Sports
Troy readies for 2008 expectations
By Griffin Pritchard
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After last week’s Sun Belt Conference media days event, it became evident that more than just the league’s champion will have the opportunity to play a bowl game at the end of the 2008 football season.
“With these additions, we believe we have helped teams that reach bowl eligibility within our conference to have a better chance of extending their season,” said Wright Waters, commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference.
“By keeping these bowls regional, we can compete against great competition and also bring in good crowds.”
The new affiliations are scheduled to begin this season and will connect the Sunbelt Conference with the St. Petersburg Bowl, the Papajohns.com Bowl and the PetroSun Independence Bowl.
Outside of the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, which pits the Sun Belt Conference champion against an opponent from Conference USA, only one team has competed as an at-large bowl team. Troy (State at the time) lost to Northern Illinois University in the fifth annual Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose. One season later, conference champion Troy defeated Rice in the New Orleans Bowl and then were shut out of bowl competition all together following a loss to eventual league champion Florida Atlantic. Despite the loss, the Trojans posted an 8-4 record.
“We’ve got even more motivation to play well because we felt like we got stripped of an opportunity to go to a bowl last season,” said Boris Lee, junior linebacker for the Trojans. “We had that right in our hands and now we are it as motivation. We know what we have to do.”
Last season, Lee led Troy with 82 tackles and 56 solo stop and was named first team All-Sun Belt. During the 2007 season, Lee had two interceptions and one solo tackle for loss. The two picks “ one against Oklahoma State and another against Louisiana-Monroe “ equaled a combined 60 yards and one touchdown (verses ULM). The then-sophomore was named Sun Belt Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week.
The Trojans, who became a full member of the Football Bowl Sub-division in 2001 has taken on all comers and scored victories over Mississippi State, Marshall, Missouri, Oklahoma State and UAB.
“I’m very proud of the progress the league has made and the direction that we are going,” said Waters. “As our league has grown, we have proven that we can compete at the highest level against some of the greatest competition and also bring in good crowds.”
This season’s philosophy doesn’t look to be any different for the Trojans. Troy will open the season with an Aug. 28 match-up against Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro and then travel to Baton Rouge for a second meeting with the LSU Tigers. Last season the Trojans defeated the Blue Raiders 45-7 to claim the Palladium Trophy.
“We didn’t perform as well as we should have last year,” said MTSU linebacker Danny Carmichael. “But we now know how hard we really have to work.”
T-Roy and Mike the Tiger aren’t new opponents. In 2004, the year after LSU claimed the BCS National Championship with a win over Oklahoma, Troy carried a 20-17 lead into the final minutes of the game before losing 24-20. During that season, Troy lost four straight games by a combined 22 points.
Troy’s first home game of the 2008 season is against Alcorn State Sept. 13. Following that the dark uniforms will have plenty of time to be taken to the laundry. Troy will hit the road and face Ohio State (at Columbus, Sept. 20), Oklahoma State (at Stillwater, Sept. 27) and then Florid Atlantic (at Boca Raton, Oct. 7).
“We have set our goals high for this season,” said Rusty Smith, FAU Owl quarterback . “We accomplished a lot last year, but we want to take that next step. Winning the New Orleans Bowl was a great achievement but we want to accomplish greater things this season.”
The Trojans will return to Movie Gallery Stadium Oct. 18 to face Florida International. Troy will travel to North Texas (at Denton, Oct. 25) and then to Louisiana-Monroe (Nov. 1) before ending their season with three straight home games.
“I think we really have a chance to have a pretty good football tam,” said Charlie Weatherbie, coach of the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. “We have 16 returning starters and each is vital towards our success in the fall. We have worked diligently this offseason to get better and are very excited to start this season.”
Homecoming is scheduled for Nov. 8 and the Trojans will face league newcomer Western Kentucky. Over the next two weeks, Troy will play host to Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 22) and Arkansas State (Dec. 6).
“I’m expecting good things this year,” said Lee. “We expect to win the conference championship this year and make it to a bowl. I’ve seen progress since last season. So we’re expecting to do big things this year.”
Troy, who posted an 8-4 mark in 2007, was chosen by the league’s eight coaches to finish second behind Florida Atlantic.
“We’re using the motto ‘reaching higher’ for this season,” said Owl coach Howard Schnellenberger during his media days press conference. “We’re going to have to be better than we were last year if we want to get to where we want to be. We lost a game in conference last year, which is something that we want to try to avoid.”
The lone blemish on the FAU conference record was a 33-30, triple-overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
“Our goals are to repeat as champion and hopefully make a run,” said Schnellenberger. “We return quality players on both sides of the ball and are excited to get started.”
One big difference between the two seasons, however, can be seen on offense following the departure of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin to Auburn University.
Neal Brown, wide receiver coach for the past two seasons, will enter his third as the Trojans’ offensive coordinator. He formerly coached wide outs at the University of Delaware and played at the University of Kentucky and Umass between 1998-2002.
“We are going to do the same types of things,” said Brown, during a spring interview. “What we have done here for the last two years has been successful. If something isn’t broke, it doesn’t need to be fixed.”
Troy, who posted an 8-4 mark in 2007, was chosen by the league’s eight coaches to finish second behind Florida Atlantic.
“We’re using the motto ‘reaching higher’ for this season,” said Owl coach Howard Schnellenberger during his media days press conference. “We’re going to have to be better than we were last year if we want to get to where we want to be. We lost a game in conference last year, which is something that we want to try to avoid.”
The lone blemish on the FAU conference record was a 33-30, triple-overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
“Our goals are to repeat as champion and hopefully make a run,” said Schnellenberger. “We return quality players on both sides of the ball and are excited to get started.”
The Trojans feature 10 offensive seniors and 22 juniors. On the defensive side of the ball, Troy has 12 seniors and 16 juniors.
The 2008 Battle for the Palladium Trophy against Middle Tennessee State is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m., start in Murfreesboro. The first home game for the Trojans is scheduled for Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.
