Troy, a brief look

Troy (3-9, 2-6)--The string of 6 straight Sun Belt championships came to a screeching halt with a 3-9 season that saw the Trojans never really play very well. Led by 2010 freshman of the year Corey Robinson, the Trojans were the exact opposite of the military academies. The Trojans were 17th in the country in passing averaging a gaudy 291.3 yards per game including seven 300+ yard passing games. On the other end, the rushing game was one of the poorest in the nation  averaging just over 88 yards per game. The Trojans struggled to score because of the lack of a running game and could only put up 22.4 points per game. 

Defensively, the Trojans had an off year struggling to stop anyone giving up an average of 33.4 points per game good for 101st in the nation. 4 of the top 10 tacklers from the dreadful 2011 defense graduated and must be replaced for the upcoming season. Defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi struggled in 2011 only getting 6 sacks after 12.5 in 2010. He must step up and play up to his ability in 2012 or the defense will struggle just as much this fall. The Trojans struggled the most as the season ending as they gave up 38 or more points per game in 4 of the last 5 games of the season.

Coach Larry Blakeney enters his 22nd season as the coach of the Trojans. Blakeney has a career record of 163-92-1 with a 65-58 D-I record with the Trojans. He brought the Trojans from D-II to I-AA to I-A making the playoffs 7 of the 8 seasons in I-AA. Blakeney has led the Trojans to 5 bowl games in his time at the program. He is a great coach that will be looking for a way to fix this slide that Troy suffered in 2011. 

Overall, with an offense that struggles to score and a defense that let everyone score, there must be some big overhauls for the Troy program in 2012. The offense was very young and weak on the offensive line but with another year in the strength program, maybe the running game can be a good change of pace for the Trojans. The defensive starters will be up for anyone other than the DE spot of Massaquoi. With a roster full of juco transfers and young players, this team will be good in the future, just most likely not in 2012.