2010 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Preview
December 18, 2010/9:00 pm Eastern
New Orleans, Louisiana – Superdome
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Ohio Bobcats
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This may not seem like an intriguing matchup on paper, but these two schools are usually strong contenders in their respective conferences. Both teams were right in contention for their conference championships this season.
Ohio seemed to be destined to play in the MAC Championship game. The Bobcats got off to a sluggish 1-3 start, but reeled off seven straight wins before losing improbably to a below .500 Kent State squad. Their 28-6 loss led interstate rival Miami (OH) to claiming the MAC East crown and ultimately the entire conference.
As for Troy, they once again were in contention for the Sun Belt crown just like most years. The Sun Belt is in no way a good conference, but the Trojans have been a staple in bowl games for the past three seasons. Troy is battle tested having played both Oklahoma State and South Carolina in their non conference slate. Their surprising loss to UL Monroe led to them not winning the conference crown as Mario Cristobal’s FIU Golden Panthers swiped the title away from the Trojans’ grasp.
KEY PLAYER
- Ohio: A key problem for Ohio throughout the season was turnovers. They ranked 85th in the nation in turnover margin and their four turnovers against Kent State cost them a spot in the MAC Title game. Ohio’s QB Boo Jackson has had his fair share of turnover issues this season and he will have to take care of the ball if the Bobcats want to win the New Orleans Bowl. Jackson’s play usually influences how Ohio performs and they will need a solid game from him to win.
- Troy: Troy has a high powered offense led by their passing attack and WR Jerrel Jernigan. Jernigan was a 1000 yard receiver last season and while his numbers aren’t quite up to where they were last season, he still has big play ability and will not be an easy cover for Ohio’s suspect secondary. Troy needs to get the ball in Jernigan’s hands early and often throughout the game. I don’t believe Ohio has anybody that can cover him and he should put up some big numbers.
KEY POSITIONAL BATTLE
The matchup I will have my eyes on will be Troy’s passing offense against Ohio’s passing defense. The Bobcats ranked 61st in pass defense this season giving up an average over 200 yards per game. Troy’s main offensive philosophy is to throw the ball. They ranked 12th in the nation in passing offense averaging close to 300 yards per contest through the air. Corey Robinson the Troy QB has had a big year and he has a lot of weapons to throw the ball too – namely Jerrel Jernigan. If Ohio can slow down Troy’s air attack, then they have a shot at winning the game, but if Robinson and the Trojans’ offense have a big day passing, then expect Troy to win.
TALE OF THE TAPE
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TROY |
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RUN OFFENSE |
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PASSING OFFENSE |
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RUN DEFENSE |
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PASSING DEFENSE |
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SPECIAL TEAMS |
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COACHING |
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INTANGIBLES |
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X-FACTOR
Turnovers: Both of these teams have minus turnover margins and the team that turns the ball over the least in this game will likely come out on top. I talked about Ohio QB Boo Jackson’s struggles with interceptions this season, but Troy QB Corey Robinson hasn’t been able to avoid the picks either. Both head coaches – Troy’s Larry Blakeney and Ohio’s Frank Solich will be stressing ball security to their teams in the weeks leading up to this New Orleans Bowl showdown. Turnovers have plagued both teams when they’ve been on the losing end of games this season and they are big reasons why these teams dropped games they should have won that ultimately cost them a conference championship.
FINAL PREDICTION
It wasn’t the season either of these teams were expecting. Both had high hopes in the preseason and throughout the season of winning their conference championships, but neither team could get it done. Still, as teams in the non-AQ conferences, they should be happy to be where they are. If you look at this matchup, you might just brush it off, but both of these teams are solid and both were just one bad loss away from winning their conference or at least playing in the conference championship game. The difference in this game will be Ohio’s anemic offense. Troy just has too many offensive weapons and I don’t think the Bobcats will be able to keep pace with the Trojans in a sixty-minute contest.
PREDICTION: Troy 31, Ohio 23
13 Comments
Correction: Troy came out on top in their conference again this year. FIU ended up losing their last game and Troy dominated FAU which lead troy to be conference champs.
Hate to bust your bubble Erik, but both Troy and FIU finished 6-2 in the conference and FIU won their head-to-head game for the tiebreaker.
So, FIU won the Sun Belt.
