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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Troy likes to scare—and beat—the Big Boys
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Troy, Ala.-I’m hitting the road for a couple of weeks for a little mini-tour around the SEC and ACC. We’re going to do a series of stories in August called “Faces of the Fall” that we think you’ll enjoy.
Before I made my first stop at Auburn I took a little side trip to Troy University, located about 40 minutes South of Montgomery. You remember Troy as the team that came into Sanford Stadium last season and rolled up 488 yards of total offense against a good Georgia defense.
You remember Troy as the team that ran the spread offense so well with quarterback Omar Haugabook. Since becoming a Division I-A program in 2001, the Trojans have beaten some BCS teams (Missouri, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State) and scared a bunch of them. Troy’s offense was so impressive that Auburn hired their OC, Tony Franklin, to install the spread for the Tigers.
No matter where I go I am reminded of how many great high school players the state of Georgia produces. And Troy is a perfect example.
I was asked by Sports Information Director Ricky Hazel to come to speak to the Troy football team on the day before their first practice. As soon as I got here I saw Georgia players and Georgia stories popping out all over the place. Here are just four:
**—Out of curiosity, I asked how many members of the team were from the state of Georgia. Over 30 hands shot up.
“We’re not going to beat Georgia on a kid that they want. We understand that,” said head coach Larry Blakeney, who is set to begin his 18th season. “But we’ve had some success in South Georgia and some in Atlanta. I think we’ve got a pretty good product to sell.”
A program like Troy identifies good players who may be a couple of inches too short or a half step too slow to sign with the upper echelon of the SEC. But they can flat play.
“We can give them a chance to play Division I football a little closer to home,” Blakeney said. “We also find that these kids are motivated to show what they can do.”
The kids who come here certainly get a chance to prove themselves at the highest level of football. Last season the Trojans played at Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia. In 2006 they played at Florida State, Georgia Tech and Nebraska. This season they are playing at LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State.
**—Defensive end Brandon Lang was on the same Tucker High School team with Thomas Brown and Asher Allen. All three signed with Georgia. Brown and Allen got into UGA and became stars. Lang struggled academically and had to go to Hargrave Military Academy. Lang tried to get his necessary test score while at Hargrave but just couldn’t get over the hump. So he gave up on the dream of playing at Georgia and enrolled at Troy and paid his own way for a year.
“It hurt,” said Lang about not playing at Georgia. “I had grown up my whole life wanting to play for Georgia and I saw Thomas and Asher go there and do well. But I’m in the right place now.”
Here’s what hurt more. Last season Lang tore his ACL in the third game with Oklahoma State and couldn’t play at Georgia on Nov. 3. Troy gave the Bulldogs a pretty good scare before losing 44-34.
“It broke his heart,” Blakeney said.
Brown has completed his eligibility at Georgia but Lang says he stays in touch with Allen, who should be an All-SEC cornerback this season. “People are really hyping the Bulldogs this season,” Lang said. “Should be an interesting year.”
**—On the cover of the Troy media guide is junior linebacker Boris Lee, a Lombardi Award candidate. Lee (6-0, 231) was a first team All-Sun Belt pick last season and led the team in tackles with 82.
Lee is proud native of Fargo, Ga., and played his high school football at Clinch County. He wanted to be a Florida Gator but when that didn’t work out he started looking around for a place where he could test himself against good competition.
“I just felt comfortable here and I like the fact that we’re not afraid to play anybody,” said Lee. “I’m pretty sure nobody else in the country is playing at Ohio State AND at LSU.”
**—In the Past 10 years Troy has spent over $27 million upgrading its athletics facilities. It’s football stadium, Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium, is a beautiful facility that comfortably seats over 30,000 and has 29 luxury suites. Because of the demand, there are plans to build more.
The man in charge of all his is Steve Dennis, who was Vince Dooley’s defensive captain at Georgia in 1978, and is in his fourth year as athletics director at Troy. Dennis coached at Auburn and Georgia before getting into athletics administration.
There is still a lot of coach left in him. He addressed the team just after I gave my little talk and spoke emotionally about the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for these guys. I haven’t taped my ankles in a long time but I was starting to get fired up just listening to Dennis.
“We like say that if busy people are happy people then we are ecstatic,” said Dennis, a native of Macon.
It was a fun trip that gave me a chance to see another side of football where the stadiums and the recruiting budgets might not be as big, but the kids work just as hard and care just as much. These guys play with a little chip on their shoulder and that’s fun to watch.
Now I’m off to Auburn where I’m hoping to get new OC Tony Franklin to give me a crash course on the spread offense. I’ll report back tomorrow.
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