Aug 29, 2007, 15:31 GMT
Fayetteville, AR - The Troy Trojans of the Sun Belt Conference travel to Fayetteville to open the 2007 season against the 21st-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the SEC.
Troy is coming off its first bowl victory in program history, as the club crushed Rice by a 41-17 final in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl. The fact that 16 starters are back from that squad is certainly reason for fans of the Trojans to be optimistic, although the team clearly enters this opener as a decided underdog. Larry Blakeney is in his 17th season as head coach of the program, and he has won exactly double the amount of games that he has lost.
As for Arkansas and head coach Houston Nutt, the club is coming off a season in which it lost games to USC, Florida, LSU and Wisconsin, four of the nation's truly elite programs. The Razorbacks have a number of key starters back, especially on the offensive side of the ball, and having the top player in all of college football certainly helps. Arkansas does not have to play Florid, and the squad may very well be favored in each of the first nine games.
Arkansas won its only previous meeting with Troy in 2002 by a 23-0 final.
It all starts with the quarterback for Troy, and the club is in good hands with Omar Haugabook under center. The reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year connected on 61.3 percent of his passes a year ago as a junior, racking up 2,401 yards and 21 touchdowns along the way. Haugabook also ran for five scores, giving defenses one more thing to think about. While there are a number of positives about the quarterback's game that are worthy of mentioning, the fact that he tossed 17 interceptions in 2006 raises some concern. The Trojans scored 18 more touchdowns last season than they did the previous year and that helped them go from the worst scoring team in the nation in '05 to the top scoring team in the Sunbelt a year ago.
It is fair to say that Troy was an average defensive team last season, but with eight starters back, expect this unit to be much improved this year. Clearly, the club will face one of its stiffest tests of the season in this opener. The duo of junior Kenny Mainor and senior Shawn Todd combined for 78 stops, 10 sacks and 17.5 TFLs last season from their defensive end positions. Sophomore linebacker Boris Lee posted 62 tackles and led the squad with three interceptions in '06. As for the secondary, it should be just as strong as the rest of the defense thanks to the return of shutdown corners Leodis McKelvin and Elbert Mack.
Start the discussion of the Arkansas offense with junior tailback Darren McFadden, who was the runner-up in the Heiman voting a year ago. The explosive tailback ran for 1,647 yards and 14 touchdowns on 284 carries and also proved capable of catching and throwing passes effectively. Because of McFaddens greatness, Felix Jones is sometimes overshadowed, but he is a standout performer in his own right. Jones topped the 1,000-yard mark and is often on the field with McFadden when the team runs its 'Wildcat' formation. McFadden lines up as the quarterback in that set, and the results are quite impressive. Peyton Hillis, the squads fullback, is a premier blocker. Expect plenty of touches for both Jones and McFadden in this opener. On the outside, Marcus Monk is coming off an impressive junior campaign that saw him catch 50 passes for 962 yards and 11 scores. Unfortunately, a knee injury will keep the outstanding target out of at least this opener and possibly longer. If Casey Dick can be solid at the quarterback position and make smart decisions, this offense will be tough to stop this season. Keep in mind that the Razorbacks were ranked 108th nationally in passing the last two seasons, and the loss of Monk is big.
There are six returning starters back in place on the defensive side of the ball for Arkansas, but the team lost its best player from all three tiers of the unit. Antwain Robinson had 8.5 sacks last season and should be able to at least maintain that total in 2007. He is the clubs best end. The one player to keep an eye on is Freddie Fairchild, an ultra talented sophomore linebacker with limitless potential. If he can be an impact player as expected, Arkansas will benefit tremendously. The Razorbacks were dominant defensively in quite a few games last season, but elite offensive units did have their way. Marcus Harrison is a big defensive end/tackle who figured to play a major role for Arkansas this season. Unfortunately, he was suspended indefinitely this past week because of an arrest on felony drug charges and several misdemeanors.
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