Monday links
Published 9:19 am Monday, October 29, 2012
There is a lot of chatter on the message boards after Troy’s 34-27 loss to Florida Atlantic (2-6, 1-5). HERE is postgame, video and audio from the FAU side. HERE is the Troy side. BOXSCORE
While the defense is catching most of the grief after allowing 34 points to the league’s worst offense, the Trojan offense struggled as well. All four of Troy’s first drives ended in punts, three of the three-and-out variety the fifth drive started and ended with a Corey Robinson interception. Robinson, coming off a concussion that forced him to miss the Florida International game. finished 15 of 32 for 211 yards. Back Deon Anthony, who accounted for all of Troy’s five touchdowns last week, threw the ball just three times against Florida Atlantic. Things didn’t get much better in the second half as Troy again punted on all four its first four drives, and again three being three-and-outs.
The loss put Troy’s bowl hopes in jeopardy. The Trojans (4-4, 3-3 Sun Belt) will likely need to win three of their next four to get to seven wins and get a bid. Troy faces Tennessee, Navy, Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee to round out the regular season. Tennessee (3-5, 0-5 SEC) is up next and the Vols played well in last week’s loss to South Carolina. HERE is the ESPN recap from that game.
UT will come into the game averaging 297 yards passing, which is 21st in the nation. Troy will have to find some way to slow down quarterback Tyler Bray, who threw for 368 yards against South Carolina, or it could be a long afternoon for Troy. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST.
Troy cancelled Sunday night’s practice. The weekly press conference is at noon, so we’ll get more about the state of the team then.