Troy notes: Scrimmages hinder Hampton's running ability

TROY — Fans going to Troy practices or scrimmages won’t get a good feel for quarterback Jamie Hampton’s scrambling ability.

That’s because, like at many other schools, quarterbacks are protected during full-pad scrimmages. One simple touch and the play is ruled dead at the spot.

But how well Hampton’s body is able to take hits won’t be known until the season opener Aug. 28 at Middle Tennessee. The sophomore, who has held on to the No. 1 spot, has also put on 25 pounds of muscle and will take the field in two weeks weighing around 210 pounds.

Hampton threw for 149 yards and a score in Saturday’s scrimmage, hitting 18-of-26 passes with no interceptions. On one fake handoff, he picked up eight yards before he was touched.

“We’ve got other quarterback runs, but we can’t run them because if you get touched, you’re down,” Hampton said. “Yeah, I’m not going to break that many tackles, but (a light touch) isn’t going to get me down.

“We just try to get better at some of the stuff we can work on.”

Last year, he ran for 161 yards in spot duty, but was just a few months out of high school and still getting adjusted to the college weight program.

He proved that he can move the ball with his arm in the spring, throwing for 509 yards with five touchdowns and just one interception in two scrimmages.

Offensive coordinator Neal Brown said that Hampton hit at least 75 percent of his passes in three controlled scrimmage situations last week.

“We’re not building the offense around him running the football,” Brown said. “The thing he needed to show is that he can be an effective and consistent passer, and he’s done that.

“But you don’t get an honest evaluation of Jamie because he can’t get out of the pocket and run.”

So, Hampton’s arm has been the biggest beneficiary of the “touch rule.”

“It teaches me that if the pocket collapses, I just need to scoot up and find an open receiver instead of just running,” Hampton said.

If there’s anything that does need work, based on Saturday’s scrimmage, it’s the long ball. The few times Hampton went deep, all were incomplete.

Troy’s offense isn’t one to throw many deep balls, but that’s because the Trojans are usually facing zone defense. In the 2006 New Orleans Bowl, Rice started out in man defense, and the Trojans connected on deep balls of 40 and 56 yards to set up early scores in the 41-17 rout.

“When we see man (defense), we’ve got to hit the go route and bust it pretty big,” Hampton said. “That’s one thing we’re going to work on over the next couple of weeks.”

Home run threats: One thing Brown was asked about with the offense was speed.

Two sophomores — running back DuJuan Harris and wideout Jerrel Jernigan — give the Trojans what it didn’t have when the offense changed in 2006.

“We feel like those two guys give us the home run,” Brown said. “They can take it the distance. They’re pretty special.”

True freshman wideout Chip Reeves is also mentioned in the discussion, though he’s still learning technique.

“Jerrel Jernigan, Chip Reeves and DuJuan Harris are as fast as anybody we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Brown, now in his third year as a Troy assistant.

Growth: Sophomore Tyler Clark came in as a walk-on last year, but became a starter at left guard midway through the season.

He’s held on to that spot, but he’s also matured physically.

“Last year he was just little 6-2, 265-pound Tyler,” offensive line coach John Schlarman said. “He’s now about 285 and he’s got some of the biggest arms on the team.”

Clark is also one of the more versatile linemen. Schlarman said he would likely be the third center if starter Danny Franks and backup Steve Adams were to get hurt.