Time not Troy’s friend

By Drew Champlin

Published: November 16, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. — When LSU made its 28-point comeback in a 40-31 win, it did so via plenty of Troy incomplete passes and drops.

The Trojans threw two incomplete passes before LSU cut the lead to 31-17, two more before it became 31-24, though one was a fourth down incompletion and three more before LSU cut the lead to 31-27, with the third being an interception. After that, three more incompletions came from the arm of quarterback Levi
Brown, who finished 34-of-72 for 316 yards.

Troy’s fast-paced, spread offense usually entails quick snaps, but Troy couldn’t slow down quick enough for its own good.

“I said if you’re going to (run this offense) you’ve got to do it all the time,” Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. “You can’t block down and run the wishbone in the second half.

“We probably could have (run the ball more late) but I didn’t notice any real poor mismanagement of the clock. We’re not into clock-burning. We’re fast-paced
and we try to move the ball. I might have said two things to (offensive coordinator Neal Brown) and one of them wasn’t burn the clock. When you get into your
playcaller’s ear about burning the clock, you take away his rhythm.”

Brotherly love
Phelon Jones, the LSU defensive back who covered Troy wideout Jerrel Jernigan in the first half, is the brother of Troy reserve linebacker Carvel Jones. Both are from Mobile. Carvel, the older brother, went to St. Paul’s while Phelon, a redshirt freshman, went to McGill-Toolen. Phelon had four tackles in the first half.
First drive in the numbers

Patrick Cherry’s 7-yard touchdown reception to put Troy up 7-0 made him the 10th Trojan to catch a touchdown pass this year. The drive was a season-long 16 plays for a season-long 88 yards.

Odd alignments
On Troy’s first play, Wes Potter, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive guard, wore No. 97 and lined up at tight end, but Potter didn’t get a pass thrown his way. On another play on the opening drive, right tackle Dion Small lined up as a wide receiver. No one was lined up at right tackle.

Troy captains
Troy’s three Louisiana natives — defensive tackles Dion Gales (New Orleans), Rashad Roussell (Boutte) and cornerback Jorrick Calvin (Baton Rouge) were captains for the game. The Trojans won the toss and elected to defer, kicking off to LSU.

BEST/WORST
Best kick: LSU’s Colt David boomed a 52-yard field goal on the Tigers’ second possession – a career long.

Best block: LSU safety Chad Jones came in on a safety blitz in the first quarter and batted Levi Brown’s pass about 10 yards back.

Best reaction: Troy’s Kennard Burton reacted to a deflection and caught a second-quarter pass for a 9-yard gain.

Worst class: LSU’s boobirds were out in force early, booing quarterback Jarrett Lee after his first pass of the game was well off the mark.

Worst decision: LSU went for it on 4th and 8 at the Troy 39 with a minute to go in the first half and Jordan Jefferson threw an incomplete pass.

Worst play: LSU tried a field goal attempt at the end of the first half, but the snap was botched. It was a fitting end to the first half for the Tigers.