Troy motivated by last season's final loss

TROY — Mykeal Terry still has bad visions when he walks onto Troy University’s Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium.

The Troy senior wideout still thinks about last year’s season-ending loss to Florida Atlantic, where the fans in blue, white and red near the end zone were celebrating a conference championship.

“Every time I look at that area, I get angry and upset,” Terry said. “When I walk on the field, I hear their fans cheering in my head. It’s not good.”

He heard it again Wednesday and saw spots of blue in an empty stadium as Troy opened practice for the 2008 season. It was all in his mind, of course, but seemed all too real.

Troy was 6-0 in the Sun Belt last year and hadn’t really been challenged until FAU came and stole the title away from the Trojans. Both teams went 6-1 in league play, but FAU’s win over Troy gave them the tiebreaker.

“We’re just making sure that starting today, we’re working to get back where we were before the loss to FAU,” Terry said.

“We’re pushing to be a champion. That’s our goal. It makes us work harder. We were so close, but after that one game we went back to ground zero.”

So for Terry and other seniors like defensive back Terence Moore, the blue visions seem all too real. The Trojans were picked second in the league this year by Sun Belt coaches, behind FAU.

“The end of last year is still on our mind,” Moore said. “To be the best in the league, we’ve got to win the championship. It’s that simple.”

Maybe not that simple, but within reach. Gone are stars like quarterback Omar Haugabook, wideout Gary Banks, linebacker Marcus Richardson and corners Elbert Mack and Leodis McKelvin.

A solid nucleus returns, led by linebacker Boris Lee and safeties Moore, Tavares Williams and Sherrod Martin and the entire offensive line.

But every day, as the Trojans work back toward that goal, Terry will see the same thing — the visions of blue that he’s trying to erase.

“Not until we hoist that New Orleans Bowl trophy again will I not see it anymore,” Terry said. “It’s either championship or failure.”

First day quick hits: Late in the practice, quarterback Jamie Hampton was intercepted on back-to-back plays by Terence Moore and Chris Bowens. Freshman quarterback Dan Parker was then intercepted by freshman linebacker Jacoby Thomas.

Good for the defensive backs, not so much for the quarterbacks.

“It was very evident that we’re young at quarterback,” head coach Larry Blakeney said. “The quarterbacks have a long way to go in my opinion.”
Blakeney said that Bowens and Trevor Ford showed out at cornerback.

Of the newcomers, Blakeney pointed out receiver Chip Reeves, a speedster from Stone Mountain, Ga.

“He’s got a spurt,” Blakeney said. “He looks like he’s got something special in his stride.”

Blakeney also said he wasn’t happy with the way the placekickers kicked under pressure, but the punting was better than he thought.

“We didn’t look worth a dern when kicking rugby style,” Blakeney said. “Will Goggans looked like he was punting the ball pretty well in the traditional style.”

On the move: Wednesday was graduate assistant Chris Shelling’s last day with the team. He took a full-time job as linebackers coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Miss.