Sun Belt Sports Fans

In a week chock-full of showcase games, Troy and Middle Tennessee State are worthy of a spot on a sports fan’s marquee.

Indeed, while most American sports fans will be focused on the Major League Baseball playoffs this week, there’s a Tuesday night tilt which deserves its own fair share of attention. On the night before baseball’s chase for the World Series championship begins, the two best teams in the Sun Belt Conference will pursue the championship of their own league in a game that pigskin purists will love.

Throughout the offseason, there was only one game that mattered in the lowest-profile FBS conference: this tussle in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, between the defending league champions from Southeastern Alabama and the second-place team in the Belt from 2009. Troy took home the title in the Sun Belt, but Middle Tennessee won a bowl game, prevailing over Southern Mississippi in the New Orleans Bowl. Troy has been the standard-bearer in this conference over the past four years, winning three championships. However, Middle Tennessee is the ascendant team in this neck of the college football woods, rising to prominence thanks to dual-threat quarterback Dwight Dasher.

Speaking of Dasher, the biggest reason why this game is loaded with sex appeal is that Dasher – viewed in many quarters as the best player in the Sun Belt for 2010 during the offseason – will return to the gridiron in this contest. Dasher missed MTSU’s first four games due to the receipt of an improper loan from a booster. On Tuesday night at Floyd Stadium before a national television audience on ESPN2, Middle Tennessee will have its main man back in the saddle. He might be a bit rusty, but unless Troy can blitz the Blue Raiders early in the game, Dasher could quickly find his sea legs and be the primary difference-maker on the field, especially in the second half.

Last year’s game against Troy was a nightmare for Dasher. The team that will oppose him once again tonight had him for dinner roughly 12 months ago. Playing at home in southeastern Alabama, the Trojans rolled to a 24-0 lead over Middle Tennessee midway through the third quarter and were never seriously threatened by coach Rick Stockstill’s Blue Raiders. The tone for this tilt was established in the first half when MTSU possessed the ball. Dasher completed just 6-of-21 passes before halftime, and the offense he piloted was just 1-of-10 on third downs. Coach Larry Blakeney’s Troy team cruised to a 31-7 win, and Troy will seek similar success this time around.

What will be undeniably different for Troy in this game is that the Trojans won’t have Levi Brown to match up against Dasher. Brown – a senior last year – established numerous Sun Belt passing records, but he’s graduated. The Trojans will now have to rely on freshman Corey Robinson to sling the ball around the yard. Robinson is immensely talented, and he’s thrown only one interception in his last three games, but this is the most pressure-packed game of the young man’s first collegiate season. Stockstill and Middle Tennessee defensive coordinator Randall McCray will surely throw the kitchen sink at Robinson and disguise as many looks as possible. Robinson will be under the gun to win on the road, much as Dasher was last season.

In 2009, Dwight Dasher was the less proven quarterback in the Sun Belt game of the year. This time, he’ll be the experienced signal caller who will benefit from home-field advantage.

Troy. Middle Tennessee. It’s time for the Sun Belt to put on a show. The national TV cameras are rolling.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer