Friday notes/links: Special teams edition
October 30, 2009
Lots of scoring equals lots of kickoffs. Currently, Troy isn’t doing very well in covering kicks. The Trojans are 8th in the league at giving up 24.45 yards per return, barely ahead of Middle Tennessee’s 25 yards per return.
“Covering kickoffs, you kinda have to have a knack for it,“ special teams coach Shayne Wasden said. “Finding the right guys and getting them out there is something I’ve got to do a good job with it.“
Troy missed Kanorris Davis last week as he was held out because of a concussion. He should play Saturday. Wasden mentioned that David McDowell is another player with exceptional kick coverage skills. It’s up to the coaches to find a few more guys who can do it. I’ll have more on this in my Saturday story.
One positive note is that Michael Taylor leads the league with five touchbacks.
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FLAGS ARE FLYIN: The great site for stats cfbstats.com took a look at penalty flags per conference game. Want to find something where the Sun Belt is the nation’s leader? It’s in this category, as 16.91 flags per game are coming out from referees’ pockets. That’s highest in the last five years. Check out THIS BREAKDOWN from cfbstats.com, as the Sun Belt has had quite a few flags flyin’.
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THREE-HEADED MONSTER: Troy has really established some quality depth at running back this year. Check out THIS STORY I wrote about it.
From over in Monroe, there’s THIS STORY on special teams. Sounds like we’ll all need to be watching the special teams units Saturday.
Troy missed 3 field goals last year, but one was a 56-yarder at the end of the game. “We were six inches away from winning that game,“ Wasden said.
ESPN.com WROTE THIS on the game.
Friday lunchtime links - Former Trojan Sherrod Martin could get his first start at safety for the Carolina Panthers this weekend.
