PREVIEW: Troy Rides Momentum Into Baton Rouge

Led by walk-on quarterback Levi Brown, Troy looking for upset

by Matt Deville
Tiger Rag Senior Editor

(At left) Troy, who won the 2006 New Orleans Bowl, is bowl eligible and has the inside track on getting back to the Big Easy as Sun Belt Champions

The Troy Trojans are finally going to make the trip to Baton Rouge.

The LSU Tigers were supposed to meet up with Troy in Tiger Stadium way back on Sept. 6. That’s when an angry fellow named Gustav came ripping his way through Baton Rouge leaving the capital city in shambles.

Hurricane Gustav hit Baton Rouge on Monday, Sept. 1 and caused considerable damage to southeast Louisiana as well as the LSU campus.

Damage was done to the press box, stadium club areas, scoreboards and seating areas of Tiger Stadium. The damage on campus was substantial and considering much of Baton Rouge was left without power for more than a week, LSU officials chose to postpone the Tigers’ date with the Trojans to a common open date on Nov. 15.

At the time of the postponement, both Troy and LSU were 1-0.

The Trojans had beaten Middle Tennessee State 31-17 in their season opener. LSU knocked off Appalachian State 41-13 in a hastily played Saturday morning contest in Tiger Stadium, roughly 36 hours before Gustav made landfall.

Since that time, the Tigers and Trojans have mirrored one another posting identical 5-3 records. The only difference being Troy (6-3, 4-1 Sun Belt), lost its games early on while LSU started strong and has fallen on hard times lately.

Troy opened the season going 2-0 with wins over the Blue Raiders and Alcorn State.
At that point, however things toughened up as the Trojans dropped back-to-back contests at Ohio State (28-10) and Oklahoma State (55-24).

At 2-2, Larry Blakeney’s team entered Sun Belt conference action and rolled up three straight victories, including wins over Florida Atlantic (30-17), Florida International (30-23) and North Texas (45-17).

A bump in the road came when Troy traveled to Louisiana-Monroe and dropped a 31-30 decision to the War Hawks. But the Trojans rebounded nicely with a 17-7 victory over Western Kentucky, a win which got Troy bowl eligible.

At 6-3, the Trojans are in good shape to win the Sun Belt Conference. After Saturday’s trip to LSU, Blakeney’s team closes out the season with two straight Sun Belt home games against Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State.

Troy has played well in winning three of its last four games. And you’d be surprised to learn the Trojans lost starting quarterback Jamie Hampton for the season with a knee injury in the second half of the Florida Atlantic game.

Starting the first five games of the 2008 season, Hampton completed 107 of 175 passes for 1,045 yards and nine touchdowns. He threw eight interceptions during that time.

When Hampton went down a torn ACL in Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 7, backup quarterback Tanner Jones was sent in to finish the game. Jones went 1 of 3 for 11 yards, but the game was already in the bag after Hampton had rushed for two first half touchdowns.

Junior quarterback Levi Brown, who is a walk-on, had lost the job in the fall to Hampton. When Jones was sent into the game ahead of him when Hampton went down, Brown said he was at a crossroads in his career.

“It was frustrating for me, I would say,” Brown said. “I was pretty upset there for awhile and my spirits did get down at times. But I just kept pressing through it and having faith that things would work out one way or another and eventually they did.”

But during the week heading into the Florida Atlantic game, Brown outdueled Jones in practice and got the starting nod that weekend in Tampa.

Against FIU, Brown completed 18 of 28 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Trojans to a 33-23 victory.

In his four starts this season, Brown has completed 111 of 160 passes for 1,163 yards, thrown nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.

“We’ve gotten out of Levi what we certainly hoped and basically expected,” Blakeney said. “You know, there’s no way, I don’t think, we’d go back and change anything in the process. Sometimes things work out the way they are intended for the team.”

Brown said he listened to advice from family members and friends encouraging him to grab the reigns of the offense and take advantage of the situation. It has no doubt paid off big for both Brown and Troy.

“I kind of motivated myself a little bit there, but I also had my family in my ear telling me that I had another opportunity and a good chance of starting and playing the rest of the year,” Brown said. “I felt confident in my ability to win the job just as much as when I was competing with Tanner as I did in the spring. I expected to get it in the spring, but it didn’t work out that way. I’m glad it did now.”

The Trojans are fresh off a 10-point win over Western Kentucky and will now look at the biggest task of the season; going on the road to face the defending national champions. Blakeney said he wished the Trojans could have extended the lead in the win over WKU, but he’ll take the “W,” which qualified Troy for bowl consideration.

“It was one of those games where you felt like you were just on the verge of extending yourself and getting it over early. But it’s a win and a win is a win and its homecoming and I’m happy,” head coach Larry Blakeney said. “We are going to enjoy this win here at homecoming and starting tomorrow we are going to get ready for LSU.”

Against the Hilltoppers, Brown completed 30-of-46 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw his second interception of the year. Harris finished with 101 yards rushing on 23 carries. Brown’s 298 yards marks the 28th time under Larry Blakeney a passer has thrown for at least 250 yards in a game.

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LSU vs. Troy

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Times of Interest

Noon LSU Ticket Office opens

1 p.m. Tipoff: LSU vs. Jackson State – men’s basketball at PMAC

4 p.m. Club level and Suites open at Tiger Stadium

4:15 p.m. LSU Student gates open at Tiger Stadium

4:30 p.m. All remaining gates open at Tiger Stadium

4:50 p.m. LSU walks down “Victory Hill”

5 p.m. LSU Gameday presented by CST on the air

5:25 p.m. Mike the Tiger comes down the hill

5:30 p.m LSU band marches down the hill

6:27 p.m. Mike the Tiger Field Parade

6:38:15 p.m. Guest Captains Presentation

6:39 p.m. Homecoming Court Presentation and Recognition

6:42 p.m. LSU King and Queen Coronation

6:45:30 p.m. Golden Band from Tigerland takes the field for pregame performance

6:50 p.m. Alma Mater and National Anthem

6:56 p.m. LSU takes the field

6:56:45 p.m. Troy takes the field

7 p.m. Kickoff: LSU vs. Troy

Pre-Game Presentations

Homecoming Court

LSU King and Queen Coronation

End of First Quarter

Wayne Stabiler recognition

Halftime

Troy Band performs

LSU Golden Band from Tigerland performs

Guest Captains

Marc Boutte

Andy Lofton

Mark Lumpkin

Robert DeLee