Troy head coach Neal Brown made sure to get his backup QB plenty of reps over the first few weeks of 2018. Not many people thought it was a big deal at the time, but they sure do now.
The Trojans managed to win a game after the shock of losing a leader on offense. But there’s another reason that the visitors are not a double-digit favorite in the Week 7 point spread.
Saturday’s host Liberty has surprised a lot of people in a maiden year of FBS competition.
Who: Troy Trojans at Liberty Flames
When: Saturday, October 13th, 11 AM EST
Where: Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA
Lines: Troy (-9.5) at Liberty (+9.5) / O/U Total: (63.5)
Troy has opened the season 5-1, reeling off 5 in a row after losing to Boise State in the opener. Unfortunately for Trojan fan, starting QB Kaleb Barker was lost for the season after tearing his ACL last week against Georgia State:
Troy sophomore Sawyer Smith took the news with sadness. The text message from starting quarterback Kaleb Barker hit his phone and left Smith stoic over the fact he’s now Troy’s starting quarterback. Barker’s injury in last week’s home win over Georgia State was a season-ending torn knee ligament, leaving Barker with surgery scheduled for Friday and Smith scheduled to start Saturday when the Trojans (5-1) visit Liberty (2-3).
“Not the way you want it to happen,” he said. “Not the way you want it to happen at all.”
Barker, after starting the season’s first six games and completing 73 percent of his passes for 1,013 yards and 10 touchdowns, won’t return until the spring. Smith, who lost a preseason competition with Barker to be the starter, has played in every game this year. He replaced Barker in the first half of last week’s 37-20 victory and was 10-of-15 passing for 81 yards and a touchdown, plus ran for 56 yards. “I thought he did a good job really managing that game,” Troy coach Neal Brown said. “Now, moving forward, he’s going to have to be part of getting to the point of winning the games.”
Brown isn’t mincing any words. Translated, his quote means that Smith played OK, but didn’t make any difference in the final result. The QB will be asked to make plays in more crucial scenarios going forward.
Barker was having a great season, throwing for 1,013 yards, 10 TDs, and only 2 INTs. The only good news is that Smith has seen action in every game this season so head coach Neal Brown can turn to someone with legitimate game experience. Smith was efficient in his debut as the #1 snap-taker, completing 10 of 15 passing for 81 yards, a TD, and an INT. He also added 56 yards rushing on 5 carries. Junior RB B.J. Smith rumbled for 140 yards and 2 TDs last week and he figures to be leaned on heavily as Smith becomes more comfortable in his new starting role.
The Troy defense gives up a good amount of yards, but only allows 25 ppg on average. Junior LB Tron Folsom leads the team with 40 tackles and 2 INTs.
Did someone say Liberty? The Liberty Flames, an independent team many people don’t even know just became an FBS participant, is off to a 2-3 start in its inaugural season in the nation’s top football division.
The Flames can score points. In Week 1, they hung 52 on Old Dominion (who recently took down Virginia Tech) and are averaging over 33 points per game this season.
Junior QB Stephen Calvert leads the Flames with over 1,200 yards, 12 TDs, and 4 INTs. Fellow junior Frankie Hickson leads RBs with 341 yards and 3 TDs and gets help from sophomore RB Peytton Picket who has 5 TDs.
And then there’s the defense, a problem spot. The unit has given up 44 points per game since the Old Dominion victory. Head coach Turner Gill’s big guys (or what few reliable big guys he has in the front-7) have struggled in Red Zone defense in general and nearer the goal line in particular.
Liberty HC Turner Gill on his defense:
“I know statistically you look at it and it’s not the numbers that you want, but the guys are eager, they’re eager to get corrected on the things that can get corrected,” Gill said. “The pleasing thing that I know is that things can get corrected. It’s not something that can’t get better at as we continue to play and as we move forward into this ball game.”
Gill said specifically he wants to see improvement in tackling, communication and coverages.
“Communication” and “things that can get corrected” are too-often coachspeak for “we’re losing the line of scrimmage.” But in this case, better tackling would help for sure.
Junior DB Elijah Benton leads the defense with 31 tackles and an interception. But the team has only 5 sacks on the year. The host defense will need to find some pressure to take a new starting QB off his game if they’re going to come away with a W on Saturday.
I’m liking the surprising Liberty Flames to survive with a 9.5-point spot on their home field, given Troy’s downgrade at QB and Brown’s likely conservative tactics with a slim lead late, given the circumstances.