Sorry bud, but your wrong. Troy and FIU both might have finished 6-2, but FIU never won their "head to head" game for the tie breaker. They lost their last game to Middle Tennessee which was the game they needed to win to become conference champs. Speaking for Troy since i go there, played 3 years of football their and keep up with every sport their daily i am pretty sure i am accurate on my statements. I dont know if you have heard of the "Drive for Five" which means 5 consecutive conference wins that Troy ended up accomplishing. To back that statement up, i will post a link to Troys athletic site at the bottom so you can see for yourself. Not to mention, it says nothing on FIU's athletic site about being sunbelt conference champions….dont you think that if they "so happened" to be conference champs they would brag about it a little and post it on their site like any other team would? lol. By the way ill leave you another link to the New Orelans bowl website, which will show you on the home page that Troy is the leader in the conference…..by the way, isnt the New Orleans Bowl for the #1 Sunbelt Conference team? I think so. Its sad to think that you want to be an author and writer, but yet your logic is false….future reference know your facts before you write about it. Hope i didnt bust your bubble to hard.
http://www.troytrojans.com/news/2010/12/11/FB_121… http://www.neworleansbowl.org/
And FIU DID beat Troy.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303172653
Yeah, i know FIU beat Troy i was at the game. lol. And yes it is possible for both teams to tie for the conference championship, because thats what happened to Troy and FAU back in 2007 and FAU was able to go to a bowl and Troy didn't. In saying that, why are you now saying they both tied for the conference when in your article you say, "Their surprising loss to UL Monroe led to them not winning the conference crown as Mario Cristobal’s FIU Golden Panthers swiped the title away from the Trojans’ grasp."?? Still need to get ahold of your facts bud….and no FIU doesn't have more "legit" claim over Troy in winning the Sunbelt haha. If you want to talk about more claim how about…. Troy has a better record, more conference titles… and more bowl appearences . lol. No but seriously, if they both won the conference title, than how does one have more outright than the other???? they both won…it is what it is….think about it but try not to hurt ur head over it…i dont kno how to make this any clearer for you. Any way tho, good luck on your articles bud….lesson learn hopefully, just get your facts straight before you write. Best of Luck. Happy Holidays!
Not trying to disrespect, just saying.
Erik, you can think what you want, it's obvious you aren't going to change your mind. Just saying that based on the tiebreaker rules, FIU is the Champion.
Anyway, enough of that.
You like Troy's chances in the game and are you going to get the chance to go?
They SPLIT the conference title. Troy and FIU can both claim it, but FIU has the most legit claim.
If both teams finish tied for first at 6-2 and FIU won the tiebreaker, then how does it make sense at all that Troy won the title outright?
Jesus.
http://www.sunbeltsports.org/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=4100&ATCLID=204759834
Here’s the official Sun Belt website that recognizes BOTH teams as conference champions.
Troy got invited to the New Orleans Bowl, mainly because they travel better, not because they are the outright champions.
I don’t know how I can explain this any better.
Erik- if you’re going to drop by people’s posts and comment (which is always encouraged) that’s great, but use caution when calling someone out.
FIU is the Sun Belt Champ, not Troy. FIU clinched the Sun Belt when it beat Arkansas State on November 22nd. It was widely reported by all the major media outlets.
When two teams tie, and one beat the other head-to-head, the victor is the conference winner. That’s why we have tie-breakers.
Matt- you obviously havent been reading the whole conversation…i advise you to go back and do that and maybe check out some of the links and get your facts straight as well before you single me out.
I understand and no disrespect, but how are you going to argue that FIU won the title, when clearly it say on ESPN standings in the sunbelt conference that they both tied for first? Why does it say n the sunbelt website that they were both conference champs for 2010? Why doe it say on Troy’s athletic site that they won the “Drive for Five”?? Why is it that Troy is getting conference rings this year??? Most of my buddies play for Troy….why is it they tell me we won the conference or at least tied for conference this year? Why was it in the Tropolitan…the university news paper? My goodness….i dont go around on peoples pages arguin nonsense. Actually this is the first ive ever commented on something like this on the internet….if i kno i am wrong about something than i acknowledge that and respect that. But when i kno i am somewhat right and know what i am talking about i will argue and debate about it until i get my point across. Unfortunatly for yall, i dont see how yall could look past all this…at least acknowledge what i am sayin and take it into consideration that i may be somewhat right. And again no disrespect. Anyway tho, yea im going to the game this Saturday…looking forward to it. Hope we do well.
Yeah, clearly the two teams shared the title, but when there’s a head-to-head record in play…
Anyway, it’s all good. Bowl Season is the time for being happy.
Yeah, that game shook us pretty bad, i don’t think anyone was expecting that outcome. But hey it is what it is. FIU and troy are both going to a bowl game and i hope they both come out with wins.