After the doom and gloom with which I finished my post last week, as the week progressed, I started to come around a little bit. By the time today rolled around, I even felt a little bit optimistic. Not necessarily about a Trojan win, but at least a good showing, a competitive outing. And hey, who knows? Play well, play tough, keep it close, and anything could happen.
Well.
As it turns out, my initial feeling was right. This isn't the best Trotwood team of the past several years, I don't think, but it's easily the worst Troy defense in a long time. The Rams had size and speed all over the field; the Trojans didn't. Add to that an uninspired performance--the Trojans looked like they expected a beating from the very beginning--and you have a defeat of historic proportions. This was the first time a Troy team has ever given up more than 70 points, and it was the most lopsided loss in school history.
At least it wasn't a shutout. The season's bright spot, Miles Hibbler, made sure of that with another long touchdown run on Troy's first series, a 63-yard burst that put the Trojans up 6-0 to start the game. Trotwood kept him contained after that, though, and with the passing game unable to get anything going--QB Matt Barr was running for his life, over- and under-throwing receivers all night long--that was it. After the first series, I'm not sure Troy's offense even got another first down until Trotwood's reserves came in after halftime, and with so many three-and-outs, the Ram offense had plenty of opportunities to put points on the board. Needless to say, they made the most of them, scoring 52 points in the first two quarters.
It'll be interesting to see how the Trojans respond to a game like this. I'd love to think their pride will drive them to unleash their fury on Greenville next week, but we'll see. At this point, with the Trojans at a very surprising and disappointing 2-6, it's impossible to see even the 1-7 Green Wave as a gimme game.
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