Look ahead/look back Thursday, Part 4
July 02, 2009
This is the fourth in a 12-part series leading up to the Thursday
LOOKING AHEAD: Arkansas State, in Jonesboro, Sept. 26
The Red Wolves should have another quality team in the Sun Belt this year, and will likely be picked to finish either second or third in the preseason Sun Belt poll. An in-depth report can be found HERE from the NY Times Quad blog (of which, Troy is ranked ahead of at least two SEC teams, maybe more). ASU used to have Troy’s number, winning games in odd ways over the course of several years until Troy reversed the trend in 2007 with a shutout win in Jonesboro and a blowout win to close the regular season last year. Strange things do happen in Jonesboro. ASU is led by senior QB Corey Leonard and RB Reggie Arnold, both of whom seem like they’ve been there forever, and reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Alex Carrington, a defensive end. Leonard is a dual-threat QB who led ASU to an upset win over Troy in 2006, and he’s poised for a big senior season. Arnold has a chance to break the Sun Belt’s career rushing record this year.
What do I think? This game will be the biggest game of the season for ASU and could be the biggest game of the season for Troy, since more teams will be gunning for Troy. The schedule sets up perfect for ASU, with a bye week before the game as Troy will have had an emotional in-state rivalry game with UAB the week before and a game at Florida two weeks prior. Troy will have to be on its A-game, but the Trojans should be able to escape with a win unless they turn it over too many times.
Read about the Red Wolves: Go to The Den for chatter. The Jonesboro Sun provides day-to-day coverage during the season and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette gives a little love, too.
Looking back: Oklahoma State 55, Troy 24
Not much to say about that one, except road games at Big 12 opponents aren’t much fun for the Trojans. Troy’s offense, still in the growing stages last year with new personnel leading the charges, moved the ball fine. The defense just couldn’t stop anyone. READ my game story, and a notebook. I’ll just post a couple of video clips that TrojanVision provided for me last year (thanks, Trojanvision!)
Here’s a good play….
And here’s the play that summed up the night…
