Super Bowl Update

It's no understatement that Troy players are going through some hellish workouts this month.

Troy players gathered bright and early - 5:30 a.m. for stretching to be exact - at the lower fields of Troy's practice fields on Tuesday. They'll do that each Tuesday and Thursday from now until March 1.

Players are into groups of 10 or 11, and this is just part of the Trojan Challenge, an offseason accountability challenge where teams were divided. Points are earned, or lost, through the Octagon, class attendance, good grades, community service, etc.

Strength and conditioning coach Richard Shaughnessy put the workout plan together, and Troy's football coaches approved it or made some slight tweaks.

The hellish part about the Octagon is not only getting up bright and early. There are 10 stations, and this week, you compete at the station for 1 1/2 minutes. Next week, it's 2 minutes, then 2 1/2 minutes and the final week will be a "Fourth Quarter" program that Shaughnessy and head coach Larry Blakeney are putting together.

"You're going a minute and a half per station without a break," Shaughnessy said. "It's about 35 minutes of no rest. You're flipping tires, carrying logs, running hills, jumping boxes, cone drills. It's an agility contest and a gut check time.

"We want to see who wants to be here, and who wants to pay the price to be a Troy Trojan. It's strenuous, but you're looking across the field and seeing your teammates do the same thing. It's a team-building thing where we're trying to build unity and trying to learn each other. It's good all-around for us."

Shaughnessy said the toughest ones are the log carry, where four or five team members carry a telephone pole, the hill run, where you run up a hill while carrying 50 pounds of weight, and the tire flips, where you flip over tractor tires.

"Today, I was monitoring each station," Shaughnessy said. "But we're videotaping it to see who's dragging and who's hustling."

Troy players do offseason workouts, but haven't done the Octagon in nearly 10 years, Shaughnessy said.

"We're really getting old school with this," Shaughnessy said. "We're going back to the old days, back in 2000 or whatever, where at that time we did six or eight stations, but now it's 10.

"Usually, your quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive lineman, defensive ends, they're all doing different drills during the season. This is something that everybody does at the same time."

If you miss the workout, your team loses points, and you have to take on additional running.

"Very few people miss," Shaughnessy said. "Sometimes, guys are late. We're trying to see who wants to be a part of this team."

Several Troy players tweeted about their experience.

"I will be useless the whole month of February....#octagon" - tight end Tommy Blevins

"Octagon Day 1 complete" - #WorkingTowardsSunBeltChampionship" - linebacker Eli Canton

"Octagon was hella hard work" - wide receiver Brett Thiesen

"Octagon bright and early with #TroyFootball at 5:30am, we're going hard #TrojanStrength" - strength coach Josh Hampton

"Been up since 4 this morning and you know what time it is #naptime" - Offensive lineman Matt Day

"This 2012 Trojan Team is hardworking one, getting excited for this season" - offensive lineman Kyle Wilborn