Catching back up on things

February 27, 2009

By Drew Champlin

My mandated furlough is over, well this one at least. I hope you enjoyed the position previews and that will continue starting either Sunday or Monday. Let’s get caught back up on Troy athletics.

BASKETBALL: Troy avenged an earlier loss to UL-Lafayette and won on the road last night in a game where it never trailed. Joshua Parrott of the Daily Advertiser in Lafayette covered the game. HERE is his blog entry. HERE is his game story.

At 13-4 in league play, Troy hosts South Alabama Saturday. Western Kentucky (at Middle Tenn.) and Arkansas-Little Rock (home vs. ULL) are 14-3. Troy has clinched a bye to Hot Springs and will be no worse than the No. 3 seed. Not sure how the dominoes fall if there are some tiebreakers after Saturday.

The Troy women clinched a home game with a blowout win over ULL Wednesday. The women host South Alabama Saturday at 5:15 p.m. in the first game of a men-women doubleheader. It’s possible the Troy women could get a bye as there’s a logjam between teams 3-6 in the SBC standings. Denver has to lose, Troy has to win, and some other stuff must happen.

BASEBALL: Troy hit five home runs and bombed Kennesaw State on the road Wednesday afternoon. This team should be able to hit the ball all year long and the pitching is doing quite well so far. The home opening series is this weekend against Memphis. Tonight at 6, Saturday at 1 and Sunday at 1. Barring severe weather that I might have to drive through, I’ll try to see them Saturday and get some video interviews done before the hoops game Saturday. If not, I’ll catch them next Tuesday at home against Alabama. Listen to Barry on the radio tonight.

FOOTBALL: Sherrod Martin spent some time at the NFL combine while I was out. HERE is his player profile and analysis. His 4.52 in the 40-yard dash was 5th among safeties, his 6.60 in the 3-cone drill tied for first among safeties, his 11.17 was 2nd among safeties in the 60-yard shuttle and his 3.98 in the 20-yard shuttle was tops among safeties. HERE is his profile on NFLDraftScout.com, which projects him as a fourth-rounder.

Pre-spring look: Linebackers

February 26, 2009

By Drew Champlin

This is the first in a series of nine pre-spring position previews. It was written before my four-day furlough took effect, but placed here on the time stamp. Any questions will be answered by me Friday at the earliest.

WHAT’S GONE: Not much - just Trinidy Thomas, a guy who played more on special teams than at linebacker over the course of his career, but did have a good game against Western Kentucky. Terence Moore lined up at linebacker last year but I’ll always consider him a defensive back. So will the NFL.

WHAT’S HERE: A lot. It starts with the Killer B’s - seniors Boris Lee at MIKE linebacker and Bear Woods at WILL linebacker. Woods should be fully recovered from his foot surgery by the start of spring practice. The SAM linebacker spot should see more action this year and that’s slated to be senior David McDowell, who redshirted last year because he wasn’t going to play much behind Moore. Behind Woods, you’ve got sophomore Donnell Golden, a tremendous athletic talent who should be a great one for Troy when he gets all his assignments down. Behind Lee is sophomore Xavier Lamb, a tackle machine. There are several other options at linebacker, including grayshirt freshman (January enrollee) Johnny Thompson and redshirt freshman Jacoby Thomas. Senior Carvel Jones, who hasn’t played much, also returns. Some other walk-ons could get looks, such as redshirt freshmen Brannon Bryan and Rod Winston.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: You won’t see the established stars at the spring scrimmages. That’s the nature of the beast - why risk injury on your starters when you know what they can do. Golden and Lamb were spring scrimmage stars last year and I’d expect the same this year. I will be interested to see the progress of Thomas, a highly-touted recruit in the 2008 class. This might be the position with the least amount of question marks this spring and fans should feel pretty good about it.

Pre-spring look: Defensive backs

February 24, 2009

By Drew Champlin

This is the first in a series of nine pre-spring position previews. It was written before my four-day furlough took effect, but placed here on the time stamp. Any questions will be answered by me Friday at the earliest.

WHAT’S GONE: From this group, a lot. Troy lost three of the best safeties to ever wear Trojan uniforms and a bunch of experience. Sherrod Martin was a four-year starter and came back from his shoulder injuries that caused him to redshirt in 2006 better than ever. He’s likely a first-day NFL Draft selection. Tavares Williams started for three years at both safety spots and Terence Moore started for two years at either safety or linebacker. Martin played the newly-created nickel position in 2007 and Moore manned it last year. In 2008, these three barely ever left the field. At cornerback, Trevor Ford manned one spot for all 13 games, though he did not record an interception.

WHAT’S HERE: It starts with senior Jorrick Calvin, who should have been an all-conference selection at cornerback. His playmaking abilities and instincts kicked in around the FAU series and he was a big part of the conference title as a starting cornerback and as a bona fide return threat. Chris Bowens is back for his senior season and has seen spot duty over his first three years but has also been hampered by many minor injuries. Senior Kedric Manning was the backup nickel last year and is vying for that spot this year. Senior Courtland Fuller and juniors Sam Sellers, Daniel Sheffield and Bryant McKissic were special teams players a year ago but they’ll be counted on for more this year. At corner, sophomore KeJuan Phillips was the fourth corner last year and freshman Bryan Willis redshirted. Junior college transfer DeMarcus Robertson enrolled in January.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: At corner, Calvin’s got one spot locked down. Someone out of Robertson, Phillips and Willis needs to lock the other down before some talented recruits come this fall. Manning will likely be the nickel back. Look for Bowens to get a look at free safety after spending three years at corner. I think Fuller will have the upper hand at strong safety after being a solid backup and special teams player until this point. It’s his time to shine. Of course, McKissic, Sheffield and Sellers will all have their say.

This blog is on somewhat of a hiatus for the next four days

February 23, 2009

By Drew Champlin

From Monday through the end of Thursday, I won’t be here. I’ll be relaxing, but I won’t be getting paid for it.

Media General announced a 10-day furlough program (read about it HERE), following the footsteps of Gannett and a few other newspaper companies in economic panic mode. The Dothan Eagle is a Media General paper, so I’ve got to bite the bullet for a few days. My first four days are Monday through Thursday. I probably won’t announce my other 6 if I take them sporadically. I’ll just hope you won’t notice I’m gone.

Therefore, I won’t be updating this blog with breaking news for the next four days. HOWEVER, I’ve got some pre-loaded football position previews. One is set to pop in Tuesday afternoon and the other is set for Thursday morning. I’ve already written them, but wanted to have some semblance of fresh content for you guys who come here daily.

I’m sorry it’s come to this. But since I’m not getting paid, I’m not under any obligation to work and I’m pretty much told not to work.

In Trojan athletics, Troy basketball is at ULL Thursday and home Saturday against South Alabama. The baseball team is at Kennesaw State Wednesday and hosts Memphis Friday through Sunday.

My schedule for this week is to be on unpaid leave Mon-Thurs, “off” on Friday and cover a full day of Troy sports Saturday and be “off” Sunday. Don’t worry, I should be back here Friday. I’ve blogged many times on “off” days because it usually doesn’t take long.

We won’t stop with the coverage. If anything breaks, check dothaneagle.com. Someone else on our staff will cover it and write a preview or feature for Saturday’s basketball game.

Check you guys later.

Basketball postseason update

February 22, 2009

By Drew Champlin

On the men’s side, Troy (12-4 Sun Belt) has clinched a first-round bye. No one else can overtake the Trojans of at least third in the league. Even if the Trojans lose by 100 to South Alabama and UL-Lafayette. The best South Alabama, North Texas and Middle Tennessee can do is 11-7. Denver could finish 10-8.

As of right now, the Trojans are third. The East and West winners will get the 1 and 2 seeds. If Troy is tied with UALR from the West at the top of the league, Troy owns that tiebreaker. If Troy is tied with Western Kentucky at the top of the East or league, it goes to a tiebreaker on who has a better record against the next-highest team. It gets confusing from there, but HERE is the Sun Belt tiebreaker page.

It might come down to that Denver game, which Troy won but WKU lost. For that to happen, WKU needs to lose at MTSU next Saturday and it would help if Denver finishes on a high note.

Both UALR and WKU are 13-3 in the league. Troy has to win out to have a chance at the No. 1 seed and WKU needs to lose to MTSU next Sat. UALR needs to lose one of two against ULL and UNO, both at home.

If I get better clarification, I’ll update this. But I’d say most likely Troy heads into the SBC Tournament as the No. 3 seed.

On the women’s side, from media relations guru Travis Jarome, with a win over ULL by TROY on Wednesday night, and a loss by UNO in either of their games, Troy will host a home game since ULM lost to South Alabama Saturday.

The third seed is out of reach due to South Alabama’s win, and the fourth seed will be if Denver wins 2 of their last three games.