Trojans look to regroup before Blazers

Published 10:13 pm Monday, September 13, 2010

What could have been one of the biggest road victories in Troy Trojans’ long history, turned out to be the latest heartbreaker for the program.

After the Trojans were able to take a 27-20 lead into half time, the team blew the seven-point advantage in the following two quarters thanks to four turnovers, falling to Oklahoma State, 41-38, in Stillwater, Okla.

“We certainly squandered that game,” head coach Larry Blakeney said at Monday’s press conference. “We passed up an opportunity to get a win on the road against a good Big XII team.”

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Two of the turnovers, both of which were fumbles, occurred inside the Cowboys’ 10-yardline, thwarting Trojan opportunities of putting points on the board.

“I felt like both teams were doing their best to lose the ball game,” Blakeney said.

“We made some mistakes, and they make some mistakes. Momentum was flopping back and fourth.

“Some of the good things that came from the game were, no one was seriously hurt and we cut our penalties in almost half,” he added.

Against Bowling Green, the Trojans committed 13 penalties for 129 yards, while against OSU, Troy drew just nine yellow towels for 67 yards.

Despite the close final score, the Cowboys were able to best the Trojans in multiple offensive categories, specifically, first downs, total rushing yards, total passing yards and total offense.

While Troy may have lost the ball four times, OSU finished with five turnovers and committed 12 penalties for 139 yards.

“I thought there were a lot of areas where we played well,” Blakeney said.

“The thing is, we gotta get where we can take care of the football a little better – we got to get after it.

“We started working on defense (Sunday night) and everything went well. We will do the same with offense (Monday night) and get ready to play on Saturday,” he added.

Now, Blakeney and the Trojans will look to bounce back against an in-state rival.

For the second time in two seasons, Troy will meet up with UAB on the football field, traveling to Birmingham for the first time since 2006.

The Trojans lead the all-time series, 4-3, with its last loss against the Blazers taking place during its last trip to Legion Field.

Like any rivalry game, Blakeney believes his team will be ready to play, especially, coming off last week’s loss.

“(The message for this week) started in the looker room as soon as the game was over,” the coach said.

“I told them they are going to have to work hard to put everything together, but if they want to win, I think they have a pretty good chance

“I think the guys are anxious to get back out there,” Blakeney said. “I think they are going to play the game the way it should be played.”

In his second career start, red-shirt freshman quarterback Corey Robinson had another productive outing as the Trojan signal caller.

Against the Cowboys, Robinson threw for 272 yards, and three touchdowns, on 28-of-38 passes, and no interceptions.

“I got some good experience playing in front of that many people,” Robinson said.

“I felt a lot more comfortable out there (as opposed to his first start).”

While his team may have fallen, the quarterback believes it will be able to pick itself back up.

“We were able to hang in there and show the country that we can compete with some of the best.

“We gotta play a little smarter, but I think all are mistakes are ones that we can easily fix. This loss is behind us, now we have to get ready for UAB,” he said.

Troy will travel to Birmingham for the latest chapter with rival UAB on Saturday, with a kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. at Legion Field.

What could have been one of the biggest road victories in Troy Trojans’ long history, turned out to be the latest heartbreaker for the program.

After the Trojans were able to take a 27-20 lead into half time, the team blew the seven-point advantage in the following two quarters thanks to four turnovers, falling to Oklahoma State, 41-38, in Stillwater, Okla.

“We certainly squandered that game,” head coach Larry Blakeney said at Monday’s press conference. “We passed up an opportunity to get a win on the road against a good Big XII team.”

Two of the turnovers, both of which were fumbles, occurred inside the Cowboys’ 10-yardline, thwarting Trojan opportunities of putting points on the board.

“I felt like both teams were doing their best to lose the ball game,” Blakeney said.

“We made some mistakes, and they make some mistakes. Momentum was flopping back and fourth.

“Some of the good things that came from the game were, no one was seriously hurt and we cut our penalties in almost half,” he added.

Against Bowling Green, the Trojans committed 13 penalties for 129 yards, while against OSU, Troy drew just nine yellow towels for 67 yards.

Despite the close final score, the Cowboys were able to best the Trojans in multiple offensive categories, specifically, first downs, total rushing yards, total passing yards and total offense.

While Troy may have lost the ball four times, OSU finished with five turnovers and committed 12 penalties for 139 yards.

“I thought there were a lot of areas where we played well,” Blakeney said.

“The thing is, we gotta get where we can take care of the football a little better – we got to get after it.

“We started working on defense (Sunday night) and everything went well. We will do the same with offense (Monday night) and get ready to play on Saturday,” he added.

Now, Blakeney and the Trojans will look to bounce back against an in-state rival.

For the second time in two seasons, Troy will meet up with UAB on the football field, traveling to Birmingham for the first time since 2006.

The Trojans lead the all-time series, 4-3, with its last loss against the Blazers taking place during its last trip to Legion Field.

Like any rivalry game, Blakeney believes his team will be ready to play, especially, coming off last week’s loss.

“(The message for this week) started in the looker room as soon as the game was over,” the coach said.

“I told them they are going to have to work hard to put everything together, but if they want to win, I think they have a pretty good chance

“I think the guys are anxious to get back out there,” Blakeney said. “I think they are going to play the game the way it should be played.”

In his second career start, red-shirt freshman quarterback Corey Robinson had another productive outing as the Trojan signal caller.

Against the Cowboys, Robinson threw for 272 yards, and three touchdowns, on 28-of-38 passes, and no interceptions.

“I got some good experience playing in front of that many people,” Robinson said.

“I felt a lot more comfortable out there (as opposed to his first start).”

While his team may have fallen, the quarterback believes it will be able to pick itself back up.

“We were able to hang in there and show the country that we can compete with some of the best.

“We gotta play a little smarter, but I think all are mistakes are ones that we can easily fix. This loss is behind us, now we have to get ready for UAB,” he said.

Troy will travel to Birmingham for the latest chapter with rival UAB on Saturday, with a kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. at Legion Field.