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Troy Football Picks
Spring practices are in the books and
fall camps will be here before you know it so that means
getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season.
Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt
Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this
upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006
College Football Preview.
#108 – Troy Trojans 4-7 SU; 3-7 ATS
Fargo’s Take Troy burst onto the scene two years ago as it
put together a solid first year in the SBC, so good it
received a bowl bid, but things went in reverse last season
for those of you taking them with your
football picks.
The offense was the downfall as it averaged only 15.9 ppg,
111th in the country, the forth straight season that the
offense has been ranked 99th or worse. Changes needed to be
made so the assistant coaching staff was replaced while a
new offense has been put into the playbook. A spread offense
will be the look for 2006 and while it sounds tasty, it
isn’t going to happen overnight and there will be growing
pains. The defense has issues of its own as seven starters
need to be replaced to go along with lack of experience as
there are only five seniors across the two-deep chart. The
good news for the Trojans is that the first five games of
the season are non-conference tilts meaning that the SBC
schedule doesn’t commence until mid-October and by then,
they are hoping everything will have been ironed out. Troy
needs to find a way to reverse the turnover trend as well as
it finished 109th in the nation in turnover margin and with
new faces on both sides of the ball, some breaks need to go
its way.
Returning Starters on Offense – 9 The offense may be
returning the majority of its players this season but they
will be coming back trying to learn a brand new offense. The
position that is affected the most is quarterback and even
though both part time starters from last season return, it
looks like the job has gone to Omar Haugabook, a junior
college transfer who fits the spread system much better as
that is the system he came from. He looked comfortable in
the spring scrimmage as he completed 27 of 38 pass attempts
for 276 yards and three touchdowns. Facing a defense other
than its own could be problematic down the road. The running
game was abysmal last season and likely won’t be better this
year, especially with significantly fewer touches.
Returning Starters on Defense – 4 Troy made huge progress
last season on defense but that likely won’t carry over into
2006. The unit finished 24th in the country in total defense
and 39th in scoring defense but it all went to waste as the
offense could not help on its end. The Trojans lost a bunch
on the defensive side of the ball especially up front as the
entire line needs to be replaced as do two of the three
linebacker positions. Both safeties return so the secondary
should be decent as long as two new corners help
immediately. With the lack of starters, depth becomes a big
issue and Troy will have its share of problems. The defense
was lit up pretty good in the spring game against a brand
new offense, definitely not a very optimistic sign heading
into the season where all sorts of questions abound.
Schedule The schedule is very top heavy and with a lot of
new things being put into place, the easy part of the slate
comes at the best time. The Trojans start the season at home
against 1-AA Alabama St. but then the fun begins with four
straight road games at Florida St., Georgia Tech, Nebraska
and UAB with the last being the only outside but unlikely
shot at a win. The conference slate is probably the best out
of all the teams as the first three Sun Belt games are at
home, two against favorites UL Monroe and UL Lafayette.
Three of the last four are on the road but all three of
those come against teams ranked lower than the Trojans in
the preseason while the one home game comes against Arkansas
St., another frontrunner.
You can bet on… It will look like two totally different
seasons for the Trojans as this team has the ability to
become much more improved as the year goes on. The Sun Belt
slate could not be any more in their favor and they will
have to take advantage. If Troy can win its home games, it
has a shot at the conference title but all of the pieces
need to fall into place. The Trojans were only 3-7 against
the number last season but with an offense that should get
stronger as the year goes on, there will be some money
making opportunities. With an improved offense and a weaker
defense, the under trend from last year should reverse as
well.
This article was written by
Matt Fargo
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