Sun Belt Sports Fans

Troy 41, North Texas 35

The Troy Trojans were coasting along in their march through the Sun Belt Conference, but after hitting a roadblock on Oct. 30, the standard-bearer in this “off-road” realm of the Football Bowl Subdivision had to regather itself and deliver the goods on the road.

Sure enough, the “other Men of Troy” – not the boys from Southern California – were up to the task.

Troy’s offense found new life on Nov. 6 in Denton, Texas. Coach Larry Blakeney’s Trojans regained a measure of form and function, and their improvements were enough to outlast the North Texas Mean Green by six points at Fouts Field. The win capped a very satisfying weekend for a program that gained leverage in its quest to defend the Sun Belt title belt for the second straight season.

When Louisiana-Monroe – the team that knocked off Troy a week before – got upended by Florida International in overtime, the first Saturday of November got a whole lot better for Blakeney’s bunch. With ULM now a full two games back in the conference standings, Troy can now fend off the Warhawks from the Bayou with just two wins in its final three conference games. Considering that Western Kentucky is one of those opponents (and at home, no less), Troy shouldn’t have to worry about Monroe anymore. This win at North Texas has reshaped the Sun Belt to the extent that Troy owns head-to-head tiebreakers over a pair of two-loss teams, Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee. In essence, the upcoming Nov. 13 game against Florida International represents Troy’s ticket to another Sun Belt championship. With a win over the Golden Panthers, Troy can lift the league trophy once more. This six-point survival act deep in the heart of Texas made it all possible.

As stated above, a resurgence on the offensive side of the ball is what made this victory possible for Troy. The Trojans scored at least 30 points in each of their first six games, but in that ambush loss suffered in Monroe, Louisiana, the Troy boys lost their footing. In particular, freshman quarterback Corey Robinson – who has done a very admirable job replacing decorated signal caller Levi Brown this year – simply got rattled by ULM on the last weekend of October. Troy posted just 14 points and was rather anemic from start to finish. The impotent effort was out of character for a high-powered offense that has regularly torched Sun Belt defenses over the years.

In this game against North Texas, Robinson got back on the beam, and he steadied his team’s season in the process. Yes, Robinson tossed two more interceptions, but he more than made up for his mistakes with an abundance of big plays. Robinson threw for 347 yards on the strength of just 26 completions. The average of more than 13 yards per completion enabled the visitors from the southeast corner of Alabama to gain real estate in large chunks instead of having to sweat out difficult red-zone possessions. It’s always easier to get the one big play than dinking the ball repeatedly, and that’s what Robinson did. He threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to get the scoring started, and he completed three other passes that covered more than 25 yards. Troy running back Jerell Jernigan contributed to the big-play parade for Troy with a 55-yard run and a 19-yard touchdown pass in the fourth-quarter on a halfback-option gadget play. Troy found the ability to land big punches, and while North Texas doggedly continued to put up touchdowns in its own right, Troy was able to make a late defensive stand (on downs) to thwart the Mean Green’s upset bid.

Troy isn’t quite as good as it was last season, but thanks to a gritty win on the road, this team’s championship aspirations are still very much intact.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer