Troy's 2012 Recruiting

2012 Troy Trojans ... Head Coach: Larry Blakeney

Troy Trojans

2011 Record: 3-8

Sept. 3 at Clemson L 43-19
Sept. 10 OPEN DATE
Sept. 17 at Arkansas L 38-28
Sept. 24 Middle Tenn. W 38-35
Oct. 1 UAB W 24-23
Oct. 8 at Louisiana L 31-17
Oct. 15 ULM L 38-10
Oct. 25 at FIU L 23-20 OT
Nov. 5 at Navy L 42-14
Nov. 12 North Texas L 38-33
Nov. 19 Florida Atlantic W 34-7
Nov. 26 at WKU L 41-18
Dec. 3 at Arkansas State

2010 CFN Prediction: 7-5
2010 Record: 8-5

Sept. 4 Bo. Green W 30-27
Sept. 11 at Oklahoma St L 41-38
Sept. 18 at UAB L 34-33
Sept. 25 Arkansas St W 35-28
Oct. 5 at MTSU W 42-13
Oct. 16 Louisiana W 31-24
Oct. 23 OPEN DATE
Oct. 30 at ULM L 28-14
Nov. 6 at North Texas W 41-35
Nov. 13 FIU L 52-35
Nov. 20 at So. Carolina L 69-24
Nov. 27 WKU W 28-14
Dec. 4 at Florida Atlantic W 44-7
NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Dec. 18 Ohio W 48-21
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class  

Top 5 Troy Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. RB Andre Allen
5-9, 178, Scout.com 91st ranked, three-star running back.

2. WR Brandon Brooks
5-10, 175, Scout.com 201st ranked, two-star receiver.

3. DT Brandon Timmons
6-3, 250, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer.

4. QB Deon Anthony
6-1, 205, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer.

5. LB Eli Canton
6-3, 210, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer.

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... The Trojans came up with the Sun Belt’s best recruiting class last season and is scheduled to bring in another whopper. The defensive line has been worked on over the few seasons, and now it should be about the skill spots with several running back prospects ready to come in to beef things up after all the top running options are scheduled to be gone after next year.

Team Concerns For 2012: Linebackers, and that’s going to be the biggest focus of the class. The kicking game needs instant help with PK Michael Taylor and P Will Goggans gone, meaning JUCO transfer Will Scott will be asked to battle for the punting job right away and Ryan Key will get a shot for the placekicking gig. The linebacking corps has a few good players returning, but the D will mine the JUCO ranks for a slew of speedy options to upgrade the unit.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: A major disappointment, the Trojans couldn’t seen to do much of anything right but throw the ball. QB Corey Robinson will put up huge numbers with all his receivers returning, but he loses LT James Brown, his top pass protector. Nine starters are back on an offense that should lead the Sun Belt in yards, but can the defense stop someone for the first time in years? Losing pass rushing end Jonathan Massaquoi hurts a line that had a hard time getting into the backfield. Five starters are gone from a D that couldn’t afford to lose too much experience.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Defensive ends. Enough of that … Larry Blakeney and the coaching staff appear to be sick of having a poor defense. Last year’s class was the best in the Sun Belt by far, and this year’s class could be even better, at least on the defensive front. With fantastic gets in JUCO transfer Tony Gillsepie, a 6-2, 315-pounder who’ll be planted in the middle of the line right away, and speed-rushing JUCO end Marty Stadom for the outside. JUCO transfer safety Brynden Trawick is a 6-2, 210-pound hitter who’ll be the immediate Sherriff of the secondary. 6-7, 200-pound Dallas Tidwell will be an interesting quarterback to develop for well down the road.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 79. That Class Was Heavy On ... Greg Jenkins to Brett Moncrief. The Trojans are now known for their high-powered offense and huge passing numbers, and they got a couple of stars to keep the production rolling. Greg Jenkins is an athletic JUCO transfer with the ability to step in and take over Levi Brown's old starting spot right away. Adding to the receiver talent is Brett Moncrief, a 6-3, 205-pound JUCO transfer who looks the NFL part. He could've gone to Ole Miss or Mississippi State, but chose Troy. On defense, the recent struggles in the secondary were addressed with seven corners signed including Dionte Ponder, a ready-made playmaker with big-time upside.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 85. That Class Was Heavy On ... Ready made defensive linemen. The Trojans had the Sun Belt’s best offensive line last year by far, but three starters are gone. While there’s depth and potential with the returning players, this class made sure the front five is loaded with four JUCO transfers, led by tackle Tyler Graves. The defensive side got some fantastic tackle prospects with JUCO transfer Riley Flowers good enough to play just about anywhere.

Nov. 26 at Western Kentucky 41 .. Troy 18
(AP) BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Bobby Rainey became Western Kentucky's all-time leading rushing leader, and the Hilltoppers secured their first winning season since moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2009 with a 41-18 victory over Troy Saturday.

Western Kentucky's win coupled with a loss by Arkansas State next week would make the Hilltoppers (7-5, 7-1 Sun Belt Conference) league co-champions with the Red Wolves.

There is no guarantee that Western Kentucky will be selected to a bowl game, since the two Sun Belt bowl tie-ins have already been locked up by Arkansas State (GoDaddy.com Bowl) and Louisiana-Lafayette (New Orleans Bowl).

Rainey had 227 yards on 43 carries and scored three second-half touchdowns. His 4,541 career yards surpassed Lerron Moore on the all-time list, and Rainey's 1,695 yards this season are also a school record.

The Hilltoppers missed three fields and an extra point against Trojans (3-7, 2-4).

Nov. 19 at Troy 34 … Florida Atlantic 7

Nov. 12 North Texas 38 … at Troy 33

Nov. 5 at Navy 42 … Troy 14

Oct. 25 at FIU 23 … Troy 20 OT

CFN Analysis: Absolutely disastrous, the offense continues to sputter after weeks of not getting much going, and while the running game won’t ever work, the passing game is the shocking problem as Corey Robinson isn’t getting help from anyone down the field. The defense came up with some huge hits and four takeaways, but that was about all the team could do as FIU did whatever it wanted moving the ball. At 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the Sun Belt, the season is all but over unless the Trojans can go on a run. The defense isn’t showing anything to prove it can slow down Navy next week, but beating North Texas and Florida Atlantic at home is possible to get back on track in the finishing kick if, and it’s a big if, the offense finds its pop again to make up for the miserable defense.
 
Oct. 15 ULM 38 … at Troy 10
CFN Analysis: Uh oh. Troy had been struggling a bit, but the passing game and the offense weren’t a problem. The offensive line was destroyed by the ULM line and the running game didn’t go anywhere. The passing attack didn’t go anywhere with Corey Robinson completing just 19-of-34 passes for 120 yards with two picks, and the offense barely moved the ball with just nine first downs. This was a total disaster coming off the loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, but things might get even worse with road games at FIU and Navy up next. 

Oct. 8 at Louisiana-Lafayette 31 … Troy 17
CFN Analysis: Where was the Troy attack in the first half? Louisiana-Lafayette has a good defense, but it’s not so strong that Corey Robinson shouldn’t have been able to crank out big numbers and a few scoring drives early on. He bombed away, throwing 53 times, but it was too little too late after getting down 31-10 late in the third. The interception thrown for a second quarter touchdown at the end of the first half ended the game, and Robinson never found his groove after it. There’s still time to turn things around, but the FIU and Arkansas State games are on the road and four of the final six games, after next week’s date against ULM, are on the road. 

Oct. 1 at Troy 24 ... UAB 23
CFN Analysis: Troy’s passing game put up numbers, but Corey Robinson didn’t throw any touchdown passes to go along with his 349 yards in the big comeback. Robinson got the offense close, and D.J. Taylor closed out the drives with three tough scores to pull out the win. With three turnovers and ten penalties, Troy was sloppy and allowed UAB to stay in the game, and the pass rush wasn’t effective enough. Even with the problems, this was a second straight close, tough win going into what might be the Sun Belt title game next week against ULL. If Robinson isn’t bombing away, the Trojans aren’t going to get through a rough patch of three road games in the next four weeks without at least two losses.  

Sept. 24 at Troy 38 … Middle Tennessee 35
CFN Analysis: Death, taxes, and Troy beating Middle Tennessee. Even when the Blue Raiders seemed to have control of the game, Troy still found a way to get the job done with Corey Robinson blowing up at the right time to finish with 348 yards and three touchdowns, and the defense did just enough when it absolutely, positively had to. However, the D was miserable. The pass defense is non-existent and the line got pushed around way too much. The pass rush was average and the secondary was torched, but it was still a huge win to take early control of the Sun Belt, but the Trojans won’t win the title unless the defensive backs can start to play a little better.  

Sept. 17 at Arkansas 38 ... Troy 28
CFN Analysis: Troy kept bombing away and it almost made it a game. Corey Robinson had a decent start against Clemson, but not an explosive one. 63 passes, 373 yards, and three touchdowns later, and he and the Trojan offense might have woken up. He spread the ball around extremely well, and the defense kept pressing and made things tough on the Hogs late, especially with the 53-yard pick six from LaDarrius Madden, but it wasn’t enough. The Middle Tennessee game to open up the Sun Belt season will be the better indicator of just how strong the Trojans are.
 
Sept. 3 at Clemson 43 … Troy 19
CFN Analysis: The Trojans made too many mistakes in a game like this. The three turnovers and eight penalties were a problem, and the inability to convert yards and drives into points allowed Clemson to take over and pull away. Corey Robinson had a nice game and he kept the chains moving, but again, he and the offense failed too often to come up with points in key moments. On the plus side defensively, end Jonathan Massaquoi had a terrific game. He didn’t come up with a sack, but he was in the backfield and ended up with seven tackles. He’ll have to do even more in two weeks if the Trojans are going to have any shot against Arkansas. 

2011 Recruiting Class

The 2011 Class Is Heavy On … Defensive ends. Enough of that … Larry Blakeney and the coaching staff appear to be sick of having a poor defense. Last year’s class was the best in the Sun Belt by far, and this year’s class could be even better, at least on the defensive front. With fantastic gets in JUCO transfer Tony Gillsepie, a 6-2, 315-pounder who’ll be planted in the middle of the line right away, and speed-rushing JUCO end Marty Stadom for the outside. JUCO transfer safety Brynden Trawick is a 6-2, 210-pound hitter who’ll be the immediate Sherriff of the secondary. 6-7, 200-pound Dallas Tidwell will be an interesting quarterback to develop for well down the road.

Five Troy Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. S Brynden Trawick
JUCO transfer who started his career at Michigan State had 58 tackles, 6 pass breakups, 9 tackles for losses, 4 forced fumbles, and 2 recovered fumbles.

2. DE Deon Lee
6-4, 210, Scout.com’s 85th ranked defensive end

3. DE Xavian Evans
6-5, 265, Three-star JUCO transfer

4. DE Marty Stadom
6-2, 235, Three-star JUCO transfer

5. DT Tony Gillsepie
6-2, 315, Three-star JUCO transfer

2011 Entire Recruiting Class

Terron Bell LB Fr. Monroe, La. / Ouachita Parish HS
Montrell Conner RB R-So. Monroe, La. / Ouachita Parish HS
Chris Davis CB Fr. Thomasville, Ala. / Thomasville HS
Xavian Evans DE Jr. Pontotoc, Miss. / Pontotoc HS/Itawamba CC
Robert Freeman OL Fr. Luverne, Ala. / Luverne HS
Bryan Holmes WR Fr. Lake Butler, Fla. / Union County HS
DJ Johnson DE Fr. Mobile, Ala. / Baker HS
DJ Jones CB So. Jacksonville, Fla. / First Coast HS
Ryan Kay K/P Fr. Hampton, Ga. / Dutchtown HS
Deon Lee DE Fr. DeFuniak Springs, Fla. / Walton Sr. HS
Dre'Shon McGaster DE Fr. Foley, Ala. / Foley HS
Hollis Moore WR Jr. Memphis, Tenn. / Whitehaven HS
Anthony Payne DT Jr. Leroy, Ala. / Leroy HS
Jeremy Pierce OL Jr. Heidelberg, Miss. / Heidelberg HS
Tyler Roberts LB Fr. Hoover, Ala. / Hoover HS
Marty Stadom DE Jr. Melbourne, Fla. / Melbourne HS
Dallas Tidwell QB Fr. Gardendale, Ala. / Gardendale HS
Bartavis Whigham OL Fr. Dothan, Ala. / Northview HS
Daron White RB Fr. Jacksonville, Fla. / First Coast HS
Chandler Worthy WR Fr. Griffin, Ga. / Griffin HS