Sun Belt Sports Fans

Troy 42, Middle Tennessee 13

This year was supposed to be different. Instead, it turned into the same old story.

Yes, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders muddled through the first month of their season, losing a shocker to Memphis while failing to beat a bad Minnesota team as well. Yes, the boys from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, did not come roaring out of the gates in 2010. Yet, there was an easy explanation for it all: Dwight Dasher, the dynamic quarterback who powered MTSU to a New Orleans Bowl victory last year over Southern Mississippi, had missed the first four games of the year after accepting an illegal payment from a booster in violation of NCAA bylaws. That four-game suspension ended as the month of October began, so on a crisp Tuesday night in his home ballpark, Dasher was able to strap on the pads and lead his Blue Raiders onto the gridiron for a high-stakes showdown with Troy, the team that had won three of the previous four Sun Belt Conference championships. With Dasher back in the saddle, Middle Tennessee expected to wrest away Sun Belt supremacy from coach Larry Blakeney’s Trojans, who rode the right arm of quarterback Levi Brown to four straight solid seasons from 2006 through 2009. This time, Troy could offer only a freshman quarterback, Corey Robinson, to oppose Dasher in what appeared to be a matchup of unequal men.

Yes, this year was supposed to be different. This year, Middle Tennessee was supposed to rule the roost in the Sun Belt. This year, getting Troy at home in the post-Levi Brown era was supposed to lift coach Rick Stockstill’s team over the top.

Instead, the Blue Raiders have that rock-bottom feeling once again, while Troy continues to stand tall in America’s least-heralded FBS conference.

Yes, the faces might have changed on the Troy sideline, but the visitors from southeastern Alabama have maintained the same unerring instincts for making meaningful plays in situations when the spotlight shines most brightly. A three-point underdog before kickoff, Troy pounded Middle Tennessee by 29 points and did something just as important as gaining an early-season lead in the conference standings: The Trojans psychologically ravaged a Blue Raider ballclub that will find it hard to shake off the memory of this distinctly damaging setback.

This was a train wreck from the start for Middle Tennessee, the preseason pick to win the Sun Belt. Dasher got injured on MTSU’s second offensive series, and though he came back a short while later, his dinged-up left wrist prevented him from gaining the tight grip on the ball that a top-flight quarterback needs. Dasher didn’t step into his throws on Tuesday, and that led to floated passes which Troy’s cornerbacks were able to defend. The Trojans never got beaten for long downfield pass plays. Blakeney’s defense allowed nothing but short passes throughout the evening, and with Troy’s base front four manhandling the Blue Raiders at the line of scrimmage, Middle Tennessee wasn’t able to offer the reigning Sun Belt champs a change of pace. MTSU finished with just 28 rushing yards and only 207 total yards. Dasher was handcuffed all night long, and he led his team to only one touchdown within the competitive portion of this game (the Blue Raiders tacked on a garbage touchdown in the fourth quarter when trailing 35-7).

On the other side of the ball, Troy immediately asserted itself on offense as well. Robinson – though a freshman – looked entirely comfortable in the pocket on Tuesday. Given fantastic protection by a dominant offensive front, Robinson was able to pick his targets and complete almost two-thirds of his pass attempts (26-of-37) for 259 yards and three touchdowns without a pick. Troy breezed downfield for three touchdowns in the game’s first 24 minutes, amassing a 21-0 cushion before Middle Tennessee answered. The third quarter witnessed extremely ragged play from both sides, as penalties and poor pass attempts littered the Floyd Stadium turf. However, it was Troy that – true to form – broke out of its funk before Middle Tennessee could. Robinson led two more touchdown drives with pinpoint passing, but just when the Blue Raiders tried to get into the backfield, Blakeney and the rest of Troy’s offensive braintrust managed to gash MTSU’s defense with runs from a shotgun formation. Troy delivered the run-pass mix that MTSU could never find, and that – combined with the Trojans’ awesome performance in the trenches on both sides of the ball – is why the kings of the Sun Belt added to their mastery of Middle Tennessee.

This year was supposed to be different. Instead, it’s the same old story, a Troy Story in the Sun Belt Conference.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer