Hoops look: Troy at Utah Valley State

November 20, 2007

By Drew Champlin

What: Troy (1-1) at Utah Valley State (1-2)
When: 8 p.m. CST Nov. 20
Where: McKay Center (8,500), Orem, Utah
Last time out: Troy got 44 points from Justin Jonus and beat Paul Quinn, an NAIA school, 133-131 in overtime. The Wolverines won at Arkansas State six days ago 67-63

Probable starting lineups
TROY
G-Jerome Odem (6’1, 160, Sr.) - 1.0 ppg, 3.5 apg
G-O’Darien Bassett (6’2, 190, Sr.) - 20.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.5 apg
F-Justin Jonus (6’6, 221, Sr.) - 29.5 ppg
F-Trayce Macon (6’8, 191, Soph.) - 17.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg
C-Tom Jervis (7’0, 230, Jr.) - 11 ppg, 9 rpg

UTAH VALLEY STATE (weights were not available, but ages were)
G-Ryan Toolson (6’3, N/A, Jr., 22 years old) 23 ppg
G-Josh Olson (6’1, N/A, Jr., 23 years old) 4 ppg
FJordan Brady (6’6, N/A, Sr., 24 years old) 11.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg
F-Richard Troyer (6’5, N/A, Sr., 24 years old) 10.7 ppg, 6 rpg
C-Joe Walker (6’8, N/A, Sr., 26 years old) 5 ppg, 8 rpg

What to watch for: Troy’s Jarvis Acker did not make the trip and is scheduled to meet with Troy compliance officers Tuesday to determine his eligibilty. The senior, who would be the starting center, has been held out as an academic issue is being cleared up. Tom Jervis is expected to start for the third straight game. The Wolverines are 1-2, but lost by one at Boise State and 11 to No. 13 Marquette. It’s the home opener for UVSU, a team made up of mostly Mormons who have spent two-year missions. Check the ages of the players above - it’s a bunch of men going against a bunch of 19 and 20-year-olds for Troy. UVSU was 22-7 last season and will provide a very strong test for the Trojans, and actually come to Troy on Jan. 5.

Player to watch, Troy: Mike Vogler. The sophomore JUCO transfer isn’t listed as a starter, but is starting to take over more of Jerome Odem‘s minutes at the point guard position. Vogler has a nice shot and looks to be really in control of the offense.

Player to watch, Utah Valley State: Ryan Toolson. The 22-year-old junior is the leading scorer and scored 29 points against Boise State to open the year and 20 at Arkansas State.

Troy will win if: The Trojans can survive the change in atmosphere (altitude, etc.) and hit some shots. They also can’t get pushed around by the older Wolverines.

UVSU will win if: the Wolverines play well at home - meaning they rebound well and get some hands in the face of the 3-point shots.

Drew’s prediction: Utah Valley State 83, Troy 72

GAMEDAY: Middle Tennessee at Troy

By Drew Champlin

Middle Tennessee (5-6, 4-2 Sun Belt) at Troy (7-3, 5-0 Sun Belt)
Time: 6 p.m. CST
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 94.7 FM WTBF (man that Jerry Miller’s going to sound good on color), more web information available at http://www.troytrojans.com

Key matchups: Troy’s run game against Middle Tennessee’s defense. Troy hasn’t proven to be a great running team, but has done adequate when called upon, led by senior Kenny Cattouse. MTSU’s run defense has been suspect, so true freshman DuJuan Harris could have that first big play of his career if he gets a chance and is able to break an initial tackle or find a hole. There should be plenty of opportunities for quarterback Omar Haugabook to take off and run because MTSU will likely challenge his injured hamstring and oblique.

Big question: Can Troy’s Haugabook be effective, or will the backup QBs get more time? No one except Omar and trainer Chuck Ash will know how he really feels. If Haugabook is down and overcompensates for both injuries and forces mistakes, MTSU is the perfect team that can take advantage of turnovers.

Player to watch, Troy: DB Elbert Mack. The senior is tied for the national lead with 7 interceptions, and if Troy gets up early, MTSU will have to throw. He’s now tied with Tavious Polo of FAU and Shane Carter of Wisconsin. Carter has 0 regular season games left, and Polo and Mack each have 2.

Player to watch, MTSU: Whoever the QB is. True freshman Dwight Dasher has been outstanding when healthy, but hurt his ankle and knee against North Texas and was visibly ineffective in a 34-24 loss to UL-Lafayette. Junior Joe Craddock rolled up 471 yards of total offense earlier this year against UL-Monroe, but was yanked for ineffectiveness against ULL last week. Both should play against Troy.

Prediction: Troy 34, MTSU 17. Troy’s very good at home on ESPN2.

One thing I forgot to add

November 19, 2007

By Drew Champlin

....is that quarterback Omar Haugabook is expected to play tomorrow vs. MTSU, though he hasn’t practiced much. If you remember, he had a strained oblique against Western Kentucky on Nov. 10.

Monday tidbit

By Drew Champlin

There’s no usual Monday press conference up in Troy today since, obviously, there’s a game tomorrow, but I’ve still got you a Monday news item.

Spoke with head coach Larry Blakeney and he said that defensive end Brandon Lang will not play against Middle Tennessee. He has not practiced at game speed since tearing his ACL against Oklahoma State on Sept. 14.

The hope was to be back for the MTSU game tomorrow, but it looks like it won’t happen.

“I won’t rule out him being back for a bowl game if we were to make one,“ Blakeney said. “He’s too good of a player with too good of a future to sick out there haphazardly. He’s made a miraculous recovery and we don’t want to mess up something where a guy has a chance to make a living doing this.“

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Lang could be a defensive end or most likely a Demarcus Ware-type player in the pros. It makes you wonder if he’ll shift to a spot like linebacker next year, but that’s just speculation on my part. Blakeney even said that he could play wide receiver here and be successful.

As far as a redshirt year goes, Blakeney, like myself, seems to think he has two years left to play two after this year. If you remember, he enrolled in Troy in the spring of 2005. However, he had to sit out that fall because of an academic suspension. He got his eligibility back next fall (2006) and played last year and this year. I’m thinking fall 2005 was considered to be a redshirt year since his eligibility clock started when he enrolled. He played the fall of 2004 at Hargrave Military Academy because he didn’t qualify out of high school, so as a sophomore, he’s really as old as most seniors.

But that doesn’t mean the coaches won’t check into everything if need be.

“Sometimes you need that extra time back (after an injury) to re-establish yourself as a good player,“ Blakeney said.

The game will be broadcasted by Rece Davis, Mark May and Lou Holtz. How cool am I? I got to sit in a room with Bill Curry at Sun Belt Media Days, and now I might get to share some delicious Barnhill’s grilled BBQ chicken with Lou Holtz. Maybe he can motivate me to write an award-winner (although I think my Troy-MTSU gamer last year was pretty good).

Monday links

By Drew Champlin

From me, a feature on walk-on true freshman Tyler Clark, who has come out of nowhere to steal a starting job on the offensive line.

In Sun Belt basketball, New Orleans got a big win at a ranked North Carolina State Sunday. Not all rosy, as Arkansas-Little Rock lost to Texas-Arlington and Florida Atlantic lost to Cleveland State.