Troy Has No Chance in The Swamp

The Troy Trojans' advertising slogan says: Anyone … Anytime … Anywhere.

No one can dispute Troy’s willingness to go on the road to play in backyard of some of best teams in college football. In the past three years, Troy has traveled to LSU, Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Florida State.

You know how many of those games the Trojans have won? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

And they won’t win Saturday when they make a return engagement to “The Swamp” to play the No. 1 Florida Gators.

A few weeks ago, I heard one of those ESPN college football analysts – I can’t remember which one – say that this was a possible trap game for Tim Tebow and the Gators because it comes before Florida plays Tennessee.

I laughed off the notion. Troy win at Florida? C’mon. Not even on a bad day for the Gators. And that was before the Trojans blew a 14-0 lead and lost 31-14 at Bowling Green last week in their season opener.

When the Trojans played the Gators in 2007, Troy scored 31 points and gained 336 yards, but still lost by four touchdowns, 59-31.

There won’t be any suspense today. The Gators should have this one well in hand by the end of the first quarter – if not sooner.

The only drama today will be if Trojans senior defensive end Brandon Lang shows he’s deserves to be a first-round draft pick. According to one scouting report the 6-foot-4, 256-pound Lang is rated the No. 3 defensive end for the 2010 NFL draft, comparing favorably to former Troy stars DeMarcus Ware (Dallas Cowboys) and Osi Umenyiora (New York Giants).


In 2008, Lang led the Trojans with 10.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss, ranking in the top 15 in the nation in both categories. He had five tackles against Bowling Green.

Lang is looking forward to playing the Gators again. “We’re going to try to improve a whole lot from the last time we went,” he said. “I feel like we’re a much better team than we were the first time we went. We have got the players and the talent. This game we’re going to have to come with it. We’re planning on coming out with a better attitude, and we’re going to come out intense and ready to play.”

Perhaps, Lang can get in a few licks on Tebow and a few of the other Florida ball carriers, but not enough for the Trojans to score a knockout.

I expect Florida to swamp the Trojans 55-10.

Death of hero worship makes athletes targets

The news on the college football scene in Alabama is happening at a dizzying pace. Here’s just a sample with my thoughts included – a little something I call News and Views.

News: Alabama defensive end Brandon Deaderick was released from the hospital Tuesday after being shot in the arm during a robbery attempt at an off-campus apartment. Although the 6-foot-4, 306-pound senior from Elizabethtown, Ky., returned to practice Wednesday, he probably will have to miss the fifh-ranked Crimson Tide’s season opener against seventh-ranked Virginia Tech Saturday night in Atlanta.

Views: More and more athletes are becoming crime victims because hero worship has died -- the leading cause of death being athletes' own bad behavior, although that was not the case with Deaderick -- and they are big targets. And that's not just physically.

News: The NCAA cleared Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones and running back Mark Ingram to play against Virginia. The Tide has asked whether a Gulf Coast fishing trip the two players took in the spring with businessman Curtis Anderson was a violation. In rending its ruling the NCAA issued this statement:

"According to the facts of the case submitted by Alabama, the student-athletes received impermissible food, lodging, transportation and entertainment from an individual with whom one of the student-athletes had become acquainted prior to enrolling in college. Consistent with NCAA membership requirements, the institution reported the violation and declared the student-athletes ineligible. As part of the reinstatement request, the institution required the student-athletes to make repayment of the value of the impermissible benefits to charity."

An Alabama spokesman said the money had been paid to charity.

Views: I understand why the rule is there, but this was much ado about nothing.

News: The Troy Trojans will begin celebrating their 100th year of football when they travel to Ohio to face Bowling Green Thursday in their 2009 opener.

Views: This could be a big season for the Trojans, considering a strong defense that led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring defense (21.3), total defense (327.5) and passing defense (187.8) in 2008. Defensive end Brandon Lang has been named both a semifinalist to the Lombardi watch list and is one of the 62 players on the Bronko Nagurski watch list. Also among the 48 players on the Lombardi watch list are middle linebacker Boris Lee and Troy's other defensive end, Cameron Sheffield. The top-ranked Florida Gators better not overlook the Trojans next week.

News: The Terry Bowden Era of UNA football officially began last Saturday with his first game as a collegiate head coach in more than a decade. Bowden and the Lions recorded a 41-9 win at Southern Arkansas. Bowden’s last time on the sideline was as head coach of the Auburn Tigers on October 17, 1998.

Views: Bowden has walked into a gold mine. Considering he has a team with several Division I transfers, Bowden should have the Lions, ranked No. 4 this week, contending for the Division II national championship.