It smells like victory

Ahhh. Now that's more like it. When the Falcon Nation last left the Doyt, it was with the bitter taste of having blown a big league and lost to Buffalo, collapsing on top of a chance to win the conference. In the meantime, a coach was let go and a new coach brought in.

Tonight, we played a very good Troy team, a team I was afraid we would match up poorly with. They featured an electric, multi-threat offense and a defense with a very solid front 7. We had a lot of question marks, particularly on defense.

Then, Troy took the opening kick and rammed the ball down our throat, 80 yards in less than two minutes.

The Nation took a very deep breath. Fortunately for us, the players on the field did not, and from that point on, the Falcons outscored Troy 34-7. The defense was very effective. Troy did not run the ball against us at all, and in the second half, our defense dominated Troy the whole way. We had consistent pressure on Levi Brown, and he threw the ball away time after time. Even when his protection was good, no one was open. And he threw two INTs, too.

I'll have a lot more to say about this tomorrow, but right now, I'm feeling really good. Just a few bullet points on the game.

Freddie Barnes can be a force. He had a school record 15 catches, and could have caught two more but dropped them. Troy had no answer for him.

DuJuan Harris, a thousand yard rusher, had 8 yards on 10 carries.

We showed a much more aggressive defense, blitzing more often than I can remember. And, unlike in past years, our blitzers had much better luck getting home.

Jernigan, their other big receiver, had only 5 catches for 37 yards.

We held Troy to 4.7 yards per play.

Meanwhile, we answered the question of whether Tyler Sheehan could throw the deep ball. He can. He went down the field over and over again and with success. This is an exciting development to our offense.

Our play mix was heavily pass oriented, which makes sense given that we are worried about what to do with the Troy D-Line. Geter had a couple nice runs, and our stats are brought down on a couple losses due to poor snaps. Still, even taking away those plays, we only rushed for 78 yards.

We outscored Troy 24-0 in the second half...which is a switch from the performances we saw at the Doyt last year. You might say.

Again, there will be lots more to say. ; In the meantime, though, this is a very satisfying feeling. A great day to be a Falcon.