#108 Troy Trojans Preview

  #108 – Troy Trojans 4-7 SU; 3-7 ATS   

 Fargo’s Take  Troy burst onto the scene two years ago as it put together a solid first year in the SBC, so good it received a bowl bid, but things went in reverse last season. The offense was the downfall as it averaged only 15.9 ppg, 111th in the country, the forth straight season that the offense has been ranked 99th or worse. Changes needed to be made so the assistant coaching staff was replaced while a new offense has been put into the playbook. A spread offense will be the look for 2006 and while it sounds tasty, it isn’t going to happen overnight and there will be growing pains. The defense has issues of its own as seven starters need to be replaced to go along with lack of experience as there are only five seniors across the two-deep chart. The good news for the Trojans is that the first five games of the season are non-conference tilts meaning that the SBC schedule doesn’t commence until mid-October and by then, they are hoping everything will have been ironed out. Troy needs to find a way to reverse the turnover trend as well as it finished 109th in the nation in turnover margin and with new faces on both sides of the ball, some breaks need to go its way.

 Returning Starters on Offense – 9  The offense may be returning the majority of its players this season but they will be coming back trying to learn a brand new offense. The position that is affected the most is quarterback and even though both part time starters from last season return, it looks like the job has gone to Omar Haugabook, a junior college transfer who fits the spread system much better as that is the system he came from. He looked comfortable in the spring scrimmage as he completed 27 of 38 pass attempts for 276 yards and three touchdowns. Facing a defense other than its own could be problematic down the road. The running game was abysmal last season and likely won’t be better this year, especially with significantly fewer touches.

 Returning Starters on Defense – 4  Troy made huge progress last season on defense but that likely won’t carry over into 2006. The unit finished 24th in the country in total defense and 39th in scoring defense but it all went to waste as the offense could not help on its end. The Trojans lost a bunch on the defensive side of the ball especially up front as the entire line needs to be replaced as do two of the three linebacker positions. Both safeties return so the secondary should be decent as long as two new corners help immediately. With the lack of starters, depth becomes a big issue and Troy will have its share of problems. The defense was lit up pretty good in the spring game against a brand new offense, definitely not a very optimistic sign heading into the season where all sorts of questions abound.

 Schedule  The schedule is very top heavy and with a lot of new things being put into place, the easy part of the slate comes at the best time. The Trojans start the season at home against 1-AA Alabama St. but then the fun begins with four straight road games at Florida St., Georgia Tech, Nebraska and UAB with the last being the only outside but unlikely shot at a win. The conference slate is probably the best out of all the teams as the first three Sun Belt games are at home, two against favorites UL Monroe and UL Lafayette. Three of the last four are on the road but all three of those come against teams ranked lower than the Trojans in the preseason while the one home game comes against Arkansas St., another frontrunner.

 You can bet on…  It will look like two totally different seasons for the Trojans as this team has the ability to become much more improved as the year goes on. The Sun Belt slate could not be any more in their favor and they will have to take advantage. If Troy can win its home games, it has a shot at the conference title but all of the pieces need to fall into place. The Trojans were only 3-7 against the number last season but with an offense that should get stronger as the year goes on, there will be some money making opportunities. With an improved offense and a weaker defense, the under trend from last year should reverse as well.

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