Troy-FAU: Setting the Sun Belt back, one penalty at a time

[Sunil]

Interesting read from a student newspaper at Middle Tennessee State (try saying that name fast 10 times..) For those that don't want to read the whole thing...one of the more notable lines was: "I've heard rumors that the Owls are not the classiest group of chums around, and they've done nothing to disprove that notion over the past two weeks."

What's the deal here? When did all of our state schools get the bad rap?

http://media.www.mtsusidelines.com/media/storage/paper202/news/2008/10/09/Sports/TroyFau.Setting.The.Sun.Belt.Back.One.Penalty.At.A.Time-3479048.shtml

Troy-FAU: Setting the Sun Belt back, one penalty at a time

Chris Martin

As a student at a Sun Belt Conference school, I'm always excited when I see my favorite conference featured on national television.

Imagine my despair by the end of Tuesday's meeting between Florida Atlantic and Troy on Tuesday.

The Troy-FAU game was a stark contrast to Sept. 30's clash between MT and FAU that ended in dramatic fashion.

Considering most college football enthusiasts probably can't name three teams in the SBC, the FAU-MT game showed viewers that the Sun Belt can play ball, too.

Unfortunately, the Troy-FAU game might have destroyed all the good will created by MT's last-second victory.

The Trojans and Owls, especially in the first quarter, played how those unfamiliar with teams would have expected them to play. There were nine penalties in the first quarter alone, and six of those were either false starts or offsides.

Through the course of a 60-minute contest, one would expect a few false starts and maybe an offsides call, but six in one quarter just shows a lack of concentration.

Further embarrassment was derived from the way FAU played. I've heard rumors that the Owls are not the classiest group of chums around, and they've done nothing to disprove that notion over the past two weeks.

Wide receiver Chris Bonner's personal foul against the Blue Raiders, where he ripped a MT player's helmet off despite not being involved in the play, was just one demonstration of FAU's lack of tact. Between the MT and Troy games, the Owls have been called for three personal fouls and two illegal blocks in the back over their past two games.

Troy wasn't exempt from sloppiness either.

The Trojans, despite excellent field position, were unable to score as much as they should have considering all the turnovers the Owls committed. The Trojans' average starting field position was at their own 43-yard line, and while they did score in the red zone six out of seven times, they could have performed better inside the 20-yard line.

Obviously, Troy isn't on the level of a team like Oklahoma, but one key to winning games is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Now, one could argue the point is moot considering the final score was heavily in the Trojans' favor, but three of the six times they scored in the red zone, they came away with only a field goal.

Since the SBC is scratching and clawing for all the national recognition it can get, teams on TV need to score touchdowns. The only time a field goal is exciting is in the last two minutes of a game.

The ineptitude of FAU didn't help make the game any better.

The Owls, for some inexplicable reason, have taken a huge step backward since their improbable 2007 run that ended with a SBC championship and a victory over Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl.

Favored to repeat as conference champs, the Owls have been unable to duplicate their success from last season despite the fact they returned nearly the entire team (18 starters) from a year ago.

FAU's star quarterback, Rusty Smith has looked absolutely horrendous this season, especially when his numbers are compared with his stats from last year.

In '07, Smith completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 3,688 yards (283.7 per game), 32 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Through six games this season, Smith is completing only 48.8 percent of his passes for 1,367 yards (227.8 per game) with five touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Since the contest between FAU and Troy was the last nationally televised SBC game until bowl season, the Sun Belt will just have to wait until next year for people to get the bitterness of this game out of their mouth.

[GarySJ]

Bad behavior by one FAU fan gives the other three FAU fans in the universe a bad name.

[crambone]

Seeing all of the penalties in that game reminded me of the Sun Bowl.