What's in THIS STORY for today's paper is mostly in the blog yesterday, and it's also in the Tuesday print edition of the Dothan Eagle.
The press conference transcript from the TV room is HERE. Also from the Birmingham News, THIS STORY on receiver Jackie Williams, who caught the hail mary at the end of the game two years ago to help give UAB the win.
From over at UAB, read what coach Garrick McGee has to say about the Troy game HERE. Here's some more videos from CBS42. UAB has a bye week after this game.
I'll add links today if I see them. I'm on the radio with Barry and John later this morning at 9:30 a.m. for my weekly segment with them, and with Lance Griffin on The Game Plan in Dothan Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. Those links are posted on the right side of this page.
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BY DREW CHAMPLIN | dchamplin@dothaneagle.com
TROY – This week, Troy defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell doesn’t feel pressure or urgency following last year’s disappointing season on defense. He just wants to win, and feels like his unit is much better and deeper than it was last year, when the Trojans ranked 113 th nationally in yards per game allowed.
He’ll find out how much better they are Saturday at 11 a.m. when Troy opens its season up at Legion Field in Birmingham against UAB.
“I feel better about us defensively than I have in several years,” said Rowell, now in his eighth year as defensive coordinator. “We feel much better about where we are as a unit. Not just 11 (guys), but 22 and 24 and beyond that. We’ve got some guys who can play for us. Are they the best players we’ve ever had? I can’t tell you that right now. But there are more of them that will be going that we will feel good about.”
Last year, Troy was plagued by injuries across the board and not as talented. As a result, coaches brought in several junior college transfers. In turn, it pushed the returning players to up their level of play. The only newcomer listed as a starter is cornerback Zach Miller, though defensive tackles Xavier Melton and Derrek Upshaw, linebacker Mark Wilson, cornerbacks T.J. Bryant and Chris Davis and defensive end Marty Stadom are in line to play, among others.
“I don’t care what you say or he says or they say or anybody else says. Does that bother me? Not one bit,”
Rowell said. “The bottom line is win. Were we good last year? No. Did we coach any less hard? No. We weren’t as talented. When you’re not as talented, I don’t care who you are. It doesn’t matter about me. It matters about those 11 guys on the field.”
Rowell pointed at Oklahoma State, which went 12-1 and was ranked No. 3 in the polls last year, as a comparison. The Cowboys were 107 th in the country in total defense (yards per game allowed) and Troy was 113 th . OSU was on the field for 1,089 total plays (last out of 120 teams) while Troy was 96 th with 928 total plays. The top team, Alabama, was on the field for just 720 plays.
The difference there is that Alabama uses a lot of clock with a power run game, while schools like Troy and OSU aim to play faster offensively.
“Look at Oklahoma State’s defense,” Rowell said “Did anybody consider them bad? During the game a lot of times no, but statistically they were because it’s based off of plays.
“Our offense is different than a lot of the guys that were up in the top. They’re going to play less snaps and obviously they’re going to be different statistically which is obviously what a lot of people go by.”
But the Trojans were able to develop depth and will play second-teamers and sometimes third-teamers Saturday. Troy head coach Larry Blakeney feels like the front seven is deeper than it has been recently and the secondary is deeper than it ever has been. Whatever group of 11 players are on the field should be fresher and better, Rowell said.
“No question,” Rowell said. “And in turn, you’re going to be better.”
Troy senior linebacker Kanorris Davis said of last year’s defense that, “it was like somebody put a gun to their head and told them they had to be there. This year, people come out and have a lot of pride and they are ready to work and want to be there.”
Davis said new cornerbacks coach Julius Brown challenged the defense to force at least three turnovers per day in 11-on-11 drills at practice in fall camp. If they didn’t get three, there would be extra running after practice.
“We didn’t make it about three or four practices out of 20,” Davis said. “We’ve been pretty good at that. Hopefully it carries over into the games.”
Quarterback Corey Robinson, who coaches say has improved “night and day” on his fundamentals, gave that same comparison to the defense. Nine of Troy’s 11 listed first-teamers on defense are either juniors or seniors. The others are sophomore linebacker Dimitri Miles and redshirt freshman bandit end Tyler Roberts, though he’ll split time with senior Jacoby Thomas.
“When we go against a good defense in practice, it makes us better in a game,” Robinson said. “It’s very encouraging that they’ve gotten that much better and I know it’s going to carry over into a game.”
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