - People keep talking about how UNT will surprise. I’m not buying it. Kansas State 48-17

Would love to hear your picks.