This weekend’s visitors

November 21, 2008

Drew Champlin

Troy has 7 guys tentatively scheduled to make official visits this weekend, all from the JUCO ranks and all linemen. All of the OL project as tackles, which is a definitely position of need.

RILEY FLOWERS (DL) - Geneva, Ala., by way of Jones County (Miss.) CC - (6’0, 295) - COMMITTED TO TROY

EMMANUEL DUDLEY (DL) - Columbus, Ga., by way of NE Mississippi CC - (6’0, 280) - COMMITTED TO TROY

EUGENE KINLAW (DL) - Homerville, Ga., by way of Hutchinson (Kan.) CC - (6’2, 294) - COMMITTED TO TROY and they’re fighting off some of the big boys for him

NATE NEWLAND (OL) - Frankfort, Ky., by way of Hutchinson (Kan.) CC - (6’2, 293) - COMMITTED TO TROY

JAMAR BASS (OL) - Apopka, Fla., by way of Garden City CC - (6’4, 290) - probably between Troy and South Florida for this kid, a 3-star recruit on rivals.com

TYLER GRAVES (OL) - Sumrall, Miss., by way of Pearl River CC - (6’6, 300) - big kid was at Florida State for a year before heading to Peal River

RAY CARTER (OL) - Philadelphia, Pa., by way of Garden City CC (6’3, 290) - can’t find much on him, except he was a all-Jayhawk conference first team selection

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Of note, it was said that WR Tavarus Lewis of Columbus, Ga. was committed to Troy (scroll down to the WRs).

That’s not true. He hasn’t been offered by Troy yet.

Friday links

Drew Champlin

DOTHAN EAGLE: Troy faces explosive UL-Lafayette

DOTHAN EAGLE: The Huddle: Troy edition - I talk Troy with Jon Johnson

DAILY ADVERTISER: UL football: A look at Troy - from Joshua Parrott’s blog, a Q and A with me

DAILY ADVERTISER: Troy RB has won battle on and off field - their feature on Maurice Greer. He’s been a hot topic among opposing teams’ papers because of his recovery from testicular cancer. He almost broke a kickoff return late against LSU - I think it was the series where Troy went for it on 4th down and missed.

SHREVEPORT TIMES: Gents get first win under Gary - Centenary, a team I saw get manhandled by Baylor Monday, beat Troy yesterday. Trojans (0-3) play Alcorn State today at 1:30 in LSU. Richard Delk scored 23 and Tom Jervis 18.

Coming Saturday, way way way before the game

November 20, 2008

Drew Champlin

Since I’ve been challenged, I figured I’d unleash my Saturday pregame plans for you guys, if interested.

Lance Griffin hosts a Saturday morning 1-hour radio show on WOOF 560 AM in Dothan. The show runs from 8-9 a.m. and I’ll be sitting in the studio with him to talk Troy football. Since it’s the biggest game in the state, we could be talking about it for most of the show if enough people call in. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can listen online, but you can tune it in if you’re in Dothan or the surrounding areas.

Also, we’ll have a chat on this blog at 11 a.m. CST for an hour or so. Since “he who shall not be named but has called me out” has never showed up to a live chat, maybe he’ll pop in this time. I know he’ll be too hung over to listen in Saturday morning on the radio. 

Thursday links

Drew Champlin

I knew I’d have some of these. I wrote a feature on Terence Moore - scroll down for that.

ENTERPRISE LEDGER: Column: Troy will continue attendance struggles - sports editor Jeremy Wise opines on Troy’s attendance struggles

WDHN: SportsTalk - click my name on the right as I talk Troy with Kim Allen of WDHN. I did film a The Huddle, but it’s not online yet.

DAILY ADVERTISER: ULL injury report

DAILY ADVERTISER: Bottom’s up: Troy collapse one of worst in NCAA history - has some quotes from Troy players

DAILY ADVERTISER: Cajuns’ offense hasn’t been the same since Desormeaux’s injury - he had a similar injury to Jerrel Jernigan, with the torn meniscus, but he sprained his knee also so it’s been slower to recover. Jernigan and Desormeaux also suffered their injuries on the same field - at North Texas.

THE ADVOCATE: Jenkins ULL’s spy for blocking kicks.

From the other side: UL-Lafayette

Drew Champlin

Thanks to Joshua Parrott, who covers UL-Lafayette like a blanket for The Daily Advertiser, for this series of Q and A.

1. What’s the QB situation looking like?
Mike Desormeaux is still going to start. He isn’t 100 percent, but he’s learning to play better with the injury. He ran for 70 yards last week against FAU on 11 carries after rushing 13 times for 87 yards the previous two weeks. If Mike cannot go, back-up Brad McGuire will take his place. The redshirt freshman led the Cajuns on two scoring drives in the final eight minutes in a comeback win over Arkansas State. McGuire actually leads the Sun Belt in pass efficiency with a 140.6 rating, completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 233 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

2. If Desormeaux isn’t 100 percent, how does that change his game?
Mike cannot run near as much as he’d like. While his injury won’t get any better or worse – he’s going to need surgery to repair a torn meniscus – he is tolerating the pain much better. The coaches called more running plays last week and will probably do so again against Troy. The key for Mike is whether he can make better decisions throwing the ball. He’s thrown five interceptions in the past two weeks.

3. Did the injuries finally catch up against FAU, or were there other reasons the game was lopsided?
For some reason, still unknown, it looked like some of the Cajuns were lacking intensity, especially on defense. Four turnovers hurt the offense. The Cajuns turned down a short field goal attempt on fourth down and failed to convert. Down 19-7 just before halftime, the Cajuns were deep in FAU territory but Mike was picked off. The Owls went down and scored. Instead of a possible 19-14 game at half, it was 26-7. They added 22 points at the end, but it was too little, too late.

4. The last two years, Troy has had a running back put up big numbers against the Cajuns. Has the run defense got better, or could someone like DuJuan Harris have a big night? What about the pass defense?
If the same defense shows up as the past two weeks, Troy could have a field day. Kansas State, North Texas, UTEP and Florida Atlantic all tore up the Cajun pass defense through the air. But they were strong against Illinois, Arkansas State and FIU. I think it depends on which UL defense shows up.

5. Is Troy catching UL at a good time, or vice versa?
UL is definitely banged up. Five starting linebackers have missed a game this season. The Cajuns had to start two true freshmen last week at linebacker. They won four in a row and were 5-3 before the lack of depth at linebacker really hurt them. Senior Brent Burkhalter, third on the team last year in tackles, was dismissed going into the ULM game on Oct. 4.  Sophomore Grant Fleming, the team’s second-leading tackler last year, was lost for the year with a knee injury against ULM. Redshirt freshman Richard Brooks suffered a season-ending knee injury at UNT on Oct. 11. Mike Desormeaux also got hurt in the fourth quarter against UNT. So, really, the timing could not be much worse.

Prediction
UL 28, Troy 25

Somehow, I think the Cajuns have enough left in the tank to pull this out. These seniors were freshmen on the 2005 team that had to share the Sun Belt title and are eager to reach a bowl game. I think Mike Desormeaux takes care of the ball, RB Tyrell Fenroy breaks off some big runs and the defense does just enough to hold off the Trojans. But hey, I’ve been wrong before.