Troy's Moreland eager to get on field

TROY — Xavier Moreland didn’t tell anybody this, but he was happy when Hurricane Gustav moved Troy’s game with LSU to Nov. 15.

It meant he would get another game back that he would have missed had the teams played Sept. 6.

Moreland, who at one time was Troy’s top running back in fall camp, has been recovering from a broken collarbone suffered in August.
“I was extremely happy,” Moreland said. “I wouldn’t tell my guys that, but I was.”

And he’s got good reason to be. Moreland has waited four years to see steady playing time.

He walked on to Troy in 2004, though his grades were good enough that he could have taken scholarships from Ivy League schools Dartmouth and Columbia, but he chose the tougher path to Division I-A football.

He earned a scholarship after two years, but was still toiling around as a reserve safety and special teams player.

Last year, he showed former offensive coordinator Tony Franklin his highlight tape as a running back from high school, and Franklin took him in.
But the transition was far from smooth.

“He was just not very good,” Troy offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “He did a good job of making himself a player.

“He didn’t look natural at all. He ran really stiff and straight up, but he worked really hard.”

Now, the hard work from rehab is paying off. He’ll start practicing in contact drills this week and is expected to make his season debut Saturday when Troy takes on No. 13 Ohio State in Columbus at 11 a.m.

“I can’t wait,” Moreland said. “I’m extremely happy about it and it’s a big challenge for all of us.”

But the challenge won’t compare to the heartache that he had after the injury, which came on a goal-line situation in practice.

Moreland crossed the plane of the goal line, as the film later confirmed. After he landed on it wrong, the pile landed on him.
He still got up and raised both arms to signal touchdowns.

“Thirty seconds later, it started killing me and I knew something was wrong,” Moreland said. “I felt I worked extremely hard, and when something like that happened, it broke my heart.”

Roommate and cousin Sherrod Martin was a part of the pile, but he said he wouldn’t give him his first lick in practice this week.

“I don’t think they’ll let me go anywhere near him,” Martin said. “I’m just glad he’s back on the field because I know how hard he’s worked for this.”

Sophomore DuJuan Harris is still the No. 1 running back, but Moreland will battle for the No. 2 spot when, a year ago, it didn’t look like he would ever get comfortable at the position again.

“It started clicking in the spring and in preseason camp, he looked really good,” Brown said. “How many touches he gets this week, I don’t know. We’ll see how he does in practice.”

Greer improving: Last week, junior running back Maurice Greer was in danger of losing playing time to walk-on Fernandus Edwards. After running for 113 yards against ASU, he’s back in good graces, but not just for those yards and a 60-yard touchdown run.

“He had just one negative snap where he played 16 snaps against Middle Tennessee and had 13 negative snaps,” Brown said. “He paid attention to detail and the game slowed down for him. He was helter-skelter and missed a lot of assignments against Middle Tennessee.
“The yardage was good and I’m glad he ran the ball, but the biggest thing for me was that I’m glad he picked up blitz protection and made his assignments.”

Injury updates: Troy is healthy, though some players are batting nicks. Cornerback Chris Bowens played against ASU two weeks after surgery for a broken hand suffered against MTSU, but junior Jorrick Calvin started in his place. Linebacker Bear Woods said doctors told him he may have a stress fracture in his foot, but “it feels a lot better. I wanted to play, but they decided to hold me out even though I was cleared.”

Awards: Martin, a senior safety, was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week after his three interceptions against Alcorn State. Kicker Sam Glusman, who scored 17 points, was named SBC Special Teams Player of the Week. The offensive award went to Middle Tennessee quarterback Joe Craddock.