Troy beginning to receive recognition with latest victory
While the WAC’s Boise State and Fresno State have crashed the top 25 polls with 2-0 starts and impressive wins over BCS foes, the Sun Belt also has a team making inroads nationally.
Sun Belt newcomer Troy handled then-No. 19 Missouri 24-14 last Thursday on ESPN2 and now finds itself receiving votes in both major polls. Florida Atlantic, which joins the Sun Belt in 2005, has road wins over Hawaii and three-time defending Sun Belt champ North Texas.
“I think the way you get recognition is to put wins together and do the things that (ranked) teams do,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney said. “You win close games, win road games, win big games. I’m not saying that’s what we’ll do. That’s what we’ve done the first two weeks.”
“There’s a fun atmosphere going on there at Troy,” Utah State coach Mick Dennehy said. “It’s neat for all of us.”
Blakeney’s challenge is keeping his players’ minds on task.
“We could look at comparing scores and get fat-headed,” he said, “or we can look at why we’ve won. Our punter may have won the game for us Thursday. He had a net average of 44.1 yards. There’s so many things that you have to warn them about.”
Middle Tennessee coach Andy McCollum was warning folks about Florida Atlantic last year, prior to losing to FAU 20-19. The teams square off Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
“As a coach you try to make people understand this is a dang good football team,” McCollum said. “We knew what kind of team they had last year.”
Florida Atlantic, coached by Howard Schnellenberger, was 11-3 as a I-AA program last year. The Owls are playing five Sun Belt teams this season.
D-livering
A week after giving up 65 points, 27 first downs, 572 total yards and 8.3 yards per play to Boise State, Idaho responded by holding Utah State to 14 points, 12 first downs, 272 total yards and 4.8 yards per snap.
The Vandals were much more physical on the defensive line, coach Nick Holt said. Junior end Mike Anderson forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. True freshman tackle Siua Musika had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a tackle for loss in his first start. He played 41 of 56 snaps.
Holt was also pleased with starting linebackers Cole Snyder, Nate Nichols and Robert Davis, who combined for 22 tackles, including five for losses. Safeties Dan Dykes and Simeon Stewart were solid, Holt said.
Senior cornerback Chris Nathan returned after a one-game suspension for violating team rules. Nathan “could push those starters (J.R. Ruffin and Eric McMillan),” Holt said. “That’s not etched in stone.”
Idaho has forced eight turnovers in two games, tied for third nationally with USC and Kansas. Michigan (11) and Indiana (9) are first and second, respectively.
Notes
Former Idaho coach Tom Cable, now the offensive coordinator at UCLA, partially tore his calf muscle celebrating Maurice Drew‘s 47-yard touchdown run against Illinois. “I jumped and it felt like someone kicked me in the leg,” Cable, a former Vandals offensive lineman, told the L.A. Daily News. “(Stuff) happens to bad athletes.” … North Texas’ Patrick Cobbs, who led the nation with 152.7 yards rushing per game in 2003, can add a knee injury to his growing list of ailments. Cobbs, who had been playing with a cast to protect an injured thumb, could be out for a while, even if the test results are good, coach Darrell Dickey said. … Utah State safety Terrence Washington, a College Football News freshman All-American last year, appears to be lost for the season with a damaged ACL, according to coach Mick Dennehy. … UNT’s Dickey had the best line on Monday’s conference call: “I’m going to call (Troy) coach Blakeney and ask him where he found an offensive guard that runs a 4.6 40.” The comment was in reference to Troy’s Jordan Louissaint, who ran 63 yards for a touchdown after recovering a fumble against Missouri.