Mean Green Blog Q&A with Troy beat man Drew Champlin

[Harry]

We are lucky to welcome to the blog Drew Champlin of the Dothan Eagle (for now). Drew covers Troy, but is soon making the move to cover UAB and will heading to Conference USA. We’ll see him down the line again. Here’ his take on this week’s game.

1. Has Troy reponded to bottoming out last year?

Yeah, they’re better than they were last year, but it isn’t showing when they turned the ball over so much over the past two games. You can at least see some fight in the Trojans after falling behind early in the two losses but coming back, especially against Mississippi State. But with the rest of the conference improving in talent and facilities, the road back to the top is very difficult.

2. Has Troy’s defense improved at all?

Yeah, but it has given up too many big plays and still has problems in pass coverage. Troy can stop a team on the ground at the line, then give up a 30-yard run. So, there’s still some inconsistency. The defensive line can’t get much pass rush, but the linebackers have been solid and so have the cornerbacks. Most of the big pass plays came in 1-on-1 with the safeties.

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2012/09/qa-with-troy-beat-man-drew-champlin.html/