Troy notebook: Jernigan nearing more records

TROY — Jerrel Jernigan is on pace to break several Troy school and Sun Belt records this year. He got things started early this season, setting the career record for all-purpose yards in Troy’s 30-27 win over Bowling Green Saturday.

Jernigan has 4,085 yards, six more than Perry Griggs, who played for the Trojans from 1973-76. The Eufaula native, who makes his mark as a receiver, runner, kick returner and sometimes as a passer, is 1,146 yards behind former UL-Lafayette standout Tyrell Fenroy for the Sun Belt mark.

Jernigan is 31 receptions behind Danny Grant (1966-69) for the school record and 45 behind Casey Fitzgerald of North Texas for the Sun Belt record. He is 372 yards behind Johnny Quinn of North Texas for the Sun Belt career record there and 561 yards behind Grant for the school record.

Jernigan scored on a 49-yard rush after taking a snap at quarterback in the win.
“I faked the speed sweep,” Jernigan said. “When I came through the hole, I think a safety stepped down and I broke a tackle from him. After that, it was off to the races.”

Jernigan will get a chance to up those numbers at Oklahoma State (1-0) in Saturday’s 6 p.m. game.

Blakeney speaks out against officiating: Troy (1-0) was flagged 13 times for 129 yards against the Falcons Saturday, but head coach Larry Blakeney felt like some of those weren’t legit penalties.

He named a holding call against right guard Tyler Graves, a pass interference call against Chris Pickett and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against tight end Donnie Crosby after Shawn Southward’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as calls that shouldn’t have been made.

Umpire Tyrone Blanks was the target of Blakeney’s frustration.

“I’m going to go back through and talk to the supervisor about it,” Blakeney said. “There’s nothing you can really do about it. There’s no scratches any more. The only guy that scratches refs is the supervisor or worse than that, the NCAA.

“First game, you’re going to have some weird calls normally. Tyrone got on a roll there, man, where he was calling holding every (down). Tyrone Blanks is his name and he’s a good guy. He’s grown up in the Gulf South and been around a long time.”

Crosby’s penalty “was bogus,” Blakeney said. Southward dived into the end zone and the ball came out after he landed. Crosby went for it and was hit by a Bowling Green player, Blakeney said.

“He grabs (the ball) and pops it on the ground,” Blakeney said. “It’s probably not a call but it was called. Normally when a guy screws up like that, everybody knows. I didn’t see the ball hit the ground. Having to kick off from the 15, that’s no fun.”

Problems on special teams: Coaches are working to fix problems on kick and punt coverage units that saw Bowling Green return a punt for a score. Troy averaged 36 yards given up on two punt returns (69th nationally) and 21.9 yards given up per kickoff return (80th nationally). Some personnel changes were made on coverage teams.

“We got some guys who absolutely didn’t do what they were coached to do, whether that was game panic or what,” Blakeney said. “Just the basic principles. Some of these guys are veterans, but obviously we haven’t gotten the message across. We’re going to rectify that if it’s humanly possible.”

Injury report: Linebacker Johnny Thompson will likely miss at least a week after suffering a leg injury early in the game against Bowling Green. Fellow linebacker Kanorris Davis came out of the game, but coaches didn’t expect him to miss any games. Left guard Jay Stansberry is listed as questionable with an ankle injury.

Oklahoma State lost starting defensive tackles Shane Jarka and Chris Donaldson in the season-opening 65-17 win over Washington State and both are likely out against Troy, The Oklahoman reported.